No string ofcurses could suit the depth of Oliver’s fury.
Of all the moments to be interrupted in his whole entire life, this was the bloody worst. He was already struggling to breathe out the words in his heart, but nothing sobered a man up like a pistol pointed in the direction of the woman he loved.
He stepped so that his body shielded Louisa and said coldly, “Borrow me? You have some nerve on you, madam.”
“Would I have built an empire if I didn’t?” She gave a laugh that sounded more like a cackle. “The moment I saw the way you looked at my stepdaughter, I knew still had a chance.”
“You were acting earlier,” Louisa accused. “Playing along with Papa. You never had any intention of listening to him.”
“Listening to him? Do you mean being escorted to Bow Street without putting up a struggle of any sort? Do not make me laugh, child. All I had to do was wait for either you or your lover to take a step toward the other.”
“Papa dismissed all your people.”
The duchess scoffed. “There will always be one or two you never expect who slip through the cracks.”
Oliver scowled, every muscle taut, poised for action. “And what do you mean to do now?”
“I mean to retrieve my ledger and the betting book.”
The woman had more than nerve, she was downright mad. “I don’t have them,” Oliver said.
A small hand gripped the sleeve of his shirt. The touch was light, barely there, yet it sent a sharp current through him. He drew steadiness from that small gesture.
“Oh, I know,” the pistol shifted two inches and settled solely on him, “but you will take me to them.”
Ah, bloody hell. This woman wasn’t just downright mad, she had clearly lost all sense entirely.
So had someone else.
Louisa suddenly stepped in front of him, placing herself directly in the line of the pistol. “No, he will not.”
Oliver let out a foul curse.
“So brave for a child,” the duchess cooed. “But so naïve.”
Oliver gritted his teeth. “The books are on their way to Bow Street as we speak. If that is your desired destination, I do not mind taking you to your ledger.”
The duchess’s smile slipped. “You lie.”
“Whether I am lying or not, it’s the only destination I shall ever escort you to.”
Oliver calculated the distance between him and the woman. Three strides—no, four—and he would be able to wrestle the pistol from her.
Four steps . . .
He could risk two, but not four.
The betting book, strictly speaking,wason its way to his contact at Bow Street. The Talbot ledger, however, was not. Helgate still had it in his possession so that he could copy its pages, as he had done with the Havendish ledger. Also, Oliver would never send them both as a pair. This way, if there were trouble on the road, and something happened to one, they would still have the other. Quite frankly, these books had a way of getting themselves “lost”, if the betting book was anything to go by. It was the most damnable thing, and he wasn’t about to tempt fate by sending everything off to London at the same time.
“Well then,” the duchess said, cutting through the hush left in the wake of his words. “I shall just have to exchangeyoufor the ledger. I doubt Bow Street will have trouble handing over two books for the price of one duke.”
An oath shot through his mind. This woman was determined to take him. He could only pray that Helgate and Miles hadn’t left, and that they protected Louisa in his stead. “I will come with you—”
“Oliver!”
“—so long as Louisa remains unharmed.”
The duchess laughed mockingly. “How sweet the two of you are. Your father is going to lovethis, Louisa. Such ill-fated, doomed love.”
