“Say something, Caro,” Gavin implored, shaking her from the tumult of her thoughts.
“Thank you. I am glad you did not hit him. He is a lord, and it would not have gone well for you if you had done that.”
“He is a fucking swine, is what ’e is.”
The vehemence in Gavin’s voice, the epithet, and the droppedhtold her just how distraught he was. It also told her that more of him was returning. Her time with him was limited. So terribly, horribly limited.
What will happen if he remembers everything tonight? Tomorrow?
She tried to shake the questions from her mind, but they remained, probing, mocking.
I will lose him. I will lose him, but he will regain himself.
“You must not worry yourself over it,” she said, reaching for his fists, taking them in her hands. “Nothing happened.”
“But it bloody well could have. Where was everyone who’s meant to be protecting you, damn it?” Fury still emanated from him, but he did not pull away from her touch, and gradually, his hands relaxed, his fingers lacing through hers.
“Why were you in the private room?” she asked, needing to distract him as much as she needed to distract herself. “You never said.”
Color swept over his high cheekbones, and she realized it was the first time she had ever witnessed him flush. “I wanted to hear you sing, but I was too late. All I saw was that whoreson molesting you.”
He was so sweet, her Gavin. Even if he could never truly be hers. Could she not pretend? At least for this evening, while they still had time and each other?
“I will sing for you if you like,” she offered. “Come to my chamber again tonight.”
His gaze darkened to vibrant, emerald green, and heat flared in her belly. “That’s an invitation I can’t resist.”
And that was when she realized she wanted to give him more than a song. She wanted to give him herself, her body. He already owned her heart.
“Meet me there in an hour’s time?” She tried to smile past the sudden rush of yearning tearing through her.
That ought to be sufficient time to remove her revealing gown and don something of her own. She also didn’t dare any of her siblings or the guards catching sight of Gavin entering her chamber with her.
“There is nowhere I would rather be. But first, we are going to see your brother, Caro.”
He had not surrendered his need to speak with Jasper, it would seem. That was just as well, because she needed to speak to Jasper about Lord Derby’s conduct. She feared for Pen and for the ladies in their employ.
“We will go together,” she agreed, though she knew Jasper would be outraged when he discovered Gavin had been in the public rooms.
Facing her brother alone just now felt too daunting, and Gavin wore the expression of a man who would not be swayed.
“Together.” The smile Gavin bestowed upon her made her heart ache. “I like the sound of that.”
So did she.
Far, far too much.
But she did not say that, because she was going to revel in every moment she could still pretend Gavin Winter was hers.
* * *
He was beginningto dislike Jasper Sutton.
He was also beginning to dislike the guards at The Sinner’s Palace, one of whom was currently planted before the door to Sutton’s office and pinning him with a stern glare.
“We need to speak with Miss Sutton’s brother,” he repeated. “Hell, not necessarily even this one. Any of them. Someone needs to know what happened tonight.”
The guard looked distinctly unimpressed. “What ’appened?”
