“Fine, but please take care of your safety.”
“Oh, you do not have to worry about me, Duke.”
She could hold her own.
*
Warrick hadn’t lostan arm.
Neither had he escaped this godforsaken place. But that didn’t stop him from continuing to try. His wrists burned, but just a little more loosening and he would be able to free his hands. They had been stuck in this room for hours on end. His arms hurt. His legs hurt. And his arse had finally lost all feeling. And damn it, worry clamped his gut tightly.
“She must have a plan...” Not knowing Selena’s plan, her whereabouts, her doings, however, drove him damn near insane. This was the first time in weeks he hadn’t received any report on her. The first time he had felt truly separated from her. Even when she’d rejected him over and over, he hadn’t felt as distant as he did sitting here tied to a chair.
“Who?” Saville asked. “My sister?”
“Yes. There must be a reason she didn’t go to that meeting.”
“She will show up for me,” Saville said, a hint of pride lacing his voice.
“You sound supremely optimistic, yet I’m not so sure. Selena is no simpleminded woman. She also doesn’t think like your average lady.” She didn’t accept things for what they were. She loved to challenge. She loved to defy.
“She will probably convene all the heiresses to deal with this club and cause another scandal,” Saville remarked.
Maybe. “But this is no simple club, either.”
Saville cracked a mocking smile. “You only realized this now?”
“No, I’ve thought so for a while,” Warrick admitted. “Ever since I found Selena in a tavern on the docks. One they presumably own.”
“Tavern?” Saville shot a glare his way. “My sister? When the hell was this?”
“Does it matter at this point?” It was all in the past.
“I am throttling you both when we settle this madness. A tavern? What the devil was she thinking?” Dark eyes narrowed on him. “Was Lady Theodosia there, too?”
“Wouldn’t you know if she had been?”
“Not necessarily. The chit commissioned a girl with similar features to lead me around the nose for an entire day. Who knows how many times she made a fool of me.”
“And you fell for that?” He wondered ifhehad fallen for that, too. No. He didn’t believe he would ever mistake Selena for anyone else.
“They looked alike,” Saville defended.
“Very well, they looked alike.”
Saville’s stomach gave a loud growl. He let out a deep sigh. “Hungry.”
“Why didn’t you eat the sandwiches they brought earlier?” Warrick sent a sidelong glance his friend’s way.
“Why didn’t you?” Saville shot back. “Have a stranger feed me? No thank you.”
Yes, Lady Ridgeland had gone out of her way to make a mockery of them, demanding they open their mouths and say “ah.” Feed them? Who did she imagine they were? He’d rather starve to death than take a morsel of food from her hand.
The door opened and soft laughter followed.
As expected, the moment you talk of the devil it appears.
“Do you have a damn ear to the door, madam?” Saville echoed his sentiments.
