“Besides,” Wrath drawled from the side. “Mandeville is not without resources, Dansbury, as you well know. Are these not the same resources you are looking to weasel into?”
“His business dealings—”
“Are just business,” Wrath cut him off. “There will be many more.”
His jaw clenched until a vein pulsed in the side of his throat, but he didn’t counter Wrath’s words. When it came to Silkin and business, his temper threatened to get the better of him. He wasn’t losing this damn business, but Dansbury didn’t have to know that.
“You have two choices, Dansbury,” Julien drawled. “You can accept that your plan has failed, withdraw your niece from society for a season or two, or you can continue this charade, and I will dismantle you piece by bloody piece until there is nothing left of your dull life but ash.” He gave the man a hard look. “Do not overplay your hand.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Dansbury spat.
“Wouldn’t I?” Julien’s smile was ice. “I don’t take kindly to threats.” The vision of the wildflower’s heart-shaped face once again came to mind. “Coaxed perhaps.” He eyed the older man. “But only if you’re pretty. You’re not pretty.”
A tick jumped in Dansbury’s jaw before he managed a snake-like grin. “We’ll have to see, won’t we? We’ll meet again soon, Mandeville.”
“God, I hope not.”
Dansbury shot him a glare before turning on his heel and marching from the study.
The moment the man vanished through the door, Wrath turned to him, one brow arching to his hairline. “Only if you’re pretty?”
Julien snatched up the brandy and gulped down three swallows. What could he say? The man irked him.
Someone else is provoking you more.
He ignoredthatunwelcome voice in his head.
“This isn’t good, Mandeville. I told you he wouldn’t give up.”
“He has nothing.”
“He could have Lady Elowyn . . .”
Never. “She’s not informing anyone of our kiss.”
Wrath slanted him a dry look. “That wasn’t what I bloody meant.”
“Nevertheless.” The wildflower wasn’t going to be a problem. “A fact is a fact.”
Chapter 6
Elowyn drank in the swirl of dancers with glowing anticipation. Stagbourne was one of those dancers. All she had to do was step up to him after this dance ended and offer him her own dance card. The meaning would be abundantly clear. And, if he remained true to character, she would finally experience her first dance.
“I haven’t spotted her,” Persephone murmured softly from her side. “Lady Gabrielle is either fashionably late or not attending tonight. I wish Isadora was here. I can’t believe she came down with a cold.”
She loved her friend, but better her than Elowyn. “Don’t worry about Lady Gabrielle. She has nothing to do with me.” She considered all matters regarding the fox and the wolf settled.
“That still doesn’t stop me from worrying.”
Elowyn patted her friend’s arm. “You can worry if I worry, and I’m not worrying.” She was only dreaming. Dreaming of running from foxes, only to be saved by a wolf, and then devoured at his lair! She couldn’t remember a time when she had so many nightmares in one night. They seemed endless. Every time she closed her eyes, there was the wolf.
Persephone laughed. “It doesn’t work like that, my friend.”
“I know,” Elowyn murmured. “But think about it, why need me when she can simply attempt one of her traps again? It would be much easier.”
“I still can’t believe your luck,” Persephone muttered. “But don’t worry, I’ll do what I can to keep those vultures off your back if they dare any shenanigans.”
Elowyn smiled awkwardly. She hadn’t told her friends about the kiss after Mandeville left yesterday. She didn’t know why. All she knew was she wanted to keep the shameless, intoxicating stolen first kiss a secret that existed only between her and the duke. It might not have been the perfect kiss in the perfect setting, and it also might not have had any special meaning beyond sealing a deal, but it was her firstsecretkiss. A stolen one, a secret one, a first one, even a forbidden one, all in one.
