The smirk never wavered. “I believe you, but rest assured, I’m not intending to accost you. I merely wished to gain the pleasure of your name.”
A shiver danced up her spine at the idea of pleasure when associated with this man. Even though she didn’t know him, something told her that he was quite skilled in that area. She slowly lowered her parasol to her side. “I’m afraid I can’t assist you with that. Good evening.” She turned on her heel, prepared to depart.
“Don’t you want to know my name?”
Constance told herself to keep walking and ignore that deep timbre, but she found herself pausing all the same. She glanced back over her shoulder, intrigued beyond her better judgment. But then, perhaps it was the slight inflection in his tone that didn’t seem wholly British. “Why? Is it supposed to mean something to me?”
His teeth were white and even as they flashed a seductive grin. “I doubt it. I merely suspected you would want to know.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “And why would that be?” She arched a brow. “Will I see your name in the scandal rags? Or perhaps the criminal section.”
He stiffened slightly at the latter, the edges of his mouth turning hard. Apparently, she had struck a nerve. Interesting.
“I admit that my past hasn’t always been savory.” He slowly looked down the length of her frame and back up again to her face. “But then, something tells me you haven’t always been the model of propriety either.”
Constance knew that this conversation could easily venture into dangerous territory. He saw entirely more than she wished to convey. “That is my business, and you would do well to mind yours.”
The chuckle that followed her set down was dark and smooth, like the coffee she enjoyed with her morning breakfast. He lifted a hand and ran his thumb along his lower lip. “It appears that you have a mouth on you, madam. I can think of a better use for those plump lips other than choosing to filet me.”
A hot swirl of delicious desire flared to life in her abdomen. A sensation that had long lain dormant. “You, sir, are uncouth and rather than remain here and trade insults back and forth, I shall rejoin my party where I may partake of some intelligent conversation.”
This time when Constance left, she didn’t hesitate, even though the husky, masculine laughter followed her down the street.
Devin licked his lips, as if he’d just tasted a sweet treat. He vowed right then and there that he would learn the lady’s name and that she would be in his bed before the summer came to a close. But it would take time and a bit of persuasion on his part to break through that tough, untrusting exterior. Somewhere along the way she’d been hurt, but he was there to comfort her and pick up the pieces of a sour love affair, because he knew she was no simpering maiden, but a woman who knew what she wanted. And while she might not realize it yet, she wanted him. He could sense it in the flare of her nostrils and the flash of interest in those green eyes that she tried to hide. Oh, she would be a challenge, but that was one thing Devin had never backed down from.
“You’re lurkin’ about on our turf, guv’nr. I think it’s time for ye t’ move on.”
Instead of feeling threatened, Devin turned to face the speaker with a bored expression. “After all this time, that’s the best warning you’ve got?”
Devin waited for recognition to strike, and when it did, the guffaw was loud and full of humor. “Damn me eyes! Devin, boy, is tha’ ye?”
He spread his arms wide. “In the flesh.”
As he was enveloped in a manly hug with a strong pat on his back, Devin was actually glad to be back in this miserable city. While the pompous aristocrats abounded, this man who survived on the outskirts had been like a second father to Devin after his own had died and left him an orphan at the age of twelve.
Luke House had worked in Olney with Devin’s father at the local tannery. It had been rather unsavory and smelly employment to say the least, but it wasn’t as though everyone could live in a fashionable townhouse in Mayfair. Most Englishmen had to take what positions they could just to survive. Devin remembered many nights when he’d gone to bed with a grumbling stomach, hunger gnawing at his bones to the point he would close his eyes tight and dream of a day when he could actually afford to purchase a salty slice of ham. It had taken years and a life of illegal activity, and practicing his proper speech, but it had been worth it when he had finally bit into that tender meat.
Years later, he was bound for Australia on a ship to serve out the sentence of thievery. One mistake, one betrayal, had been all it took for him to spend the next five years on that Godforsaken piece of land and toiling in the hot sun. The sweat rolled down his back even now in memory of that grueling labor.
And that wasn’t even the worst part.
When Luke pulled back with a wide grin, Devin forced himself to adopt a lazy expression. It had saved him during his tenure. The bullies didn’t bother a man if he pretended he didn’t care.
A flicker of something like sadness, or perhaps regret, passed before Luke’s eyes before he said, “How long have ye been back in London?”
“I just got back yesterday.”
“And ye didn’t think t’ let me know until today?” Luke scolded.
Devin snorted, as the man hadn’t changed a bit. While his hair was a bit more salt than pepper than before, he still had the same trim build and smooth demeanor that had won over several hearts through the decades, but nothing ever went further than a brief liaison. The neat beard that covered his jawline, which still grew in patches after twenty years was enough to forever remind his friend of everything he’d lost.
After a devastating fire had taken the lives of Luke’s wife and two children in Olney, giving him the scars he tried to hide, it only masked the deeper pain that he didn’t show. Only Devin had witnessed him break down one time in all of his thirty-two years, and even then, it wasn’t what he might have expected. They had come across a London fire that had consumed the lives of a similar family, where the husband had been away at work, only to return to find his life in shambles.
Most men might have collapsed and wept in memory when the charred remains had been removed from the ruined structure, but it was the flat, almost ghostly… emptiness in Luke’s eyes that Devin had found more disturbing. But then, it was probably how he had managed to become one of the most successful thieves in London. He distanced himself from his victims, while his sleight of hand was almost legendary among certain circles. Devin had learned the same skill—until the one time his arrogance and greed had nearly sent him to the noose.
It was only because of Annalise and her pleading on his behalf that he’d been spared.
“Where did ye stay last night?”
