Page 6 of A Lyon’s Promise (The Lyon’s Den)

Snug greeted him at the rear entrance. “Back again, I see. Are you ready for tonight’s challenges?”

“Aye. Care to tell me what they are?”

Snug chuckled. “And give you a leg up on the competition? Given your position with the Runners and your widely touted abilities, it would not be very sporting of me. Would it?”

King sighed. “I heard another disturbing rumor. I could use any help you can give me. A lady’s reputation is as stake!”

Snug glanced around them and moved closer to King. “I’ve heard a few myself. You’ll need to be on guard this evening—the two men vying for Lady Montfort’s hand are not to be trusted.”

“Fortune hunters?”

“Aye, and one of them has been married three times… Outlived all three of his wives.”

King’s hand curled into tight fists. That had been left out of the information he’d received earlier.

He was more than ready to find the blackguard and pound the truth about the deaths of his wives out of him.

“I don’t need a name, just a brief description.

I’ll cripple him before he can get anywhere near Lucretia. ”

Snug raised an eyebrow. “Ah, that’s the way of it, then.”

There was no use in denying it. King was here to win at all costs.

He was willing to wager that neither of the other two men knew the extent of what Lucretia suffered.

She had bravely followed through with her fiancé’s instructions and hand-delivered the sealed missive that led King to the man’s body…

and murderer. If only the man had been alive.

“Aye, Snug.”

“Good luck then, King.”

“Thank you.” He strode down the hallway and stepped onto the main gambling floor. Skirting the room, he passed the small opening leading to the spiral staircase and paused when he heard something. There it was again—a soft footfall on the stairs that led to the ladies’ observation gallery.

A quick glance had him sucking in his breath.

The few months since he had seen Lady Montfort had not dimmed her beauty.

Her honey-blonde hair was gathered loosely on top of her head.

Silken tendrils slipped free from their pins to frame her lovely face.

Her full lips begged to be kissed. His hands clenched involuntarily at the thought of clutching her fulsome hips.

“Mr. King?”

Her voice erased the image in his head in time to see her apprehension.

King noted the rapid beat of the pulse at her throat.

Attraction or fear? It bloody well best be attraction.

He would not accept that she feared him after all she had been through.

He’d spent most of his career in the Bow Street Runners using intimidation tactics to his advantage.

He had not used them on Lucretia, only those that were not forthcoming with the information he needed.

It was rare that a case kept him up nights, but the murder of Lord Hughes had—and so had the deceased lord’s affianced.

He inclined his head. “Lady Montfort. May I escort you home?”

“Home? But I only just arrived.”

“Ah, then you are here in support of a friend.” He knew she was not, but could not help but see if she would admit why she was here. Then he would ask why she had not come to him with her problem.

She glanced over her shoulder. Was she contemplating her escape? Before he could ask, Snug stepped around him. “Your ladyship, aren’t you supposed to be waiting in the observation gallery?”

“Er…yes, Mr. Snug, I should be. But one of the other women told me I would find the ladies’ retiring room at the bottom of the stairs.”

He shook his head. “Best not let Mrs. Dove-Lyon see you down here, your ladyship. It’s strictly forbidden, as not all of the gentlemen have accepted the wagers and challenges for your hand.” He held out his arm to her. “It would be remiss of me not to offer to assist you up the steps.”

With a hesitant smile, she slipped her arm through Snug’s and looked at King. “I appreciate your offer to escort me home, but regrettably, I shall have to decline.”

He clenched his jaw until it ached, then forcibly relaxed it to say, “Some other time.”

Her eyes welled with tears. She turned away from King to Snug and lifted the hem of her gown so she would not step on it as they ascended.

A familiar voice grumbled, “I trust you, King, but there are rules to be followed.”

He turned to face Bessie’s head wolf. “I did no more than offer to escort her home.” The intensity of Titan’s gaze did not worry King. “I know her rules. I have not broken any.”

Titan slowly smiled. “If you had, we would be having this conversation in the alleyway after I booted you out.”

King chuckled. “I would like to see you try.”

The wolf grinned. “I’m pressed for time. Later.”

“Later,” King agreed. “In an unofficial capacity, would you be willing to answer a question?”

Titan shrugged. “You can ask, though I may not answer.”

“Would either man vying for her hand have been brought down to be questioned on Bow Street?”

Titan’s smirk was his answer. King had met one or both of them before. He knew when to probe, and when to cease questioning.

“There is much at stake here. I will not fail.”

Titan glanced past him. “Problem, Snug?”

“Potential,” Snug answered. “Mrs. Dove-Lyon needs to know that Lady Teneford is up to her tricks again.”

Titan frowned. “Misdirecting unsuspecting rivals into forbidden areas?”

Snug nodded, “Shall I inform Mrs. Dove-Lyon?”

The head wolf shook his head. “Leave it to me.”

“Gladly.” Snug moved to stand beside King and waited until Titan wended his way through the throng. “Did he answer any of your questions?”

King snorted. “Nothing slips past you, Snug.”

“’Tis why I’m stationed at the rear entrance, which I’d best be getting back to.”

King did have something he wanted to ask, though there was no guarantee that Snug would answer.

“I am given to believe that I have not only met my competition, but interrogated them. Would that have been about Lord Montrose’s murder, or one of the men trying to force their way into Montrose House with lies and innuendo? ”

Snug grunted, then said, “You’re on the right tack.”

“You mean track ?”

“Not if you’re a sailor, like me. Changing tacks means you’ve changed course and are headed in the right direction.”

King nodded. “Would you keep an eye out for Lady Montfort?”

“I will.”

King extended his hand to the older man, who grasped it briefly before letting go to return to his post at the back door.

King was not deterred that neither of Bessie’s wolves had been willing to give up what they knew. He valued his own men’s loyalty, and could not fault any of the Black Widow’s staff for their loyalty to her.

Anticipating Coventry’s arrival within the next half an hour, he resigned himself to reconnoitering the establishment on his own.

Given the crowd, he would have to change his plan to cover half of the downstairs rooms by the time the captain arrived.

It would not be the first time he’d found himself on his own.

King would still accomplish what he needed to, it would just take longer.

Anticipating bumping into more than one man that had been brought in for questioning in the past few months, King scanned the perimeter first, then the room at large. He noticed at least three familiar faces and fought the urge to smile. He loved a challenge!