It was enoughof a cold dose of reality to cool her earlier ardor. Fleur found that the second half of the opera wasn’t nearly as entertaining as the first half. Although Avalon did his best to engage her in light flattery, she could think of nothing but Drake’s harsh words. It was apparent that he still looked at her as nothing more than a prize to be won when she had foolishly believed that they had started to become more. Perhaps as much as friends. But he had clearly drawn the line in the sand and she was content to stay on her side from this point on. Instead of trying to do her best to compensate him for the money he had spent, feeling somewhat guilty because of her actions and her brother’s debt, she was now going to concentrate all her efforts to drag Flavian out of Harriette’s den of iniquity and go somewhere they never had to see Mr. Porter or that courtesan ever again. Things could go back to being the way they were, hopefully without the gambling and drinking. She could only pray that her twin had learned his lesson in all of this.
If she could just turn back the hands of time and never leave Greenwich…
But it was naïve to want something that was already tainted.
Swallowing over the harsh lump of regret in her throat, Fleur was grateful when the lights overheard signaled the end of the performance. Sadly, her thoughts had drifted and she’d missed most of the second part.
Avalon turned to her with a fond farewell. “My dear, it was lovely to meet you.Donec iterum convenient.” He kissed her gloved hand once more, lingering longer than the first time.
She tilted her head to the side and said coquettishly, “Shall we meet again?”
His dark eyes flashed with promise. “I shall make sure of it.”
As he released her, a shiver of apprehension traveled down her spine. However, her unease didn’t last long as Drake put his hand at the small of her back and steered her out of the box.
As they headed outside to hail a hackney, he nearly growled in her ear, “What do you think you’re doing, making illicit plans with someone like that?”
She glared at him and moved out of his grasp. She despised how cold she felt without his warmth but she wasn’t about to allow this slight to go unheeded. “I was being friendly.”
“Oh, yes. I could see that.All. Night. Long.”
Fleur rolled her eyes. “If I didn’t know better, I would believe you were jealous, speaking to me in such a crass manner. Perhaps you should emulate Mr. Avalon a bit more closely.”
He abruptly spun on her. She came to a halt and bent backward to keep from running into him. “Should I? You have no idea what sort of man he is.”
She tried to adopt a bored demeanor. “Much like you, I should imagine.”
“He’s worse,” he snapped. “He’s the leader of the Blue Boys, one of the most notorious gangs in the London underground.”
She blinked. “Blue Boys? That doesn’t sound very threatening.”
“Perhaps not, but trust me when I will say if he gave the order to slit your throat you would be bleeding on the street right now.”
Feeling as though his point had been made, Drake turned and started to stalk away. Fleur had to pick up her skirts and rush to keep up with him. She despised his moodiness. It had her spinning in circles. “Then why didyouencourage us to stay with him this evening?”
“He might be a good ally to have if?—”
The way he ground off his statement would not be borne. “If what?” she prodded.
He took off his hat and shoved a hand through his dark hair. He looked over his shoulder, piercing her with those silver eyes. “If things do go the way they should with us.”
She frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?” After a pregnant pause, she asked slowly, “Do you think I could be in danger by associating with you?”
“I have made a lot of enemies in my lifetime. It’s not unwelcome to require additional protection.”
As she absorbed this, he managed to hail a hackney. It stopped before them and he held out his hand to assist her inside. She went numbly. It wasn’t until the carriage set into motion that she recovered her voice. “Does the same apply to Flavian? Or just me?”
He looked directly at her. “I wouldn’t concern yourself about your brother.”
“How can I not?” she countered. “We are blood.”
“And yet, where is he?”
Fleur looked toward the window as tears stung her eyes. It was the one thing that she couldn’t seem to get out of her mind, and although she wanted to be happy for Flavian for being happy, she couldn’t resist the fact that she felt horribly betrayed.
She looked down at her hands as she blinked the tears away. “You’re right. He should have tried harder to help our circumstances, or preferably, not allow himself to get caught up in his old vices again.” She lifted her gaze to him. “But never has he made me feel as worthless as you did tonight when you said no one ever stood in the way of something you wanted.”
“It’s the truth. Would you rather I lie?”
