Page 82 of Ruthless with a Rogue
“Livy?Are you well?You’re stiff as a board.”Franny’s concerned voice filled the drawing room.
Livy’s gaze clashed with Phi’s, and the woman’s blue eyes narrowed.“It has something to do with Pennington, doesn’t it?”
Livy flinched.Should she say anything?Did shewantto say anything?
“My late husband”—Phi paused, grimaced, like having to admit that man had been her husband made her physically ill—“he preyed on women, Livy.I’m not unaware of the kind of person he was.Did he…make you uncomfortable in some way?Attempt to force his attentions on you?”
Glancing between the two women, Livy hesitated.Franny studied her silently, and Livy fidgeted.It was as though the woman knew.
“The night of the dinner party,” Franny started slowly.“You went missing.”
“What?” Phi’s gaze pinged between Franny and Livy.“What happened?Why didn’t you tell me, Franny?”
“You and Pennington had already left,” Franny said, eyes never leaving Livy’s.“And the next day you were preoccupied with other things… Considering Pennington turned up dead.”
Livy nodded slowly, answering Franny’s unspoken question.
Franny’s eyes widened.“Dear Lord.They said Mr.Drake had you.I assumed… Well, I assumed it was some sort of ploy to get money out of Dunmore.Or perhaps a twisted jest on Mr.Drake’s part.I never can get a good read on the man.He’s the kind of cove who would think a bit of light kidnapping was all in good fun.”
“Mr.Drake is the one who saved me,” Livy said quietly, then met Phi’s gaze.“Before your…”—she cleared her throat—“before he could carry out his plans.”
Phi gave a sharp nod, lips pressed tightly together.What reflected back at Livy nearly broke her heart.There was no surprise in her friend’s gaze, only a grim, resigned understanding—proof that this had been all too common from her late husband.
“And the next day he ends up dead,” Franny said into the quiet.“Not a coincidence.”
“Definitely not.I suppose Mr.Drake killed him, then?”Phi asked to the room.
Livy couldn’t be sure…but she had a very strong feeling it hadn’t been Mr.Drake.She met Franny’s green stare, saw the same assumption glittering back at her.
“Given Dunmore’s behavior that night, and the way he tore out of here once your whereabouts had been found out…”
Phi leaned forward, glancing between the two women.“No!You both think it was him?Dunmore?”
Franny lifted a shoulder.“Is it that surprising?He and Ironcrest are known for their propensity for violence.It’s not as though he’s strait-laced like my Rupert.And when I’d been attacked, Rupert almost—” Her mouth snapped shut.
“What?”Phi screeched again.“You never mentioned that!Are you telling me Rupert, of all people, almost harmed someone on your behalf?”
Franny’s face was completely solemn.“Phi, darling, if another man so much as touched a hair on my head, Rupert would carve out their innards.”
Phi flopped backward.“Bloody hell.This is quite a lot to take in.So, stick-in-the-mud Rupert apparently occasionally wields said stick as a weapon to avenge his fair lady.And Dunmore shares this sentiment for Livy.Do I have this correct?”
“That sounds about right,” Franny confirmed.
Phi’s gaze landed back on Livy.“Which means he cares for you.Which means Franny and I were correct.There’s something between you two.”
“If you saw how cozy they were at the theater, Phi, you’d have all the confirmation you need on that front.”
Heat spread over Livy’s cheeks, but she nodded in confirmation.“He’ll also be escorting me to Almack’s,” she said quietly.
Phi grinned.“Oh, he will, will he?Goodness, murder andAlmack’s.I think I hear wedding bells.”
That sobered Livy.If she wanted to be the one standing with Derek when those bells rang, they needed to see if there was any merit to the idea she’d been pondering.
Convincing Derek to let down his walls, convincing him to take a chance on love with her, was a challenge all in itself.But the foundling home?This was a wall, taller so, that stood just behind the first.She sometimes feared that with every wall of his she broke down, she would be destined to find another.
Wasn’t it ironic?The man reputed to have no principles seemed out of reach…precisely because he possessed them, after all.
“You look much less happy about that fact than I would have thought,” Franny said, her brows drawing together.“It had seemed as though you felt the same, Livy?”
