Page 5 of His Wicked Secret
And that meant everything she’d said to him in that column had to be the truth, hadn’t it? To leave her alone, that she didn’t want him.
A deep sense of shame threatened to rob his body of breath, but he clung to his resolve. He had to focus on saving her now. It didn’t matter how she felt about him; that wouldn’t stop him from doing what was right.
The consequences of Lady Society’s crusades were finally catching up to her. And now she was going to get them killed.
2
Audrey Sheridan was facing the worst night of her life.
Her mad dash from the seductive arms of Jonathan St. Laurent at the Midnight Garden earlier that afternoon had sent her on a reckless crusade this evening. And that mission was now crumbling around her.
It was all Jonathan’s fault. He had the audacity to waltz into her life at the worst possible moment. When she had decided to marry him after they first met, he’d simply ignored her at every turn. Then when she decided she no longer wanted to marry him because he continued with his cold, aloof manner, he’d ruined that as well by kissing her senseless, showing her a glorious world of pleasure she’d never known existed. And of course, he’d had to rush into the middle of her espionage training like a raging bull, insistingshewas the daft one, pulling her into his arms and…
Well. That had been that. She’d dashed away from everything those lips of his promised and straight into this perilous situation. She’d been so desperate to forget her heartbreak that she’d decided to infiltrate a silly hellfire club to uncover the identities of the men involved. She’d heard too many stories of the injustices done to women by these fools, and she intended to expose them in her Lady Society column.
Now she was facing the consequences of her distracted focus. Both she and her lady’s maid, Gillian, were now trapped and at the mercy of the gentlemen of the hellfire club. She would never forgive herself if she couldn’t save them both from these ridiculous fools, the so-called Unholy Sinners of Hell. Did they not appreciate the absurdity of their name? Unholy. Sinners. Of Hell. It was a nonsense attempt at sounding perversely self-important. Audrey would roll her eyes, but the fact was that even with all that pretentiousness and pompousness, Gerald Langley and his inebriated friends were terrifying. Even this deep into their cups, they managed to make her feel utterly boxed in.
You’ve stepped in it now, girl. Audrey chastised herself and shot a glance at Gillian, who sat behind her. She’d intended to leave her friend behind, but Gillian insisted that they had worked together to form the identity of Lady Society, and she wasn’t about to let her mistress go into this danger alone.
And that was how she and Gillian now faced the revenge of the atrocious man she’d shamed in her column. The man’s crimes were many, but she had exposed him for an awful wager he’d made to ruin a lovely young woman’s innocence for sport. Audrey couldn’t stand for that. She’d made it her mission to ensure that Gerald Langley was no longer fit company for any public circles and her attempt at heroism had led her right into his trap.
She’d thought she’d been clever about it, bribing two ladies not to show up tonight, and she and Gillian had planned to take their place. But somehow Langley had discovered the switch. In fact, he had counted on it.
Damn Jonathan’s mouth and his kisses. If she hadn’t been so distracted by him, she might not have fallen for Langley’s tricks. She shivered at the leer she saw behind Langley’s mask as he prowled toward her and Gillian.
“Well, tonight I set the perfect trap and lured Lady Society herself to my door. I let it slip at a ball the other evening that we would be meeting tonight and that she wouldn’t want to miss our entertainment. But which is Lady Society, I wonder?” He paused dramatically. Maybe if she announced herself to be Lady Society, the men would lose interest in Gillian.
“I suppose it doesn’t matter. We will have the pleasure of having both of you.” Langley snapped his fingers. The man on Audrey’s right and the man on Gillian’s left grabbed their arms, jerking them both behind the chair and binding them with rope. The rope cut into Audrey’s bare skin, but she let the pain fuel her rage.
“How dare you, Mr. Langley! I’ll do more than write a bloody article destroying you. I’ll have your bollocks on a silver platter!” She finished with a low growl. She meant it. Langley’s face darkened with rage where the mask showed his mouth and chin. A few men around the table tittered behind their goblets like schoolboys.
Oh dear…
“How dare I? My dear lady,” Langley snarled, “you came here of your own free will. No one forced you here. I daresay there are few who would have any sympathy for a woman whowillinglywent to a hellfire club. Your reputation will be worthless and your words unfit for print. And that’s only the beginning of what I have planned for you tonight. You wrecked my family, my name—everything! And I will destroy you for it!”
“You got only what you deserved, you bastard!” she snapped.
Langley’s eyes blazed like hot coals before he regained control of himself. Then he looked her way again and smirked.
“And you have the mouth of a whore. I plan to treat you like one.”
She gasped, and her stomach knotted with dread. He could do anything he liked to her and Gillian. She had no way to stop him, and she had just provoked him.
Lord, Jonathan was right—I am trouble.
“Gag them. I wish for silence while we enjoy our feast.” Langley snapped his fingers, and the men on either side of Audrey and Gillian suddenly shoved handkerchiefs in their mouths. Audrey sparked with rage, and she shouted at him despite the gag. The men around her laughed, as though being silenced had also made her unimportant. She glanced around, taking in her surroundings. Twelve men, at least seven servants, a butler, three footmen, a cook and maid, two large windows facing the street. She committed it all to memory, her mind flashing from plan to plan as she tried to think of a way for her and Gillian to escape.
Langley chuckled. “Now I’m famished.” He retrieved a bell by the end of the table near his seat and shook it. The dining room door opened and the footmen entered, bringing the trays with the first course.
“My lord, what about…?” A man close to Audrey pointed at a single empty chair.
“Oh, right.” Langley rolled his eyes and caught the attention of one of the footmen by waving a hand. “Bring in His Unholiness.”
Audrey cringed.His Unholiness?Surely they didn’t claim to have an actual devil, or eventhedevil to worship?
The footman brought a black cat into the room and placed it gingerly on the table, sliding it a plate of roasted chicken bits. The cat was exceedingly handsome, with a shiny black coat and yellow eyes that glowed in the room’s light. He surveyed every person in the room before he lowered his head, sniffed at the chicken, and began to eat.
Langley must have noticed her staring at the feline.
