Page 35 of Forgery, Love, and Other Lies
“You are looking like you want to kick something or someone.” Theo, of all people, spoke from right beside him.
Zander kept his gaze trained on the crowd, searching for the one face he hoped would appear—the dowager. “I do rather. Kicking something would be a great step up in the world for me. What are you doing here?”
“I’m on the hunt for a patron.”
A decidedly feminine clearing of the throat followed Theo’s proclamation.
Zander finally looked over at his brother to see he had a woman draped on one arm.
“Hello,” Zander said, irritation dissipating. “And who are you?”
“Zander, meet Lady Cordelia Trent. One of our dear papa’s leeches. The one with the house.”
“Not for long,” Lady Cordelia said, “and not tonight. Tonight, I’m your mistress.”
Theo bit off a curse. “You’re here to find another protector.”
Lady Cordelia gave a saucy smile and winked. “Is that what we’re calling it?”
Zander whistled and took another look at the lady.
She was tall and statuesque, nearly perfectly proportioned in every way, and her thick Titian hair was piled high on her head in elaborate ringlets. A golden domino covered the top half of her face, leaving open for everyone’s observation only a pair of plump, deep-red lips. A breathtakingly beautiful woman, yet… Zander still possessed his breath. Seemed only tiny art forgers could steal it these days.
“Are you positive she’s an artist?” Zander asked. “Looks like she’s the art.”
Lady Cordelia’s eyes danced behind her domino. “Thank you, Lord Lysander.”
“Don’t humor her,” Theo said.
“Look, Theo…” Zander leaned in close. “You’re not really trying to find her a… protector in that sense, are you?”
“Of course not. She merely delights in infuriating me.” A statement made of sharp teeth to crush bone.
“If you didn’t make the activity so diverting, I wouldn’t do it so often.” Lady Cordelia’s red brow lifted above her mask.
Theo’s jaw clenched enough to make dust of his teeth.
“How did an earl’s daughter come to be… essentially… my father’s ward, Lady Cordelia?” Zander asked.
She shrugged, her jaw as hard as Theo’s. “I’m sure you have assumptions.” She looked out over the crowd with a sigh. “He saved me. Your family is not the only one capable of falling on hard times.”
“Fair,” Zander said. “Father had a soft heart. And an eye for beauty.”
“Zander,” Theo barked, “are you here on behalf of a client?”
Lady Cordelia jumped, hands clutching her belly.
Zander chuckled. His brother lacked conversational finesse. And patience. “No. I’m here on behalf of myself.” And the fabulous little forger he was trying to forget. “Do you have any idea how this event is supposed to work?”
Theo shrugged and looked to Lady Cordelia.
She shrugged too. “I know no useful information, but I certainly plan on discovering some.” She dragged her gaze down Theo’s body. “Do you have any…informationI could discover, Lord Theodore?”
“You’re driving me mad,” Theo mumbled. “Don’t say such things in public.”
“In private, though…” she purred.
“Not then either! There is noin private.”
