“Weren’t you walking with a man?” She looked Gabriel over. “Oh. Must have been a different man.”
“Are you calling her a whore again? Are you sure you are a lady?”
“My father’s Lord First Tercake!”
“I’m not familiar with the name. Is he in the trade?”
“No!”
Gabriel rocked on his heels. “Then why would I care?”
“Why am I bothering! You are nothing.” She seemed to have gotten past his face and looked at his clothes, his dock worker apparel. Unfortunately, her cheeks were still bright and she’d made a fool of herself over him already.
“And you.” She pointed at me. “Don’t show your face at our door asking for help.”
She marched away. Gabriel watched her go. I watched Gabriel.
“Cousin? I see why you picked a stranger to help.” He looked back to me, his eyes unreadable. “Come. Let’s go home.”
Chapter 14
MARIETTA
I flipped through the last five issues ofTheGilded Guardian. There were plenty of articles and opinions about my brothers working together on their murder spree. Mostly ugly ones like Felicity had crowed about, but a few had crept in, scattered throughout, proclaiming doubt—describing a few instances where one or the other was at a party or function and couldn’t have been out murdering women. Nathaniel Upholt was the journalist responsible for most of the positive ones.
There was a week left until the trial would begin. Not much time to sway the tide.
I darted a look around the kitchen to make sure Gabriel hadn’t popped in. I’d heard cats that were louder when they pawed across a floor. I pulled the journal from beneath a pile of papers. I had stolen it from his room again. This time from behind the door. I’d almost missed it after a thorough search. Clever man.
M.N.’s husband returns tonight, and with him come his personal servants and guard. M.N. says we need to reinstill the need for total silence in our little avenger. This is a dangerous night. One wrong word and our house of cards may fall. But not without the ruin of our little avenger’s family. Total ruin and persecution, what music to my ears.
If I weren’t so smitten by our little avenger, I might do it just to see the pain in his gorgeous eyes. I so enjoy watching others fall. It reminds me of what my mother always used to tell me—that others are born to serve our whims. That we are born to make, use, and cut the strings of all. That pawns are for sacrifice.
I twirled a lock of hair around my finger as I read. It was all so deliciously awful. That these were a person’s real thoughts.
The back door opened. I jerked forward in my seat, spilling my cup of water over the end of the table. Hastily shoving the book beneath a pile of papers, I dropped my elbow on top, hand under my chin.
“You look as if you’ve been caught with your fingers in the cook’s pie.”
Relief made me droop. “Oh, thank goodness. Lucian, what are you doing here?” I mopped up the water.
“Dropping by to see how my favorite brother and his favorite client are doing.” He flashed a winning smile and sat across from me.
I arched a brow. “I’m sure. He is your only brother, is he not?”
He waved a hand, his smile growing. “Small quibbles, small quibbles.”
I folded my hands, desperate to keep reading the journal. I could only read it when Gabriel was out of the house, and he’d only stepped out for a moment. He would invariably find the journal and hide it again. I was surprised he hadn’t burned it—he seemed to take perverse pleasure in shoving it into dark corners. He had taken to concealing it with magic. It made good practice for my strengthening veins—still sensitive and opening.
Repetition was key.
“How is the search going?” Lucian leaned back in his chair, a younger and cockier version of Gabriel.
I needed to hide the blasted thing now that Lucian was clearly settling in for a long visit. It lay perilously close to where he sat. “Gabriel said there was a hit on the marker I placed. He is verifying it with his source.”
