“You really did live up to the name. Ruined Celeste, Jane, and Abigail. Drove Tasia to drink. Ran Amanda out of the city. I’ll bet it has always grated that you have been unable to ruin me.”
She settled back in her guest chair, as if the hard back and seat were made of velvet instead of the purposely bony frame she favored—anything to keep her guests uncomfortable. “The coup de grace. The deviless. I was always flattered by the names you chose to call me. Drove Celeste crazy that you were angrier at me, even angrier at Abigail. Celeste always tried to think up new tortures to make you love her more.” She smiled fondly. “Celeste was always a bit mad.”
“She wasn’t the only one, was she?” He smiled coldly and flipped through the papers fisted in his hands. Bills, correspondence. Ah, a half-finished note to someone named Tom. He would have to investigate to see who Tom was—and how old he was. Damn his missing investigator. Too long missing for it to be a coincidence.
Her smile continued its sunny path. “No, I don’t believe she was. Jane is still a half step from Bedlam.”
“Jane is firmly six feet in the dirt.”
Her face froze, then recovered. “Gabriel, dear, have you been naughty?” Her eyes quickly scanned the desk.
He raised a brow. “Looking for something, Melissande?”
She smoothed a hand along the stomach of her dress, her figure impeccable, as it had always been. “Not at all.”
“No weapon with which to defend yourself? Do you think your viper tongue will save you?”
At one time he would have fiercely celebrated the look of unease that crossed her face. Now he was tired. And angry.
“I’ll bet you haven’t heard from Celeste in a while? Or Amanda. Or dear, dear Abigail.”
“What have you been up to, Gabriel? Truly living up to your name, are we? And here I thought you had always found it distasteful, despite your proclivities to help wretched souls too poor and desperate to deserve a second thought otherwise.”
He crossed his ankles on the desk. “My, my, quite out of the gossip here, aren’t you, Lady Dentry? Anastasia even made the headlines in London.” He dragged his heels across the documents on her desk, skewing them as he halfheartedly searched. “Not even a recent paper? Has Lord Dentry finally caught on to you?”
“You wish it were so, Gabriel.” She smoothed her hair, and he saw her surreptitiously glance around the room for something to aid her. She was far from stupid, and far, far from helpless despite her delicate looks and wide eyes. “My husband cares more for his political intrigues than his wife. He wouldn’t notice if I chose to sleep my way through the ranks of the ton.”
“You mean you haven’t?” He feigned shock. “I’m disappointed.”
She leaned forward. “Only theyoungmen, Gabriel. Though I will always make an exception for you. I hate to admit it to you, but youareunparalleled.” He watched how she leaned in, cocking her head just so, showing her best side.
Nausea stirred in him. He recognized that move. He had done it himself, just as he’d learned how to circle someone else and counter being circled. Something soul deep sickened at the realization. Other characteristics and gestures that he could identify marched through his head.
“You are next on the list, Lady Dentry.”
Her fingers gripped the arm of her chair, though she was trying to project ease. “I assume that is why you are here, Gabriel. You always did have such a flair for the dramatic.”
“I need the names of all the men who have received your ‘favor’ and perhaps been unhappy about it.”
She froze. Her fingers uncurled. “Dear Gabriel.” She laughed, relief flowing in her breezy voice. “You are here to save me. Oh how wonderful. The irony, the pain. Magnificent. Poor Abigail. Dead, you say? Pity. She would have reveled.”
It took everything he had to sit in the chair. To wait her out. He could leave her to it. Leave her to her much deserved death.
“A list, Lady Dentry.”
She leaned back, the relief strengthening her, and her innate confidence showing through. “Oh, but now that you are here and staying with me, we must renew our acquaintance. We have all the time in the world, Gabriel.”
He tossed the papers on the desk. “You have ten minutes. Then I walk out the door. I couldn’t care less if you live or if you die.”
She raised a brow. “Then you wouldn’t be here.”
“I’m not here foryou.”
She smiled. “Do you know that out of all the young men we took under our wings, you were one of the few that didn’t return.”
“Somehow I doubt that.”
“Some returned for more, slaves to our plans, two returned just so they could take their lives here. As some sort of statement. A deterrent to us? To me?” She waved a hand. “So messy, really. And Lord Dentry was not pleased.”
