Page 8 of A Virgin for the Duke of Depravity
They were pure and innocent, the perfect counterbalance to his relationship with his brother. He could not fathom not caring for them when they had no one else.
The mere thought of trying not to snap at the girls made him tired. He craved a glass of whiskey to take the edge off his irritation, to show the girls that they could trust him and stop these incessant games. But there was no opportunity to sneak off to his study tonight.
There were other things to be tended to tonight, namely the woman who trailed behind him. He had forgotten she was here until Annie and Kitty looked away from each other and cast curious glances at the mysterious woman with him.
“Girls, go to your beds,” he commanded.
He tried to assert more authority than he felt he had over them. Annie, in particular, was bound to stir up more trouble before the night was through. But for now, he would be able to return to Olympus and see to the end of his book club party.
Annie and Kitty kept holding each other’s hands, but they turned toward the staircase. Margaret waved enthusiastically at them as he turned to speak with her.
“See to it that my nieces remain in their chambers,” he said to a maid who happened to be passing that way.
“Yes, Your Grace,” she said with a small curtsy.
She quickly ran up the stairs behind the girls, no doubt worried that she would lose them if she did not physically witness them entering their chambers.
When the trio was out of sight, Leo looked Margaret up and down, assessing her once more. “How did you know where they would be?”
It was the only question that truly mattered. She had never met his nieces, and yet she was the only one who knew immediately where to find them. After a house full of servants had failed, this mysterious nun was the hero.
“I have hidden there before, Your Grace,” she said. He did not miss the sarcasm in her tone as she pronounced his title. “I know many places like that in a home. And in a convent.”
“Interesting,” he mused. He tapped his chin with one finger as he thought about his next move. “You may prove useful to me.”
Margaret turned pink and straightened to her full height, though she still came laughably shy of his towering stature. She put her hands on her hips. The jovial smile she gave the girls was long gone now. Her brown eyes were narrowed on him, and her mouth was set in a stern line.
“I am not here to be used by anyone!”
Her voice held a storm, but it did not frighten him. He wanted to laugh at her indignation, thatthiswas the thing she found utterly inappropriate this evening.
“And yet you wanted to know more about those books, did you not?” He arched an eyebrow at her.
Leo made a great effort to suppress his laughter at her outright fury, and he took pleasure in the blush that crept up her cheeks, turning them from pink to flaming red.
“That was different,” she protested. “I had to…” she trailed off, biting her bottom lip.
From the nervous twitch of her hands and the way her gaze landed on the floor, he could tell that she wanted to defend her actions, to justify her presence at his party. But she did not trust him with the answer; he could tell from her hesitation and the way she did not answer his question.
And why should she trust him, of all the people in the ton?
“Hm,” he said, thinking of the opportunities he had at his fingertips. He settled on just the one he wanted and smiled at her. “Today is your lucky day.”
“I would not go quite so far, but do go on.”
“You are afraid of something. Orsomeone. I can make it go away until you return to the convent,” he promised.
Margaret’s eyes widened at the offer. Clearly, whatever she had been running from was scary enough that she would turn to him and consider his offer.
“How would you do that?” Her voice came out breathless, and he quite liked the sound of it.
“I will offer you my protection. There is just one tiny little thing I want in return.”
This was the sticking point of his offer, the thing that everything else hinged on. He would offer her protection, but only if she was willing to spend more time with him.
Leo told himself that he was being practical. But he did not entirely believe it.
He wanted to spend more time with this woman, who knew all the best places to hide in any estate, who had the red hair to match her defiant personality. He would have given anything for the right to run his fingers through those tousled waves and braids.
