Marietta heard the scrape of chairs, the footsteps across the floor. She ran back to the kitchen.
Alcroft appeared in the door a few moments later, surprise on his face to see her. “Miss Winters.”
Jeremy appeared behind him. “Marietta, we thought you’d left.”
She could hear the front door close. Gabriel and his father leaving on their task. To see the woman who had spearheaded the club. To save the woman who had abused him.
“No.” She met Jeremy’s eyes. “Tell me how I can help.”
Chapter 18
“Icould hardly believe my ears, but here you are.”
Gabriel said nothing as the blond, willowy woman walked through the door. Icy, amused eyes took him in from tip to stern.
“You look as delicious as the last time I saw you, Gabriel. What has it been, a year now?”
“About.”
“Still as vocal as always.” She laughed lightly as she stroked a hand along the brocade of a chair.
He watched her, leaning lazily against the wall, his indolent posture at odds with his heightened alertness. All emotions concerning Marietta pushed far below the surface—too easily used as weapons otherwise. “I see no reason to be loquacious with you.”
“Oh, Gabriel.” She walked to him. “Is that any way to speak to an old friend?”
“You are hardly a friend, Melissande.”
“Mmmm…come, have a seat.”
He waited for her to move toward the desk before he pushed away from the wall. A few steps before she reached her desk she pivoted, smoothly turning into him, close enough to touch. He repressed the urge to clap at her strategy.
“Have you grown, Gabriel, since we last met?”
“Met? Is that your way of saying the last time you crawled into my town house, begging for me to pay you some attention?”
A laugh bubbled past her lips, her eyes glittering and focused. “You were always my favorite, Gabriel.”
Smarmy bitch.
“The only one to give me a marvelous chase.”
“I don’t recall there being much of a chase.”
“Chasing doesn’t always mean in the physical sense.” She tapped a long perfect finger against a button on his shirt. “Much too plebeian. No, the emotional element has always been more satisfying. The true test of character—who breaks last.”
She moved to circle him. He walked forward and sat behind her desk, in her chair. He idly picked up a handful of documents, then put his feet on the edge.
He could see her lips pucker. She strode to the desk and sat in the chair on the other side. “I’ve taught you well, Gabriel.”
“How to be a conniving bitch? Well, I can’t let you take full credit. But have at it, please.” He waved a hand over the papers.
“Though your manners have fallen.”
“What are a few emotional acts of violence among friends, really?”
Her smile was tight. “Our little avenging angel.”
He forced his muscles to relax. Her smile turned to satisfaction.
