A flash of ultimate sorrow touched his single blue eye before he said quietly, “I have known a great love, but it was not something I could protect. She lost her life giving birth to my son. I have never fully recovered from her loss.”
Guilt instantly washed over her. “I’m sorry,” Lexie said sympathetically. “I didn’t realize?—”
He shook his head. “It was a long time ago, and yet, the grief still strangles me now and then as if the wound was as fresh now as it ever was.” He seemed to fall into some dark cavern in the recess of his mind for a moment, and then he recovered and turned his focus back to her. “What I’m trying to say is that when it comes to the all-consuming love that I discovered all those years ago, a man is likely unable to recover from the devastation should it occur. I don’t want to see the same thing happen to Avalon. He has done a lot of good for the people in the East End, although most of it was rumored to be in a bad light. The Blue Boys aren’t the ruffians that they portray themselves to be. If they rid the city of anyone, it is the dregs of society that are better served beneath the ground.”
She shuddered at the thought of anyone’s life coming to an end. “How can you say that? It was someone’s child, a son, a brother, a friend. And yet, no one thinks twice when it comes to deciding their future is not worth saving?”
He inclined his head. “What if it was your daughter, or sister, or friend who suffered at the hands of a man intent on rape? Or perhaps murdered someone you held dear for the sake of their own personal enjoyment? To me, that is just as wrong and you know that the courts aren’t always just.”
Lexie did know that. She had long understood that if there was wealth or prestige involved, the local magistrate was often inclined to look the other way. She sighed heavily. “I wish there was another way, some sort of justice system that could give everyone a fair trial. Let their peers decide their innocence.”
“I would be inclined to agree, and while I know you don’t approve of our methods, until that time passes, that is what the Blue Boys are here to do.”
Lexie looked out the window, feeling tears springing to her eyes for some reason.
“At least we have never employed a trial by ordeal, forcing the accused to hold a hot iron or dip them in water until they confess their sins. We deal with most criminals by humane methods and very rarely enact any sort of punishment that the local assizes couldn’t assign if it were ruled by someone who enacted judgments fairly. But the current rules have been in place for far too long. It’s time for a change.”
She turned her focus back to him. “In that regard, I do appreciate you trying to make London a better place for us all, and perhaps Avalon will use his persuasion in higher places to get others to listen to that same argument.”
As the carriage came rumbling to a halt, Amos glanced out the window. “You will understand if I can’t escort you to the front steps, but you will find your aunt’s townhouse is just a short distance away down the mews.”
She reached out a hand and set it on his arm. “I believe that you are a good man, Amos. I also know that you will take care of Dominic.” She decided not to dance around his true identity any longer, as he would soon be putting the former part of his life into the past where it belonged. “Bring him back to me.”
Amos seemed almost uncomfortable with the praise, but he gave a sharp nod and said, “I give you my word.”
As she stepped to the ground, he added, “I will make sure you make it inside without incident. By tonight, you can be assured there will be guards posted, but they won’t be noticeable by your aunt.”
Lexie shut the door and started walking back to the townhouse. The sun was just starting to slide onto the horizon. It had been a decidedly strange afternoon, to be sure. But while some of it was terrifying, like being shot at and hiding in a dark, cramped section of wall and hoping she wasn’t discovered, there was also the passionate encounter she’d shared with Dominic. Her body warmed just recalling the way his hands and mouth—and that gloriously wickedtongue—had worshipped her with such expertprecision. She was quite sure the experience would live in her dreams for many nights to come and would never fully fade.
As she made her way in the front door of the townhouse, her aunt immediately appeared in the foyer. “My God! Where have you been? You leave the house without a proper escort and hie off to Lord only knows where! Have you lost your senses?”
“I’m sorry, Aunt Bonnie.” Lexie hoped she offered the proper amount of the remorse that she wasn’t really feeling. “I merely wanted to walk for a while on my own without any distractions or concern for the time.”
Her aunt looked her over carefully from head to toe and noticed that her hair was down. “Where is your bonnet? And when did you remove your pins?”
Lexie almost lifted her hand and touched her bare head, but she refrained at the last moment. “I forgot it,” she lied smoothly. In truth, she hadn’t given it a care when she’d been intent on chasing down the duke. How much had transpired since then! “And I felt like being free, like I used to be in the village.”
“This is London, not some country hamlet,” her aunt chided. “You must learn to keep these fanciful daydreams to a minimum if you hope to ensnare a proposal from Lindley.”
For a moment, Lexie was sure her heart came to an abrupt halt. She had completely forgotten about the earl. But considering what had happened between her and Dominic, she could no longer pretend any sort of affection for the earl. Her aunt would be displeased to be sure, but it was a topic of conversation they would have at another time. Now certainly wasn’t it.
“You are fortunate we don’t have any plans this evening or I would be hard pressed to keep them for fear you would not be ready in time. Instead, I suggest you change for dinner. It will be ready shortly.”
With that, Bonnie flounced back the way she’d arrived and Lexie breathed a sigh of relief. She had managed to weather thestorm, but she couldn’t help but wonder what was brewing on the horizon.
Thunder shook the entire structure,but Dominic was oblivious to the rain pelting the window beyond his office at the Crown & Sceptre. Unfortunately, the storm had caused any search for his assailant that night to become a slow crawl, and he was starting to lose patience. Amos and the rest of the Blue Boys gang had thought it best that Avalon remained in public view until they apprehended the criminal. To be so brazen as to attempt murder in the middle of the afternoon, they were all unanimously convinced that someone had to have recognized the gunman, or else they could finally offer some valuable information that had been lacking until that point.
Dominic was a man of action. He wasn’t used to standing and cooling his heels, waiting for some sort of word. It made him restless, agitated. It was bad enough that his passions had yet to diminish toward Lexie and whenever he thought of her delectable body, the taste of her beneath his tongue, he groaned in frustration. He wished for this ordeal to be over if he had to walk out onto the street and open his arms wide and let the criminal finish what he’d started and put Dominic out of his misery. It would almost be preferable to standing there and wondering what Lexie was doing—and who was paying court to her.
He hadn’t had much luck investigating Lord Lindley except for the fact his father had recently passed, which everyone knew. He wanted to know if the earl had any dark secrets he could use against him, then Dominic would ensure Lindley was thoroughly warned away from the woman he was quickly starting to consider his. He had never cared much for other people encroaching on his property, and while he didn’t consider Lexiein the same category, he was determined that she would soon be his in every way that mattered.
But he could do nothing until he was free from this deadly threat. The idea that Lexie could have suffered a fatal injury because of the hatred one person held for him was not something he was comfortable with. He wouldn’t have been able to live with the guilt if the bullet had met its mark.
At least he knew that she would be safe for now. He had made sure that before Amos left Mayfair the two Runners he’d hired to watch over her were paid handsomely for their time. She would not be without protection. And when all of this was over, he would make sure she never had to suffer such chaos ever again.
A knock at the door had him turning expectantly, but it wasn’t Amos who entered, rather his son, Devon. The younger version of his father, Devon was just as loyal and could be counted on to assist Amos with the continued work in the East End once Dominic had stepped down from his duties.
“Nothing yet?” he asked.
