Page 23 of Ruthless with a Rogue
Oh, she could strangle the man.Livy didn’t have a habit of planting facers, but Lord Dunmore was making a strong argument for developing one.He was so presumptuous.So arrogant.He thought to crook his finger and she would come running?
He was so stupidly correct.
Livy growled.She’d attended another ball last evening, and it had been an utter failure.The only two men who’d agreed to dance with her…a shiver crawled down her spine.Not good.Not good at all.One was older than her father—and Papa had long since turned sixty.The other had wooden teeth.Which was fine, she supposed.She didn’t want to appear prejudiced against those who had wooden teeth.They deserved love too.But there had been something about the way the man had looked at her, a glint in his eye, that had unease slithering over her skin.
Other than thosecharminggentlemen, she hadn’t danced any other sets.The only small positive was that Warren hadn’t been present at this particular ball to witness her flounder.Livy had noticed the company in general had consisted of…lesser members of society.More persons in trade.Less well-regarded aristocrats.She let out a heavy sigh.It wasn’t the set she needed to be seen with if she wanted to impress upon Warren.And it didn’t appear she’d even impressed onthem.They were all seeking some sort of advancement, wealth or title, or both.Once again, it had been glaring—Livy had nothing to offer.
So here she was.Traveling to who-knew-where in the middle of the night after she’d received thesummonsfrom Lord Dunmore.The note had been on her pillow.How in creation had he managed that?
She’d slipped out of her rented rooms, Aunt Mellie none the wiser, considering she slept like the dead, and made her way down the street to where an unmarked carriage awaited, a footman standing at the ready.Livy was sure she’d been making the biggest mistake of her life when she’d stepped foot in this carriage.
It was a huge risk.But she’d evaluated her options.And while tonight could very well end in her ruin… What was her alternative?She and Aunt Mellie weren’t having any success.Warren would be married and long gone by the time Livy started digging herself out of the trenches.If she ever managed to do that.She couldn’t do this without Dunmore’s help.And to keep his help, she had to play his game.
Whatever his game was, she was determined to win.
Livy stepped from the carriage and glanced both ways down the dark alley.In the moonlight, she could just make out a door to the building in front of her, but everything else was a black abyss.Where in the fractions and figures was she?The footmen approached the door and did some odd knocking—clearly a pattern.Livy’s gaze narrowed.He did it again.She copied his movements on her thigh.Interesting.
The door swung open, and the servant ushered her forward.Another servant, this one dressed in navy and forest-green livery, greeted her the minute she set foot inside.
“Please follow me,” the young man said.
Livy blinked slowly as her gaze swept over the space.The outside had given the appearance of an…abandoned building?Unremarkable at best.Anything butthis.
The floor was marble tiled in pale cream.Gleaming mahogany hall tables stood against pristine white wall moldings, the upper walls covered in blue silk patterned with arabesques.Gilt-framed paintings and elaborate candelabras lined the corridor.
The servant was already halfway down the hall, and Livy hurried to catch up.Goodness, this place was opulent.If she didn’t know better—granted shedidn’tsince she had no idea where she was—she would assume she was in a peer’s townhome in Mayfair.
They halted before a set of dark walnut double doors.The wood was intricately carved, half of a face splayed across each door, together forming the visage of what could only be the devil, complete with curling horns and jagged teeth.Gems glinted in the candlelight, set where its eyes should be.One blue sapphire.One green emerald.
The servant knocked twice and then entered.Livy followed, and her mouth promptly fell open.She gaped, a strange, choked sound coming from her throat.A blue and green gaze locked on her, a sly smile curving the man’s lips as his gaze raked over her from where he sat behind a large gilt-covered onyx desk.He slapped the arse ofthe manatop him.Naked arse.Naked man.Oh my sugar and pies.
“We’ll resume this later, Niccolò,” the blue-and-green-eyed man murmured, gaze still locked on Livy.
The naked man—Niccolò—shrugged into a robe, though not before Livy saw quite a bit more of Niccolò’s naked golden skin.Dear heavens.The man exited through a door on the far-right wall of the room.A room, which appeared to be a study of sorts.The walls were covered in gleaming ebony wood, two side walls holding floor-to-ceiling bookcases, the back wall covered in tapestries.
What have you gotten yourself into, Livy?Where in the world was she?And what had she just witnessed?
The man behind the large desk chuckled.“Never seen a man with another man before, lovely?”
She swallowed hard, her hand coming to rest over her racing heart.The man’s grin turned wolfish, eyes sharp.
“You’re curious,” he said slowly.She swallowed.She wasn’t… Was she?“Interesting.We have rooms for that here.I’d be happy to show—”
“Absolutely not.”
Livy whipped around, eyes clashing with a pair of familiar forest-green irises.Relief flew through her, some of the tension leaving her frame.She never would have guessed she’d behappytosee Lord Dunmore, but right now even his cynical grin was comforting.
“She was supposed to be brought to my private room,” Lord Dunmore gritted out.His eyes flashed, and an angry flush tinted his sharp cheekbones.“No one was to see her until she changed.I gave you specific instructions.”
“Tsk tsk, Dunmore.You’re one of the few noblemen I don’t have any secrets of.You should know better than that.I would never pass over this opportunity.”
Lord Dunmore’s nostrils flared.“You don’t need my secrets.”The look he shot the man behind the desk was full of meaning.
The man smiled wider, but there was something stiff in it.“I need everyone’s secrets, Dunmore.Friend or foe.”
“You’re impossible,” Lord Dunmore muttered.“At least you don’t know who she is.We’ll be going.”He turned toward Livy.“Follow me.”
Normally she’d protest being barked at like that.But she found she’d prefer the lesser of the two devils.She turned and hurried after Lord Dunmore’s quickly striding form.
