Page 101 of Dukes Are Forever
Malloryn examined the familiar calling card that bore his name. He wanted to tear it into little pieces. Perhaps even burn it. Instead, he breathed out, forcing the rage from his lungs.
This was what Balfour wanted from him.
Pain. Suffering. Tormented memories rising to choke him.
He couldn't give in to it.
"Who is she?" Garrett asked. "Do you recognize her?"
"No." He knelt at the girl's side, reaching out a hand to slowly close her eyes. This one hadn't died easily. Her face was a rictus of horror, her hands scratched and bloodied. She'd fought, even at the end. "Have you worked out the identity of the first girl?"
"Miss Millie Vane," Garrett replied quietly. "A butcher's daughter."
"Send me her details," he murmured, standing and tugging his gloves back on. "I'll arrange for the funeral to be paid."
And money to be given to the grieving family, to try and make their lives easier in some small way.
It would be the least he could do, for bringing this nightmare into the homes of an innocent butcher and his family. All because the girl resembled Catherine.
Malloryn glanced at the tombstone.
Miss Catherine Tate.
Along with her birth and death dates. Two simple lines that told no one of the horrors of her murder.
I'm sorry. I'll stop them.
There was no answer. There never was. Only the wind blowing through his hair and stirring his coat.
Slipping the bloodied calling card in his pocket, he turned toward the gate.
There was no point lingering.
He couldn't do a damned thing for Catherine.
But perhaps he could finally bring her peace.
And protect those who still lived.
* * *
Plans were in place,half the Rogues trying to track vital members of the Rising Sons—such as Sir George and Devoncourt—which left Malloryn with the silence of his thoughts as he returned to Hardcastle Lane.
He'd heard Gemma giggling in Adele's room about something to do with corsets—the pair were becoming thicker than thieves these days—and with the dead girl's body on his conscious, he'd chosen to avoid them.
He wasn't in the mood for giggling.
Nor his wife's company.
As much as her state last night had amused him, the ease with which COR had accepted her into their ranks bothered him a little.
She wasn't supposed to be a part of this.
And she wasn't staying.
But pointing this out to Gemma had only earned him an arched eyebrow and a little smirk. "Keep telling yourself that, Malloryn."
They all seemed to think something was happening when it wasn't.
