“Have you been reading too many novels again, Giles?” Black asked, a hint of amusement in his eyes. “I know that is how you enjoy spending your free time, but I question the wisdom of such activities if they have corrupted your mind.”
“There is nothing at all wrong with Giles’s mind,” Theo growled, clenching his fists at his sides, “and I would thank you not to disparage him in that way.”
He’d said too much by hardly saying anything at all. The three club owners registered looks of surprise, as if reassessing Theo’s reasons for being there.
“Giles invited you personally, you say?” Beaumont said, as if he understood everything in a new light.
“He is my beau, yes,” Giles said, then brushed right on to, “He needs my help bringing a vile conspirator to justice. The man is blackmailing the Chancellor of the Exchequer to gain lucrative shipping contracts.”
Theo sent a sideways warning look to Giles. He didn’t trust Perdition’s owners as far as he could throw them.
None of the three owners looked as though they believed a word Giles had said.
“Giles, you know we are all quite fond of you, but why would a Bow Street Runner require your assistance in a plot against the government?” Potts asked.
Giles’s expression grew serious. “Because the chief suspect at this point is my father.”
The room went as silent as if someone had sucked all the air out of it. Theo guessed from the stunned and sympathetic looks of the club’s owners that the three men were well aware of Giles’s history and how he’d come to be in their employ.
“Does he know you’re involved?” Black asked, his tone entirely different than it had been. “Has he discovered where you are?”
Giles shook his head. “He has not. Which will work to our advantage. My father’s ignorance of me could be the key to proving his guilt and his part in the conspiracy.”
Theo’s brow shot up, and he turned to stare at Giles. Did his sweet siren have a plan in mind to catch his father?
As eager as he was to hear it, there were other hurdles in front of him.
“Gentlemen,” he said addressing the club’s owners, “I understand your prejudice against me. It has been my duty thus far to attempt to shutter establishments like this and to bring their owners and operators to justice. But we have moved beyond that now. I have far more pressing needs at present than closing an establishment that has proven to be a haven for so many.”
He glanced to Giles with those words, hoping they would make the three men see where his loyalties truly lay. Enough hints had already been given that there was some sort oftendrebetween him and Giles, and while Theo was still uncertain how much of Giles’s affections he could claim, the growing emotion between them might be enough to save his hide.
“Is it my imagination, or does it feel as though young Giles has brought home a wolf pup, mistaking it for a puppy, and that he is asking us if he can keep it?” Potts asked the others with a grin.
“He is worse than the twins sometimes,” Black said, shaking his head. “We do not need this sort of trouble.”
“But if Brunner’s investigation means that Pennyroyal could be brought to justice, then I, for one, would like to be a part of that,” Beaumont said.
The three owners looked at each other, as if trying to decide what course of action to take.
“Gentlemen, if I may,” Theo stepped in, clasping his hands behind his back. “I understand your hesitance to open your doors to me. Believe me, I do. But I am in a bind. I am at your mercy.”
“Thankfully, we are all very merciful here,” Giles said. “And I personally quite enjoy binding.” Theo wasn’t certain whether he meant it as teasing. Whether he did or not, he stepped right up to Theo’s side and clasped Theo’s arm, hugging it.
Theo could practically hear Giles asking if he could keep his wolf puppy. He stood a little taller, determined not to disappoint his little minx, and said, “I will make a deal with you, gentlemen,” he said. “If you grant me shelter under your roof and whatever sort of assistance I might need, should I need it—and if you release Giles from any duties he might have in this establishment for the duration of my investigation—I will repay you in whatever way you see fit, to the very best of my abilities.”
Theo waited, practically holding his breath. He’d added the bit about Giles not serving any of Perdition’s customers as a purely selfish bid to keep his darling to himself, but he was uncertain whether Perdition’s owners would accept that condition.
“Any price at all?” Potts asked, stroking his chin and watching Theo with a clever look that made Theo’s blood run cold.
“Anything,” Theo said, trying not to sigh in resignation. There was no telling what price the men in front of him would ask, but whatever it was, it would be worth it for Giles’s sake.
“Fine, then,” Potts said, glancing quickly to his friends. “You have a deal. We will allow you to take shelter at Perdition, and we will give Giles leave to help you, and all for a price to be determined later.”
Theo breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” he said.
He wondered if he would be thanking or cursing the men later.
ChapterSix