Page 26 of A Duchess to Unravel (The Devil’s Masquerade #3)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“ O h, William,” Alistair sighed.

He shook his head in disgust, looked from the report Dominic had given him to the man before him.

The second earl’s son was on his knees, hands bound, his head of dark brown hair bowed to the floor.

He’d been easy enough to find. With the help of Ezra Fernside, who ran the most notorious gambling hell in London, Alistair had received word of his whereabouts only a day after Everett’s ball.

“I am so sorry, Your Grace,” William sobbed.

His sniffling disgusted Alistair immediately. He’d thought that a man who wrote such a threatening letter would have more fight, but the man before him had shown nothing but cowardice.

“You went to awful lengths to pay off your debts,” Alistair stated, walking a slow circle around him.

“That is why I was at the hell last evening,” William sobbed, “To pay some of what I owed. I thought perhaps that I would win entry again if I could prove I was able to pay.”

“And pray, how did you come about the funds to pay off such debts?” Alistair asked.

William’s body went rigid, then he shook his head.

“You blackmail innocent people for your money,” Alistair snapped, tossing the papers at him.

William flinched and shook his head.

“I will not do it again, Your Grace. I swear it!” William pleaded. “It was wrong, I know, but I was desperate!”

“You are right about one thing,” Alistair replied, leaning his backside against his desk. “You will not do it again. Especially in London. And you will certainly not come near me or mine again.”

William nodded, finally lifting his brown eyes to look anxiously up at Alistair.

“Never,” he swore.

He flinched when Alistair pulled out a knife and began to sob again, words of prayer sputtering from his lips.

“Calm down,” Alistair snapped, approaching him from behind. “Despite my reputation, I am not savage enough to murder.”

He slipped the knife between the ropes binding the man’s wrists, and with one upward thrust, he cut them away.

William fell forward, his stiff shoulders barely able to move in time to catch himself.

Alistair pulled the wad of bills and the letter he’d written from his inner jacket pocket and threw them at the man, sending them scattering over the floor.

William looked up at him with wide, surprised eyes, but Alistair only glared.

“I will be sending that letter to your family, informing them that you have left the country to pursue an opportunity in the Americas.”

As Alistair said so, he plucked a pen from the desk and flung it at William.

“Sign it,” he demanded.

With trembling fingers William picked up the letter and pen and scribbled his signature at the bottom, not even bothering to read it.

“I booked you passage on a ship scheduled to leave this evening,” Alistair went on, plucking the letter and pen from William’s hands.

“I will personally be escorting you onto it to ensure your departure. How you choose to spend my money will then be up to you, but I suggest you do so wisely. My generosity does not extend to a second chance.”

William hurriedly reached for the scattered bills, gathering them up into a pile to stuff into his pockets.

“Yes, Your Grace,” he agreed willingly.

He moved to stand, and Alistair lunged toward him, grasping his collar and giving him a good shake.

“I have acquaintances in every corner of the globe, William,” Alistair warned, his tone deadly, “And if you try to blackmail anyone else, someone will come for you. Do ye understand?”

William’s red-rimmed eyes grew wide as more tears swam in them, but he nodded. Sniffled.

“Yes, Your Grace,” he replied. “I need to change. I understand that now. More than ever.”

Alistair stared at him coldly for a long moment, then released him with a shove.

“There’s a good lad,” he replied, watching William right himself, “Now come along, you’ve got a ship to board.”

As he walked by William’s side toward the docks, Alistair pondered again at how effortless it had been to get the man to leave. It was almost too easy. And yet the man had admitted to his wrongdoing and had not negated a word Alistair had said.

He chose to chalk the feelings of unease toward the events that had occurred at Everett’s ball just two days ago.

Alistair was a giver, a man with a dominant nature.

It was how he found his pleasure and how he ruled his life.

Yet that night, hidden away in a room away from the party, Alistair had felt himself let go of such control, even in a brief moment, and give it to Theo.

