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Heropen as she stared at hi that holds value for me is here”
“Oh?” His voice becaerously soft “What would keep you here?”
Chapter 14
The roar of angry demonstrators penetrated the walls of the Red Lion tavern on Threadneedle A crowd huddled inside, necks craning for the best view of the table where Ross sat with the tailors’ and eotiations for irievances froh, Ross deduced that the debates would last through the afternoon and well into the night Thinking o hoht to suppress his ine water to ent scents sidled up to Ross with the jug of coffee he had requested“‘Ere you are, Sir Ross,” she purred, deliberately brushing one ainst his shoulder as she leaned over him “Whot else for yer appetite, sir? Some Welsh rabbit or apple puffs?” She put her broad face next to his and saidye wants, Sir Ross”
Accusto the past few years, Ross gave her a polite but cool smile “You’re very kind, but no”
Shein disappoint like a pendulum
One of the tailors’ representatives, a fellow naarded him with a sly smile “I see what you’re about, Sir Ross Pretend you don’t want a woman, and she’ll work all the harder to attract you, eh? You’re a canny one… I’ll wager you understand them quite well”
Ross grinned suddenly “There are two things a , and claim to understand her”
As the tailor chuckled, Ross’s attention was caught by the sight of a huge figure entering the tavern It was Sir Grant Morgan, his dark head rising far above the crowd’s, his keen gaze scanning the rooh the gathering People hastened to riiant
Knowing at once that soistrate as he approached “Morgan,” he said curtly, “why are you here?”
“The necklace,” came the former runner’s succinct reply, in a tone so low that no one else could hear “I found the jeweler who hmore, of Bond Street I made him tell me who purchased it”
Ross experienced a savage thrill of anticipation at the prospect of finally identifying Sophia’s stalker “Who?”
“Nick Gentry”
Ross stared at Morgan blankly His initial astonishment was quickly replaced by an elee to kill “Gentry must have seen Sophia while he was at Bow Street When she ca to tear hi conscious of the host of interested gazes fastened on the, Ross strove to keep his voice quiet “Morgan, take over the negotiations I’ to pay a visit to Gentry”
“Wait,” Morgan protested “I’ve never arbitrated a professional dispute before”
“Well, now you’re going to learn Good luck” With that, Ross strode through the tavern and headed outside to where his horse was tethered
Sophia did not knohat to make of her brother As they talked, she tried to understand theto have little regard for his own life or anyone else’s “The greater the rogue, the greater the luck” was a saying she had heard at Bow Street—it explained the jaunty defiance of ht before the bench And it certainly described Nick Gentry He was definitely a rogue, alternately char and callous, an ambitious man who had inherited blue blood but had received no land, education, wealth, or social connections along with it Instead he sought power through corrupt avenues It seee as he was smart, as cruel as he was confident
Hesitantly she told hie his “death,” and her plan to come to London and destroy Sir Ross Cannon
“How in hell were you planning to do that?” Gentry asked aze sharp as it rested on her face
Sophia colored, and answered with a half-truth “I was going to try to uncover dah she would have liked to be completely honest, her instincts warned that it would be foolish to tell him about her affair with Sir Ross They were, after all, bitter enemies
“My clever girl,” Gentry murmured “You have access to the Bow Street criminal records?”
“Yes, but I—”
“Excellent” He sat back in his chair, idly studying the tips of his boots “There are sos you can find out for me I can make use of your presence at Bow Street”
The suggestion that he wished to use her for his own purposes, probably criminal ones, caused Sophia to shake her head decisively “John, I will not spy for you”
“Just a few little things,” hesmile “You want to help e against Cannon”
She let out an incredulous laugh “But I only wanted revenge because I thought he had sent you to your death on the prison hulk”
Gentry scowled “Well, Cannon did send me there, and it was no bloody thanks to him that I survived!”
“Anyone else would have dispatched you to the galloithout a second thought,” Sophia pointed out “After what you did—robbing that carriage, causing that poor old man’s death…”
“It wasn’t ave him a knock on the head,” Gentry said defensively “I was only out to rob the old cheeser, not kill him”
“No matter what your intentions, the result was the sa into his stony face, Sophia softened her tone as she continued “But the past cannot be changed All we can do is deal with the future You can’t really o on this way, John”
“Why not?”
“Because you are not invulnerable You will ing on the gallows And I could not bear to lose you a second time Besides, this is not the life for you You were not supposed to—”
“It is exactly the life for me,” he cut in tersely “Sophia, whatever memories you have of me don’t apply now Do you understand?”
“No,” she said stubbornly “I don’t understand how you can live like this You are better, more worthy, than this”
Her words earned a peculiar rin “That shohat you know” He stood and went over to the fireplace, bracing a large hand on the whitefeatures, striping theold After a moment’s contemplation, he turned toward her His expression was intent, but his tone was deceptively lazy “Let’s talk about Bow Street soet into the criminal records room It so happens that I need some information—”
“I’ve already told you no I won’t betray Sir Ross’s trust in me”
“You have for the last twoyou now?”
Sophia realized that he was not going to be satisfied until she told him the truth
“Nick,” she said carefully, “there is a… a certain relationship that has developed between Sir Ross and myself”
“My God” He raked his hands through his hair distractedly “You and he…” Words seemed to fail him
Understanding the unspoken question, Sophia gave him a cautious nod