What exactly was she saying? Was she threatening him?
Chapter Four
Tag sat at his desk the next morning ignoring the view of the rain-soaked garden beyond the windows. Instead he focused on his four friends who sat across from him. “So, as you can see, I can no longer keep watch on Minnie. One of you will have to trade with me.”
Four sets of eyes stared back.
Exile was the first to speak and he shifted in his chair, clearing his large throat with a deep rumble. “I’m afraid I don’t understand. You’ve gotten an invitation to another party. You’ve collected valuable information to state your case and make sure she keeps our secret. We should all be so lucky.”
He let out a short breath of irritation. “Except that her family has expectations. I don’t want to further those—”
“Who cares,” Malice said and then gave a short laugh, his craggy features crinkling with the gesture. “We’re concerned about maintaining our club’s reputation and revenue stream. What happens to one girl isn’t our concern.”
Tag frowned. In theory Malice was right. But somehow, he did care. “But one of you could finish what I started and she need not suffer at all. More importantly, she vaguely threatened that she would tell if I didn’t leave her family be.”
Vice gave him the sweet smile of a man who always got his way. Why wouldn’t he? With blond hair and blue eyes, people always thought him pure, when in reality, he was anything but. “She’s one woman. Handle her, Daring. Besides, I’ve already secured an invitation to the sort of party I loathe going to so that I might accidentally run into Miss Ada. I’m not switching now.”
Malice shrugged. “I’ve already told everyone my agenda. And I’ve also secured an invitation to meet my chosen lady. I’m looking for a certain type of wife and Minnie Chase does not fit the bill. Cordelia, however, just might.”
Tag grimaced. He couldn’t argue there. Malice wanted a quiet, unassuming woman he could marry and tuck away in his country estate. That was not Minnie. “I understand that.”
Exile rubbed his neck. “Sorry, my friend, but I’ve got my own reasons for choosing Diana over the other girls.”
“Yes,” Bad rumbled, his dark features perpetually hidden in shadow. “You’ve already fallen in love.”
Without a word, Exile used a meaty fist to knock Bad in the shoulder, nearly sending the man’s chair over. It had to hurt like hell, but Bad barely made a sound.
Tag turned to him. “And you? Will you switch with me?”
Bad shook his head slowly. “The one I’m paired with, Lady Grace, is a far easier mark than Minnie. I’ve no appetite to make my job harder.”
Well, that was a friend for you. “Your dedication to me is touching.”
Bad raised a single brow. “You picked her, now she’s your problem.”
He pushed back from his chair and crossed to the window but he didn’t really look outside. Instead, he pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Perhaps we need not do this at all. They said they’d keep our secret. And they’re ladies of society. Lords sniffing about is bound to cause trouble. It might be better to just leave them be.”
Bad cleared his throat. “Don’t you go getting soft-hearted. Remember three years ago when your farmlands flooded? You used the club’s money to keep your people fed.”
Tag dropped his hands. “I don’t need the club anymore. My lands support themselves these days.”
But Vice rose and crossed to him. “And wh
en you finally marry and have more than one son, what will you buy with the club’s proceeds? I’ll tell you what. You’ll have an inheritance for each of your children.”
Well that was a bloody good point. “Minnie said that our club nicknames made us sound like eight-year-old boys not grown men who were supposed to lead the country.”
“Viper.” Malice kicked back in his chair and propped his feet on Darlington’s desk. “I can hear in your voice that you’re softening toward her. Worried about her future and her family. Stop. This is a job for the club’s sake. What’s gotten into you? It’s not like you to be so mushy.”
He didn’t reply. He understood Malice’s point, but somehow, he was beginning to see Minnie’s too. “Have you ever witnessed a marriage where the two parties don’t like each other?” Or in the case of his parents, hated one another.
The room was silent as the other men looked anywhere but at him.
“I don’t particularly like Minnie but she does have a spirit that can be infuriating and occasionally refreshing. Depending on whom she marries, she may very well be broken. Some men don’t appreciate such a strong will from a woman.” He gripped the edge of his desk. His father hadn’t.
Exile shifted in his chair, the legs scraping the hardwood floor. “I said this the last time we met and I’ll say it again. You could just marry her. She’ll keep your secret then for certain.”
He shook his head. “I can’t. Honestly, she reminds me too much of the first woman I nearly married.” In this case, he meant the first woman he’d ever loved and the first woman to tear that affection into a thousand tiny pieces.