Page 22 of A Rescue by the Rakish Duke
Everyone around Damian knew how to tread carefully.
His eyes snapped back to Evan, and he could feel his expression hardening. “Focus on the task at hand. You know that we cannot afford to make mistakes.”
“I understand, Your Grace. We are close.”
Damian knew he was the one who was distracted, but he would give up the whole of Greyvale before he admitted that—which would never happen.
Evan tilted his head to the side as he noticed Damian growing more distracted, but he knew better than to question him.
It was why Damian liked dealing with him. They kept things simple.
It seemed that the study had become cloaked in shadow, with the crackling fire the only source of light in the room when Evan unrolled a piece of parchment over the ledger on Damian’s desk.
Damian scanned the document and his records, his face as still as stone.
“Montrose’s funds are as filthy as the man himself,” Evan began, his voice low. “Most of them come from rigging games at Devil’s Draw. His influence there is absolute—enough to keep his hands clean while his men do the dirty work. That, you already know. He’s been taking fortunes from unsuspecting fools. Rumor has it that anyone who questions him vanishes.”
“And Montrose’s ledger? Does it confirm his dealings?”
Evan nodded, after exhaling deeply. He seemed to be trying to keep his emotions in control. “It does. Every bribe, every rigged game, and—would you believe it—every crooked deal… it’s all in there. But he’s clever. It must be hidden well. He knows how much it’s worth.”
“It’s worth his reputation among the ton. It’s worth everything,” Damian said with a grim smile. “Not clever enough, though. He depends too much on one ledger, and once we have it, it’s over for him. His allies will turn against him.”
Evan hesitated, his keen eyes studying him. “There’s something else, Your Grace. Montrose isn’t just rigging games and smuggling goods. He, uh, tried to sell the duchess to one of his associates before you got married.”
“You heard this from where?” Damian asked warily.
“From my reliable sources.”
“So, everything seems to be out in the open,” Damian murmured. “I know about this, Evan. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, but I foolishly believed him when he said it was a family affair, and this particular crime was at least secret among a few of his associates.”
“Montrose is dangerous. You’ve always known that, Your Grace. We need to be methodical if we must take him down. A man like him will not fall easily, and therefore, we can’t afford to make mistakes.”
“Tell me everything,” he demanded in the cold voice he was known for.
Evan leaned forward, his tone shifting into a more professional one. Damian knew that his man had felt the change in him. Distractions had been discarded in favor of revenge.
It felt so close and yet so far.
“The plan is simple,” Evan began. “We sneak into the abandoned estate where the ledger is hidden. It is not heavily guarded, but we still have to tread carefully. We do it after dark. We have a contact in Jimmy’s gang who has provided us with a map of the grounds, but it is best to study it beforehand.”
“And the ledger?”
“It’s hidden in Montrose’s private study,” Evan replied. “We need to search for a secret panel.”
Damian considered this, his mind racing through the plan’s logistics. “Montrose will retaliate,” he concluded after a moment. “Once he realizes that we’ve taken the ledger, he’ll come after us—and after the duchess.”
“Then we don’t give him the chance,” Evan said. “Once we have the ledger, we’ll hand it to the authorities. That way, he’d be too busy saving himself from ruin.”
Damian’s gaze hardened. “He won’t escape. Not this time. I want him ruined, Evan. I want him to feel the desperation and loss that his victims had felt, and I don’t want him to make anyone suffer ever again!”
Evan nodded. “That’s certainly the plan, Your Grace.”
For a moment, neither spoke. They silently mulled over the plan they had decided on. It was not going to be easy. Things could go wrong.
“Two days,” Damian declared, breaking the silence. “We leave in two days. Evan, ensure that everything is in place and that our man will not betray us.”
Evan carefully gathered the parchment. “Everything will be. However, Your Grace, the duchess?—”
