Page 32 of Dare to Love a Duke
Her eyes went wide as color leeched from her face. She stared at him for a long time, and then she lifted her hand as though she meant to touch him. But her fingers curled into a fist and she lowered it to her side. Yet she didn’t unclench her hand.
They both went motionless with shock as the air vibrated with tension.
“Tom?” Her voice was barely a whisper. “You’re... the Duke of Northfield’s son? You are the duke now?”
“I am,” he said warily. He felt himself treading on a path littered with snares. One false step could mean disaster.
She frowned, and then reached into her reticule and produced a substantial stack of cash.
Her voice turned businesslike. “This belongs to you, Your Grace.”
Tom didn’t move to take the money. “I don’t understand.”
“Your father didn’t mention me?” Dismay edged her voice.
Cautiously, he said, “Nary a word.”
Tom certainly would have remembered his father discussing a meeting in the larder with the woman who managed the Orchid Club. He eyed the large wad of pound notes.
She held it out to him.
“As I said, it was supposed to go to the late duke, but now it’s yours.”
“Ah,” Tom said, finally understanding. “My father loaned you money, and now you’ve come to repay it.”
“Your Grace, you misunderstand.” She stepped closer. “What I give to you now represents your father’s share in my establishment’s profits. You see, your father created that establishment. And nowyou,Your Grace, are the club’s owner.”
Tom’s heart seized in his chest as his brain furiously churned to make sense of what Lucia had just said.
“Your attempt at humor is not welcome.” His words were cutting.
“I am not endeavoring to be comical,” she said gravely.
A fiery tide of anger rose up within him.
“Slander’s your game, then.” The very idea that his father might have owned the Orchid Club was beyond preposterous. “My apologies,” he added bitingly, “but your attempt at blackmail is a failure.”
Lucia held up the stack of cash.
“Blackmail would be a new endeavor for me, but I do know that the perpetrator does not offer her intended victim money.”
“There’s no other reason for you to say something so utterly ludicrous.”
He folded his arms across his chest as his body tightened with fury everywhere. What she suggested was outright defamatory. His father was newly dead, and here she was, spreading calumny about the late duke. There was only one reason why she would make such allegations.
Hard to believe that less than twelve hours before, he and Lucia had been exploring every inch of each other’s bodies. Had he unknowingly bedded a blackmailer?
“I’ve spoken a few falsehoods in my life. This is not one of those times.” She drew a breath. “Eighteen years ago, your father entered into a business arrangement with Mrs. Nancy Chalke, a known procuress. The intent was to operate a secret society that catered to the sexual desires of all classes and all inclinations. Through intermediaries, he purchased a home in Bloomsbury which would house the establishment. You know that as of one year ago, I replaced Mrs. Chalke as the operation’s manager. Part of my responsibilities is delivering the owner’s share of the monthly profits. And here I am,” she said with a nod, “giving you—the new patron—your portion of the establishment’s take.”
He struggled to make sense of the tale she told him. Could he believe any of it? Could he trust her at all? He fought reconciling the woman before him with his lover from last night.
Tom had felt her lips against his and caressed her lavish curves. She’d stroked her hands all over his body, taken him into herself. He’d lapped at her like a starving man, drank her down with ravenous gulps.
Now heat washed through him, burning his face and collecting in his groin. Potent attraction blazed between them, even in the midst of this madness.
“I cannot believe you.” The world shifted and spun around him. He pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead.
“What I’ve said is a surprise to you—”
