“I didn’t tell her,” he said calmly.
“And that’s not all! What of Stuart? Granted, he is a complete nincompoop, but...what did you say?” She stopped and let her finger fall from his chest. “What do you mean you didn’t tell her? That’s worse! That means that someone else told her, which means that everyonewillknow!”
Unable to control his laughter any longer, he chuckled. He was immediately rewarded with another thump to his chest. “You were angry that I told her, and now you are angry because I wasn’t the one who told her.”
“Gray, this is no laughing matter!”
He took her hands in his before she did more damage to his entrails. “Jenna, she doesn’t know.”
“But...”
He laid a finger over her lips. “You’ve said enough. It’s my turn to speak.” He guided her over to an armchair and firmly pushed her down into it. She glared up at him, and he suppressed the urge to chuckle again. “Lady Lockhart wasn’t referring to our affair, Jenna.”
“But...”
He stopped her with a pointed stare. “Let me finish.” To his satisfaction, she pinched her lips shut and waited expectantly. “I spoke to Lady Lockhart this morning about the children’s home. She is a frequent contributor, and I mentioned that you had visited and that you planned to volunteer some time as well. She knows how important the home is to me, and I confess, I smiled quite a bit while talking about you.”
He watched the slow realization creep into her eyes. “Oh,” she said. A flush crawled close behind. “Oh, how silly of me.” She rose in consternation, refusing to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry.” She twisted her hands in front of her, her discomfort more evident with each passing second. Clearing her throat, she said in a low voice, “Pardon my intrusion, I must be getting back. I hadn’t planned to come after all.”
“Jenna, don’t,” he began, but she ran out the door. Pausing only to pull on an overcoat, he strode after her.
He took the stairs two at a time on his way down, and met Masterson in the foyer. “Where did she go?” he demanded.
“I tried to stop her, sir, but she was most insistent. I offered to have your carriage take her home, but she said she hadn’t time.”
“How did she get here?”
“A hack, sir, but it left shortly after she arrived.”
“You mean she is walking home?” Stubborn woman. Their agreement was that she was never to walk home. Even in Mayfair, the streets weren’t safe after dark. Throwing open the door, he hurried out to the street and walked in the direction of Jenna’s home.
He rounded the block when a scream turned his blood cold. It was Jenna. Fear swept over him even as rage fueled his steps. He broke into a run, pounding the cobblestone street with his boots. Ahead, the shadows of two men came into view. One held Jenna’s arm. The other gripped Jenna’s neck in his beefy hand.
With a roar, he lunged for the men. Taken by surprise, the man holding Jenna’s arm dropped it and stumbled back. Gray connected with the man at her throat, and the two rolled onto the street.
The attacker reeled from the punch Gray threw at his jaw, and made no effort to retaliate. He barked an order to the other man, and they scrambled away into the night.
Gray picked himself up and rushed over to Jenna. He gently assisted her up from where she sat slumped on the ground. “Are you all right?” he asked urgently. His heart hammered in his chest, and he fought the urge to crush her to him.
“Y-yes,” she stammered. Her voice shook with fright.
He pulled her closer to the streetlamp so he could see for himself that she was unharmed. Anger tore through his gut when he saw her torn bodice. Her shaking hand dropped to the panel of material that drooped over her breasts. “They wanted my locket,” she whispered.
“What locket?”
“The locket I was wearing. They tore it from my neck, but it fell when you surprised them.” Her voice shook more with each word she spoke. “There, on the street.” She pointed to an object almost hidden in the shadows.
He went over and bent to retrieve it. “I’m afraid it’s broken.” He walked back over and handed it to her. “Come, I need to get you home.”
“But you can’t,” she protested. “I mean, you can’t be seen taking me home.”
“I’ll be damned if I allow you to return home alone.” He didn’t care if the whole of bloody Mayfair assembled on the street corner to watch them, he wasn’t allowing her out of his sight until he knew she was safe.
“Who is likely to be home now?” he asked, taking her elbow and helping her down the street.
“No one, well, my brothers are out. My servants are all there.”
“Do you trust them?”
