Page 8 of A Raven Returns
“How the hell did you hear that? I’ve only been back five minutes.”
“It’s only to your detriment to underestimate the speed at which gossip can travel through a household.”
“Apparently.”
“Who is she? Because I know she isn’t your mistress.”
“It’s Gwen.”
Fogg’s brow furrowed deeply. “Gwen? Lady Raven Gwen?YourGwen?”
“She’s notmyGwen,” Ash spat.
Fogg held up his hands. “Apologies, boss, I didn’t mean to insinuate anything.”
Ash glared at Fogg. The man was far too perceptive for his own good. Of course he would have known Gwen was something special. She always had been, from the moment she’d tried to pick his pocket. His heart ached at the memory. It felt so long ago now.
“Yes, that Gwen.”
Fogg’s eyes narrowed. “What is she doing here?”
Ash stepped out of the tub and began drying off. Even the hot bathwater couldn’t chase away the icy cold inside these walls. Or perhaps these walls just made it emanate from within him. Ash shrugged. “I don’t know exactly. I found her in a hunting cabin, sheltering from the rain.”
“I don’t like a coincidence,” Fogg said quietly, his brows plunged into a deep vee.
“Neither do I. I will need your help with something concerning her, as well, but for now, tell me what you were able to discover while I was discommoded.”
“Well, your estate manager has certainly made himself at home in your study, which was helpful of him. He obviously thought you’d never return. Full ledgers of his activities, just sitting in unlocked drawers. I still don’t fully understand all the details. There’s definitely some theft, as you suspected, but there also seems to be some kind of blackmail scheme?”
“Blackmail? Who is he blackmailing? And for what?”
“That’s what I don’t know, I’m afraid.”
“The tenants?”
“I don’t think it can be. The sums are far too great. I’ll need to reach out to some of my contacts and see what they can dig up. But there’s something else.”
Fogg’s pause was not a good sign. “What?”
“I believe he is somehow connected to the robbery.”
“This robbery?” Ash pointed to the healing scar above his knee.
Fogg nodded grimly. “We knew it wasn’t random, but I didn’t think a connection would show up here. It’s just too much of a coincidence to find information about your club in a desk drawer in this house, for your manager to not be involved in some way.”
Ash sighed loudly and scrubbed his hands against his face. “Well, since you’ll be reaching out to your network, have a look through the letters you pulled out of my coat pocket.”
Fogg opened the pages and read through them, his eyes growing wider with each passing line.
“Gwen?”
Ash nodded. “I need to know everything there is to know about that man so I can destroy him.” He might have been too young to protect his mother and brother, but he was no longer that scared boy. Now, he would do whatever was necessary to protect the people around him. That man would die for what he did to Gwen.
Fogg gave a single nod and slipped the pages into his own breast pocket. He obviously hadn’t missed the barely bridled anger in Ash’s voice.
“If I leave, who’s going to see to you?” Fogg asked. “I’m still not sure who you can trust here, and you can’t very well be the despotic Lord Ashdown without a valet.”
“I have someone in mind. Benson was my father’s valet until he one day refused to continue administering my beatings and my father threw him out.”
