Page 15 of You Only Love Twice
But first, he needed to ensure his fellowdhampirnever got their hands upon her. He'd managed to give himself time. A week before they made their move. Which meant he had a week to burn her out of his system for good.
How the hell was he going to lure her into the open?
He couldn't break into Malloryn's not-so-secret townhouse and steal her out of her bed, as the rest of the Company of Rogues was on the defense following his recent break-in and the last thing he needed was to draw attention to the act.
Somehow he had to get his hands on her and finish this, before Ghost did.
And that was when he realized just how to get her out of the safe house.
* * *
"We've gotanother potential Chameleon target," Baroness Schröder said, striding into the breakfast room.
Gemma almost spilled her cup of tea as the baroness slapped the file on the table. She jerked it toward her. "Another? I thought he was going after the queen?"
Inside the file was a King of Diamonds card with a bullet hole right through the center.
"Leo Barrons received this late last night," the baroness said.
"The Duke of Caine's heir?" she asked, looking up in surprise. Barrons served as Caine's proxy on the Council of Dukes and remained firm friends with Malloryn. Indeed, he was possibly the only person Malloryn truly considered a friend these days. "Does Malloryn know?"
Isabella poured herself a cup of tea. "Yes. Herbert said Malloryn sent a servant with the card this morning. He couldn't make an appearance himself. Apparently he's having his final fitting for the wedding this morning. But he'll be here at eleven, and he wants you ready."
Hell. Chameleon or not, that had been carelessly done of her.
Gemma circled the table, setting her own tea down, and hugged Isabella from behind. "You know Malloryn cares nothing for Miss Hamilton. This is merely a result of the girl outplaying him. Her reputation is ruined and if Malloryn doesn't marry her then so is his."
After all, the girl's dress had been torn and her throat bloodied when she'd thrown herself at Malloryn in the garden of some blue blood's ball. Two seconds later, half the Echelon came walking around the hedge, and the girl claimed he’d proposed. As a proponent of the Thrall Bill, in which he'd argued for tighter laws concerning what a blue blood could and could not do with his contracted thrall, Malloryn could hardly refuse.
It was clear she'd been with some blue blood.
If Malloryn had denied her, he'd have been considered a hypocrite, and any sort of political sway he'd managed to build behind the bill would have vanished.
Isabella reached up to squeeze her hand before politely disengaging. "Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Give him time to deal with this wedding fiasco, and then...."
"I don't need time." Isabella pushed away from her and dumped two sugar cubes into her tea. "He called off our arrangement weeks ago. Said it wasn't fair to either of us. I suspect he meant me."
Gemma stared at her friend helplessly. "I never knew you had such intense feelings for him."
"I don't," Isabella replied sharply. "I knew what I was getting myself into when I seduced him. Malloryn doesn't own a heart. There was no point trying to capture it."
But he'd captured hers.
Gemma could see it written all over the other woman.
With her own experience in heartbreak, she ached to see someone else desperately trying to gather their shattered decorum and put the pieces of their heart together.
"What are you doing tomorrow night?" she asked.
Isabella's dark eyes flickered to hers. "I haven't any plans. Why?"
"Come with me. You and I shall have a night at the theatre together. We'll laugh and drink far too much champagne, and maybe engage in a little casual flirtation." Somehow she managed a saucy smile. "Who knows? Perhaps the both of us will find a distraction for the night? My bed's been empty for far too long."
Isabella's eyes lit up, then she sighed. "I suspect you're going to be too busy with this Chameleon business. Malloryn wants you working on Barrons. He's setting things into play at the tower to protect the queen himself."
"Shall we postpone it then?" Gemma lifted her cup of tea to Isabella's. "The second I capture the Chameleon, we'll celebrate. No gentlemen allowed. Perhaps we could invite Ingrid and Ava?"
