Page 42 of Dukes Are Forever
"Just listen. I volunteered your services."
"For what?"
Adele bit her lip. "There's a slight problem I'm having. It's not uncommon knowledge that my husband spends his nights away from home, but we made an agreement—"
"Stop right there," Will warned. "It ain't any of my business."
"Oh, Will. Stop being such a prude," Lena chided. "If this were the Warren, you'd be all up in Blade's secrets, regardless of your antiquated notions."
"This isn't the Warren. And Malloryn ain't Blade."
"Agreed," Adele said. "He has much better taste in waistcoats than the Devil of Whitechapel, to begin with."
"Waistcoats aside—"
"Lord Devoncourt said I didn't know what my husband was getting up to of nights. Indeed, he was almost nasty about it," Adele blurted. "But Malloryn promised he'd set his mistress aside. And yet, he's always off somewhere at night. I don't know where he goes."
"And I said what we needed was someone who could track him," Lena said. "Like Will."
"Will could," her husband replied, "but Will ain't goin' to do anythin' of the sort."
Lena turned big brown eyes upon him. "I hate seeing Adele so out of sorts. I know you don't want to get involved, but what if this isn't merely the result of Malloryn dallying with a mistress? What if he's in some sort of trouble? You heard what Adele said. Devoncourt practically threatened him."
"If there's one thing I'm certain of, it's the fact that Malloryn is more 'an capable of handlin' himself."
"Please?"
Adele watched with fascination. She could practically see the fierce verwulfen rogue turning into a little puddle of mush at his wife's feet.
What would it be like to have a man so enamored of her that way?
"I will make it worth your while," Lena whispered. "No application of Madame Vexley's Liniment required."
"What the hell is Madame Vexley's Liniment?" he growled, as if to maintain his fearsome reputation.
"See," Lena told Adele pointedly. "I told you it's hogwash. Completely unnecessary."
"You do not wish to know," Adele advised, when the verwulfen ambassador looked as if he was going to pursue said topic.
"Adele was there for me during my confinement, when I was so worried Alex was going to be born with the loupe," Lena said, touching his arm. "She was the one who defended your name in society when Lord Maddesley was trying to claim you were nothing more than a beast. I owe her, Will."
"Fine," Will growled. He tipped his head to Adele. "I'll follow him tonight. But if I catch wind of a mistress, then I am done with this mad plan. Understood?"
"Understood. Thank you!" she said, her shoulders slumping in relief.
Finally.
She'd have some answers.
Even if they weren't necessarily the ones she might desire.
Chapter 9
It was Byrnes who brought Malloryn the news.
There was a body in Clerkenwell, and the Guild Master of the Nighthawks had requested his presence.
Unusual in itself, for the Nighthawks were comprised of rogue blue bloods that'd never been accepted into the Echelon. They were London's law enforcement, and a dead body was something they dealt with on a regular basis.
