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“And we shall. But for now, I need you to listen to me,” he stated, his tone calm but commanding as he took her face in his hands.

“Go to your sisters and friends and give them my apologies, then return to Frampton where my men can protect you. Do not let them come with you. They need to stay close to Duncan and Ambrose for now.”

“Ezra…”

He cut her off with a kiss. He meant to make it quick, but it turned into something deep and possessive, and he only stopped when he found himself ready to drag her onto the floor with him.

“Do as I say, Lydia,” he demanded softly, stroking her cheek as she looked at him with concern.

“When will you join me?”

Ezra faltered. He had never been forced to report to anyone.

“When I can,” was all he could muster.

The look in Lydia’s eyes begged him to talk to her, to give her more information. Part of him wanted to, but he held back. He kissed her once more, roughly this time, and then pushed himself away. He heard her beautiful voice calling his name as he opened the door, and even though his body begged him to stop, he forced his steps forward and left without another word.

“You look downright wretched, mate,” Morgan stated, his head tilted to one side as he gave Ezra a concerned look. “What happened to you?”

Ezra felt a spark in his veins as he thought of Lydia, but he forced his mask of detachment to remain in place.

“Since when does my pretty face concern you, Morgan?” Ezra asked blandly, then turned to Ambrose.

“When it is no longer pretty,” Morgan muttered back.

“What are they doing here?” Ezra asked Ambrose, ignoring Morgan’s remark. He had no doubt he looked like hell.

He had come to the gaming hell to speak with Ambrose about getting the group together, but to his surprise, he had found them all waiting for him. Until now, Ambrose and Ezra had agreed to keep the gaming hell a secret from Duncan and Morgan. They did not want anything to be traceable to them in the event they were caught.

Ambrose nodded toward an empty seat between Morgan and Duncan, and though he was reluctant, Ezra took a seat.

“Why does this feel like an ambush?” he asked wryly, lacing his fingers together as he crossed his ankle over his knee.

“It is not an ambush, brother,” Ambrose said calmly, leaning back in his chair. “An attempt was made on your life. Any one of us could very well be next. I decided that the gaming hell was the safest place for us all to meet.”

“I hear our wives are busy planning a wedding for young Juliet and have taken over Ambrose’s house,” Duncan added in a jesting tone, “So I have chosen to dedicate some time to finding this man who stabbed you in order to question him.”

“As have I,” Morgan added, then fluttered his hand toward the room, “Although we will be discussing this dirty little treasure trove that you’ve so carefully hidden away from me at another time. Honestly, I am rather hurt that I was kept out of this. I would have been your best customer.”

“That is why you were kept out of it,” Ambrose retorted with a dry chuckle, then turned toward Ezra.

Ezra felt that strange burst of warmth again. Only this time it was not like what he felt with Lydia that first filled his chest and groin; it was a sibling affection of some sort, he gathered. Unnerved at yet another foreign sensation, Ezra shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Let us get down to it then,” he stated, rubbing his temples to try and erase the new feeling, “Mummy dear says she has not heard nor seen old Georgie in years. She also denied having anything to do with the attack.”

“You visited yourmother?”Morgan gasped, his eyes widening in shock.

To his right, Duncan shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and in front of him, Ambrose suddenly became intensely interested in the surface of his desk. They did not know much about Sophia Fernside and did not need to. Not after how she had behaved at the late duke’s funeral.

“I see you got away with your life,” Ambrose stated, finally looking back up at him. “What about your little spies? Did you send them out yesterday?”

Visions of him and Lydia in the park flashed through Ezra’s mind, and he shook his head.

“I dispatched them this morning,” he answered. “No responses yet.”

Ambrose looked at him as if he were about to question why he waited, but Duncan spoke up next.

“While we have not found him yet, my men found these when they went to his London house to search for him,” he said, leaning down toward his satchel.