Chapter 32

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

H e didn't know what had woken him, but something had. Sitting up in bed, Leo looked around, but no one had entered his room. Was one of his siblings having a nightmare? Pushing the covers aside, he went out to the hallway to listen, but all was silent.

Going back to bed, he let his mind wander to the night he'd just shared with Cyn.

It had been spent talking to people he hadn't conversed with in years and being attentive to her. She'd thawed and even smiled at him a few times, but Leo knew it would take more than the grand gesture of walking into a society ballroom—the stuff of nightmares for him—to make her understand he wanted a life with her and her children.

After he'd helped Cyn into her carriage when she was ready to leave, Leo had climbed in with her and kissed her gently. He'd then told her he loved her and would call on her tomorrow… today. She had simply said, "Very well," but the smile on her face had given him hope.

Leo had then ridden home with his aunt and uncle, listening to them discuss the evening, and thankfully they had not pushed him to talk about Cyn.

Climbing out of bed again, Leo looked at his pocket watch. It was three in the morning. What had woken him? The vision of his cuff link slid into his head.

He was dressed and running down the stairs as quietly as he could in minutes. Pulling on his coat, he grabbed his cane and let himself out the door. Hurrying down the street, he knew there would be a few hackneys close. He needed to find a main thoroughfare.

Surely Cyn was safe? She'd promised him she would not leave her house with less than two Mulhollands on her heels. So why, then, was he running down the road in the early hours of the morning, searching yet again for his cuff link?

"Leo?"

"Ram?" He stopped, the breath wheezing in and out of his mouth. "What the hell are you doing riding about London at this time of night?"

"I have been to a club and got into a conversation with friends. Before I knew it, the next day had arrived." Ram looked as clearheaded as he would if it were morning.

"I need to get to Cyn's house."

"Oh, for the love of God, what do you have to find now?" Ram stuck out his foot and held out a hand. Leo took it and climbed on behind him.

"My cuff link."

"Surely not the same one?"

"Yes."

Ram clucked his tongue in disapproval. "Why the bloody hell did you give it back to her?"

"She asked."

"Love." Ram sighed. "Makes fools of sane men."

Ram galloped through London, weaving around any carriages and horses in his way, until he reached Cyn's street .

"Stop here," Leo said, pointing to the tall home farther down the street. "I will walk the rest of the way."

"I shall wait in case you need me."

Leo thanked Ram and then walked toward Cyn's house. Was I foolish to have come? As the thought left his head, he watched the front door open. Seconds later, a cloaked figure was running down the street in the opposite direction.

You little fool. Following, he stayed close as Cyn ran on, stopping only when she heard the clop of a hackney. She then spoke to the driver, giving the address of the agency. Opening the door, she climbed inside.

Leo ran beside it as the carriage started moving. Opening the door, he vaulted inside and closed it behind him.

"Get out!" Cyn screeched.

Leo faced her, and the next scream fell away. He took the seat across from her.

"I can't work out if you are incredibly stupid or incredibly brave to be walking about London alone at such an hour, knowing that men are already after you." His words came out with a definite snap to them. "Just hours ago, you were dancing with me at a ball. Not once did you mention you would be recklessly leaving the house in the early hours of the morning."

"I didn't know I would be," she snapped back.

"Why are you?"

She handed him the paper that was scrunched in her palm.

I will kill your staff if you do not come to the Phoenix Agency at once. You and I need to talk. Come alone, or I will start killing them.

"How the hell did you receive this?"

"It came through my window wrapped around a rock."

"You are not serious? "

"Well, they could hardly knock on the door, now, could they?"

"You should have sent for me immediately, or at the very least brought a Mulholland with you."

"They received word when I returned from the ball that their aunt is dying, so I sent them to visit with her for the evening. They made me promise I would not leave the house, which, of course, I gave them?—"

"Well, that's a lie."

"You read that note, Leo."

"I'm sure you have another footman in that huge house of yours you could have brought with you."

She folded her arms. "My staff are in danger, and it said to come alone, so I am doing that."

"They always say come alone!" Leo roared.

"I will not be responsible for my staff being hurt."

"Damn you, Cyn, what part of you are in danger do you not understand? Why did you not send for me?"

"I know the danger this man presents and did not want you in his path."

"While that warms my heart, it also makes me bloody furious. You know I can look after you."

"And yet I will not take that risk." Her chin lifted. "I had hoped to find a constable on the way to assist me with the man who may, as we speak, be inside the Phoenix Agency."

Leo thought about Constable Plummy, who patrolled the streets of Crabbett Close. He was an idiot. A loud clap of thunder would scare him.

"You cannot simply run into danger," Leo said in what he thought was a reasonable tone, but her eyes narrowed, which suggested it hadn't been. He tried to force down his rage at the risk she had taken yet again.

"You are not responsible for me, Leo. "

"I love you!" he roared. "I am now responsible for you, as you are for me."

She was silent for long seconds, thinking about what he said.

"As I love you," she said in a prim little voice.

"Excellent," he snapped back.

"Why were you outside my house, Leo?"

"Because I needed to find my bloody cuff link again."

She pulled it from her pocket and held it out, but he didn't take it.

"Keep it. At least I will always know when you need me."

"Thank you for coming to the ball, Leo," she whispered.

"You're welcome," he said, sounding anything but welcoming.

"I think that we may perhaps meet the Wolf tonight."

"So it would seem. Would you go to my family and tell them what is happening?"

"No."

"It was a faint hope at best." He sighed. "Do you have your pistol?"

"Yes, and I would have shot him had I come alone, if it was necessary for me to do so." She then sneezed loudly.

When the carriage stopped, they got out. There was a light on in the property next door. His property.

"I am going inside, and you are not."

"You are not going in there without me," Cyn said. She then pulled her pistol out of her pocket.

"I have no wish for you to misfire that thing until you have another target. Put it away at once," Leo said.

"Because I am a woman, I therefore cannot fire a pistol with accuracy?" she shot back at him.

Ignoring her, Leo said, "You will stay outside."

"I won't. "

There was no time to argue, so he started down the side of the house. Taking the stairs down, he slipped through the opening in the fence, with Cyn on his heels. As they stepped inside the ground floor, they heard a scream.