Page 27 of Ruthless with a Rogue
Yet it hadn’t been enough.All those years trying to fashion herself into a woman befitting a viscount, employing the direction of her governess, noting every small comment Warren made—hadn’t mattered.Because not only did she not fit society’s mold, she also didn’t exist in society’s eyes.Someone who lacked good standing and good breeding.Good breeding.She hated that phrase.Like she was a prized pony.Trot, trot, trot.
She glanced at the man at her side.Lord Dunmore didn’t care.She didn’t think he cared about anything society expected—demanded.Which, she supposed, explained his notorious reputation.She wrinkled her nose.She never thought she’d find that a redeemable quality in a person, but she found she sided with Lord Dunmore on this one.He had no qualms about her having more than feathers in her head.Why couldn’t society?
“So, Mr.Drake…” Livy said as they entered a new hall.“He owns this gaming hell?”
“Yes.”
Her mind drifted back to the man in his study.“When I was brought to his…study…” Her cheeks heated, and she peeked at Lord Dunmore, her gaze tracing over his sharp jaw.“He…”
“He…” Lord Dunmore glanced at her, and she quickly looked away.
“He had amanon his lap.A n-naked one,” she said in a hushed voice.
Lord Dunmore chuckled.“Yes, Ryker does not…discriminate…in his bedpartners.”
“But isn’t that illegal?”
Silence.
When she glanced back at Lord Dunmore, his jaw was set in a hard line.Even from his profile, she could discern the severity of his frown.
“The law isn’t always correct,” he said at last, his voice so sharp, so abrupt, she flinched.“It wastes its time on matters it shouldn’t.If two consenting adults want to be together, who is England to say they shouldn’t?”
Well, that seemed quite logical.
His lip curled up.“Yet, children can be abandoned, abused.Spouses can be unfaithful, cruel, and the law’s punishments are pitiful—if they exist at all.A parent beats their children, and it is an acceptable form of discipline.It’sapplauded.”
He shook his head, his overlong black hair flying.When his eyes met hers, they were hard—green bleeding into black.“Instead, they focus on an issue that doesn’t exist.Why?Power?Greed?Because they don’t understand it?This world we live in loves to hate.That much I know for certain.”
Livy gnawed on her lip.She wasn’t sure if the world truly loved to hate.It was an awfully cynical take on life.But it fit Lord Dunmore.Fit what she’d read about him.She couldn’t deny the points he made.It would be awfully hypocritical of her to be adamant the world shouldn’t have a say in how she lived her life—only to condemn others for the way they lived theirs.
“Mr.Drake has created a…space within a space…hidden amongst the velvet and vice, safe for people of all walks of life,” Lord Dunmore continued.“There’s the gaming room, the brothel, everything one might expect of a place such as this.And then there is theOther Side.A place where it is safe for those society deems shouldn’t exist purely based on who they love.”
She’d never thought this man—arrogant, rude, cutting—would be hiding such a loving heart.She wasn’t so sure the man himself knew he possessed it.And another part of her wondered if there might be something more personal woven into his words.The pain in his voice felt…a little too real.
“Not all of us love to hate,” she said quietly.“I agree with you.I’m not sure why anyone puts restrictions on love.”Her thoughts drifted back to her mother.Leaving Papa, leaving Livy.Because they’d been deemed unworthy.Lacking value.“I’ve always wondered what it would be like if we all could simply be loved as we are.He may be intimidating, but I think it’s admirable what Mr.Drake is doing.”
A smile, one of his mocking varieties, broke through Lord Dunmore’s gloomy visage.“Ryker…admirable?”He snorted.“Christ, don’t let him hear you say that.It’ll go straight to his already inflated head.”
They paused in front of a door.
“All right.Are you ready, little mouse?Just through that door is the gaming room.”
She nodded, a bit overenthusiastically, drawing another chuckle from him.
“Our night begins.”He pushed open the door.
They stepped inside…
And Livy couldn’t find words.
The space wasmagnificent.The ceiling…didn’t even appear to be a ceiling.It towered above, multiple stories high, painted to look like the night sky.Intricate black molding bordered each painting, with massive glittering chandeliers hanging from them, illuminating the space, giving off the impression of fiery stars against a midnight sky.
Each wall was made up of a collection of arches that blended into the molding on the ceiling.Deep midnight blue silk hung from each arch.There were countless doors that led to other areas outside the gaming hall, just like the one she and Lord Dunmore had stepped through.The floor was filled with an array of tables covered in a deep forest-green baize.A few tables had a wheel with black and white slots.A large wooden structure of gleaming ebony stood in the middle of the space, something akin to a bar, though much more refined in appearance.
It was mesmerizing.
And then there were the people.
