“Selena!”
Selena turned back to Leonora at her sudden exclamation of glee. “What is it?”
Leonora pointed to the bottom of her empty glass.
Selena’s eyes widened. “You already finished it all?”
“Focus! Isn’t this the emblem you are searching for?”
“Let me see!” She snatched the glass from Leonora. Sure enough, there it was, etched on the bottom of the glass. She glanced at her full glass before gulping down the entire contents in one go. Her eyes fixed at the bottom until a clear imprint of roses and a sword appeared.
“Who is drinking too fast now?” Lenora asked dryly.
Selena swallowed the last sip, her mind still racing as she stared at the link she’d been hoping to find. “This is...”
“The exact same as the one on the Turkish trousers,” Leonora finished for her.
Excitement unfurled in Selena’s breast along with a small feather of trepidation. She had never been this close! But what would happen if she truly found the club? The location was rather unexpected... “Do you think this means the club owns this alehouse, or do they run a charity through the establishment, or do they use it for other purposes?”
“I’m not sure, but whatever their connection to this place, asking the barman about it will rouse their suspicions of us.”
Selena’s gaze followed Leonora’s to the man who served their drinks. He stood behind the bar, eyeing them with an expressionless stare. Another shiver shot down her spine. She had to agree with Leonora. He was one scary man.
And Warrick was not here.
They hadn’t informed anyone of their whereabouts, and for the first time that made Selena nervous.
She couldn’t believe she was about to admit this, even to herself, but she missed him. Not so much the man, but certainly his presence and the security it provided. She had let them both off easy with a claim of friendship. But Warrick had never been her friend. He was her brother’s friend. And she knew he’d never seen her as anything but her brother’s sister. Then he kissed her, and she kissed him back, and now the relationship had moved into uncharted territory.
She no longer knew who he was to her just as he didn’t know who she was to him, but she did know she missed him.
She gave another quick look at the barman, who resumed his duties.
“We might have stumbled onto something,” Selena said softly.
“Are you nervous?” Leonora asked, matching her tone.
Selena nodded. “Whatever we stumbled onto, let us hope we can stumble right back out.”
*
“You lowly blackguard!”
Warrick was rudely awakened by the door slamming against the wall, and Saville, who burst into his bedchamber, his face flushed with anger. What was with these siblings, entering his chamber as they pleased? No, the better question was what was wrong with his servants allowing them to enter in the first place? There were rules in households. Show the guests to the parlor. Inform the host. How damn difficult was that?
He squinted that the fire-breathing Saville. “What did you just call me?”
“You kissed my sister!”
That one sentence was like a cold bucket of water splashed all over Warrick’s face and jolted him from his sleepiness, yet also left him paralyzed.
Saville ripped the covers from the bed. “Do you dare deny it?”
Warrick rubbed his temples as he sat up. How the hell had Savile found out? He couldn’t know for certain. “Where did you hear such a rumor?”
“Rumor, my arse! I saw it with my own eyes.”
“Impossible.”
