Page 68 of Scandalous: Family Ties and Spies

“What boarding house,” Ellerbie snapped.

“Maud’s place. But I don’t see why it’s any of your business.”

“Maud’s?” Suspicion still evident in the man’s voice, Ellerbie leaned forward in a menacing fashion. “That’s where I was headed. How is it I ain’t seen you before?”

“How often do you share Maud’s bed?” Valeran sneered.

“What?” the man exclaimed, then began to laugh. “Do you mean to tell me you’re actually fucking the woman?”

“I didn’t say anything at all.” Valeran waved his hand at the man dismissively and started heading in the direction Ellerbie had been walking. “And I’m too fucking tired to stand here arguing with some idiot when there’s a warm pair of thighs willing to part for me.”

“Bloody hell, man,” Ellerbie said with a bit of admiration. “Maud don’t part her legs for just anyone.”

Valeran didn’t answer, he simply kept walking toward the boarding house. More than a month ago, when he’d realized Ellerbie was rooming at Maud Baker’s place, Valeran had been elated. Maud was one of the section’s informants, and he’d paid her a visit to make arrangements for just this kind of situation. After a sizeable number of pound notes, he’d made arrangements to have a key to her private rooms in case he ever needed to use it.

Tonight was the first time he’d been forced to use Maud as an explanation for following Ellerbie. His mouth twisted with disgust. Jamie was right. He was becoming sloppy. A year ago, the bastard would never had heard him behind him. His prey came up alongside him and nudged him cheerfully in the arm.

“So tell me, what’s the woman like in bed? Does she purr like a kitten or roar like a lioness in heat?”

Disgusted by the question, Valeran almost halted in mid-stride to drop the man to the rough cobblestones before kicking Ellerbie’s head in. Hatred surged up inside Valeran. If he didn’t need to hear that second voice so badly, he would have dragged the bastard into the nearest dark alley and beat him until the murderous fuck no longer drew a breath. Years of pent-up rage almost escaped its chains, but he drew back in time before doing something stupid.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” Ellerbie said cheerfully.

“No.”

“You’re like my old buddy, Jake O’Connor. He didn’t like to talk none either.”

“But you do.”

His words were tight with a restraint Ellerbie would have thanked God for if he’d known how badly Valeran wanted to choke the life out of him. The man laughed, then slapped him on the back.

“I like you, mate. You’re the kind of bloke who can keep a secret. Me best friend, Jake, was like that. The man upped and died of a heart attack, the sorry bastard. But I still miss him.”

At Ellerbie’s statement, Valeran stumbled over a cobblestone, and Ellerbie caught his arm to steady him. Disappointment pounded viciously into his muscles. Jake was the name he’d heard Ellerbie use the day the two men murdered his family. The second voice he’d been waiting weeks to hear would never speak again. Still dazed by the revelation, Valeran almost missed seeing the square-shaped sign hanging on the wall outside Maud’s establishment.

Climbing the three steps into the boarding house, Valeran fumbled in his pocket for the key to Maud’s private rooms. Eager to be done with Ellerbie’s company, the feel of metal against his fingers came as a relief, and he slid the key into the lock. Ellerbie gave him another congenial pat on the back, as Valeran pushed open the door to Maud’s rooms.

“Enjoy those thighs, mate. Give the woman a little poke from me as well, and if she ever wants to be the butter in a sandwich, I’m more than happy to oblige.”

Valeran battled not to drag the man into Maud’s dwellings and release his rage as he beat the man to death. Instead, he muttered an abrupt good night and closed the door to Maud’s apartment in the man’s face. Staggering forward a few feet, he bounced his shin up against a heavy chair and uttered a low curse of pain.

“I’ll thank ye not to abuse me furniture, Mr. Trotter.” Maud said with amusement as she stepped out of her bedroom.

“I’m not abusing the furniture,” he said with restrained violence as he sank down into the chair then bent at the waist to rub his leg.

“My, your a bit tetchy tonight, ain’t you,” Maud chuckled. “You sound like a man in need of a woman.”

“I have a woman,” Valeran snapped.

“Do you now, she must be pretty or you’d have already asked me whether it costs extra to keep my bed warm.”

“All I want is to sit here for a little while, Maud,” Valeran rasped as he struggled not to insult or even threaten the woman. He couldn’t afford to lose a valuable asset. “Then I’ll be on my way.”

“Well, if you change your mind. I’ll let you warm my bed for free.”

“Thank you for the offer, but—”

“You already have a woman,” Maud sighed before he heard the boarding house owner return to her bedroom.