He was…utterlymagnificentin the warm evening sunlight. The dimness of the study had hidden the richness of his dark brown hair; streaks of faded chestnut threaded through its thick waves.
His aquiline nose and firm jaw looked as if they had been chiseled by a master hand, and his eyes… they weren’t brown, but an extraordinary shade of honey-brown, almost like whisky. His beauty was… mesmerizing. His arrogance, not so.
“You plan to use me, and then what?” she said stiffly. “Toss me back to Carrington?”
His stony, impenetrable gaze felt as if it were penetrating her layer by layer. Shivers gripped her heart. No one had ever looked at her this way before, no one had ever made her feel bare and flayed apart—not in the best way.
“After I get what I want, whatyoudo is none of my concern,” he replied.
Frustration smoldered in her chest. “I suppose I should not have expected any decency from a man like you.”
His brow cocked up. “Sweetling, there are no men like me.”
“There arealwaysmen like you,” she huffed. “Only out for yourself. You are a selfish, sanctimonious, jackanape.”
His mouth tilted down. “That is not even close to what I am.”
“What are you then?” she asked. “Who are you, and how do you know so much about me?
Leaning in, he, with deliberate impudence, tucked her hair behind her ear, his knuckles grazing her cheek. Ellie jerked her head away to mask the sudden shiver that wracked through her… but she could not hide the gooseflesh that peppered her skin.
His smirk told her he’d seen it. “There’s little I don’t know about you, little mouse,” he murmured. “The sooner you understand that, the better things will go for you.”
After the last customer had left the next morning, Dorian had planned on going over the books of the club, when Nathan waltzed through his doors, as easy as he pleased, opened the bottle of sherry at his bar, and poured a glass.
Dorian watched him with a cocked brow while twiddling his pen. When he turned, he said, “Please, step into my hallowed abode. If you would like, please make a drink for yourself and regale me with all your troubles.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Nathan chimed across from him and swirled his drink. “First, I would advise you to avoid Carrington for the next few days. The man is fit to be tied.”
“Really?” Dorian reached for that month’s reports. “And why is that? I thought he would be in wedded bliss with his new wife by now.”
“Hisnew wifewas secreted away before he arrived at the church.” Nathan lifted a nonchalant shoulder. “He is blaming the parents, and the parents are blaming her friends, while her friends are blaming him for trickery.”
Snorting, Dorian replied, “Maybe the lady realized life would be better off living without that bastard.”
Nathan set the drink to the side, his expression shifting to serious. “Beaumont, let’s get down to grass tacks. You are egging Sterling on, so he does something rash, and you have proper reason to tear him down. We all know it. Sterling does too.”
Giving up the pretense of working, Dorian leaned into his chair and drummed his fingertips on the edge of its armrest. “If I am that transparent, why doesn’t Sterling evict me from his presence already?”
“The same thing he drummed into your head when you were his running boy,” Nathan said. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Besides, your club is a contender, and he hates being overlooked or admitting to being outplayed.”
Pressing the tight knot at the back of his neck, Dorian replied, “In his bid to be accepted by the ton, Sterling has lost touch with those who have been around him for years. He has not stepped foot in the stews he once held with an iron fist, nor does he care to use proper management with his club.”
“As long as he is in the tooth, he is still the undisputed king of the underworld,” Nathan cautioned. “You might need to watch your step. He sees you pulling away from his club as a betrayal of the highest order, and I would not be astonished if he strikes back.”
“I’ve already prepared for that,” Dorian waved a hand.
Leaning forward, Nathan pinned Dorian with his sharp gaze, a look he reserved for the men in his solicitor’s office. “Why are you after himnow?”
Be in control. See to your own interests. Reward loyalty… and punish betrayal.
At the thought of Sterling’s betrayal, a muscle ticked in his jaw. Maybe it was time to lay some of his cards on the table. “I know you, he and Portsmouth are the Three Serpents of London. You all control parts of the underground.”
“And you want in,” Nathan replied, unfazed as any trained lawyer would be.
“Yes,” Dorian replied.But only insomuch as to get information on Edgar Beaumont, my father’s thieving brother, who has conveniently disappeared in the last four years. I have no interest in controlling mudlarks or women of the night.
“And that is the reason for needling Sterling?” Nathan sat back in his chair.