It bothered him as much as it had thrilled him and had left him on edge.

“It is so lovely to be all together again,” Theo said, her smile warm as she ushered her friends into the solarium of Alistair’s and her London home.

She had called on her fiends for a chat and an embroidery circle, but she’d also coordinated a luncheon of small sandwiches and treats to be delivered from a nearby teashop she used to frequent long ago.

Her stomach grumbled, ready to devour the tasty looking treats that the servants had displayed beautifully on the trays atop the table.

She plucked one up before they all even sat down and relished the taste of it.

Since her conversation with Alistair and their new breakfast ritual, her appetite had returned with gusto. She licked her fingers as she finished the sandwich, then sat down with a smile on her face.

“My, my, you seem much changed since I last saw you,” Ophelia noted, her brow raised in apparent amusement.

“You are looking much better,” Rose agreed. “I have yet to see you frown as you used to.”

A blush filled Theo’s cheeks, her smile growing wider.

“Perhaps my marriage of convenience has turned out better than expected,” she replied.

“Yes. You and Alistair seemed to be getting along quite nicely at Everett’s ball,” Amelia mused, smirking behind her teacup as she looked at Theo.

Theo’s answering grin was wide and instantaneous, and she looked away from her friend as she leaned forward to pluck a finger sandwich of cucumber and ham from the tray. As she had promised Alistair, she was eating more frequently. Doing so even beyond their daily break of fast.

“We were both quite surprised at how much we enjoyed ourselves at the party,” Theo answered, then took a bite. “Who knows? Perhaps we may try to attend one or two more before we leave London.”

All of her friends, Amelia, Seraphina, Rose, and Ophelia looked at her in surprise.

“That’s quite a statement coming from you,” Ophelia noted, “You used to hate the balls as much as Rose and I do.”

“I am still not a fan of them,” Amelia noted, “even though Dominic makes them more bearable.

“Yes,” Seraphina agreed.

Theo shrugged her shoulders. It was true that she once abhorred the forced functions, but with Alistair, she had experienced genuine fun at Everett’s ball. Especially the portion where they’d snuck off to have a private celebration of their own.

“So, things are going fine with the new duke then?” Rose asked.

Her flippant tone drew everyone’s attention and their laughter stopped. Even Ophelia stared at her oddly.

“Is that so surprising?” Theo asked, taking in Rose’s hardened look.

Rose shrugged.

“It just seems like much has changed, is all,” she replied. “As you said, it appears this marriage of convenience has become much more than that.”

Theo thought for a moment. So what if it was?

There was a safety she felt with Alistair.

One she’d never experienced before. She liked his hardness and was no longer afraid to be soft.

The need to hide herself was no longer there with him, and it had given her a sense of ease she’d never felt before. Was that so bad?

“If you have something to say, Rose,” Seraphina stated, giving her a warning look, “You might as well just say it.”

Rose put her embroidery ring down and sighed.

“I just want our friend to be careful,” she replied, her eyes on Theo. “He may not be the brutish Scotsman the rumors say he is, but he is still leaving in two months time. I just do not wish for you to be heartbroken.”

Theo was silent a moment as all her friends turned from Rose to her, their eyes full of inquisitive worry. Then Theo laughed. Loudly. Forcefully. She waved a hand through the air as she shook her head.

“Do not be silly, Rose!” She exclaimed. “Just because I have found happiness in our arrangement does not mean I am falling in love with him!”

Ophelia, Seraphina, and Amelia all let out a collective breath of relief, but Rose still stared at Theo in an intense, studious manner.

“I am in control,” Theo stated, picking up another finger sandwich from the nearby tray. “And soon, I will be free. Completely free. The way I have always wished to be.”

Rose’s features eventually softened into a smile.

“I just want you to be careful,” she said as she picked up her embroidery again.

“I am,” Theo promised.

As she bit into her sandwich, she wondered if she had lied not just to her friends, but to herself.