Chapter 9 #2
It was almost a surprise for Penny to find the brooch and bowl he’d nicked from Pennington’s study in his pocket along with the handsome letter opener and cigars.
So much had happened since he and Greer had been in the study that he’d forgotten the letters they’d been sent to take were not the only things that had left that room.
“These should fetch a good price,” Penny commented casually as they prepared to depart.
“Leave them here,” Greer said, nodding to the table off to one side of the room. “You won’t have time to fence them today, and it’ll be dangerous to carry them around until you’re at leisure to sell them.”
Penny’s eyebrows went up, but he said nothing.
He put the items on Greer’s table, glancing back at the man over his shoulder.
A past version of himself would be suspicious that Greer intended to steal his take and sell the items himself, but in his heart he knew better.
Leaving the items in Greer’s home was an invitation for Penny to return.
It was an invitation for much more than merely that.
They’d slept far longer than Penny first imagined, which meant it was nearly noon by the time the two of them were admitted to The Zagreus Den.
Penny was encouraged by how quickly they gained admittance, but any anticipatory thoughts he’d had were diminished as he glanced eagerly around at the entirely different world the Den seemed to be during the day.
The decorations were the same and there seemed to be just as many gentlemen and young men wandering about, but the feeling of the place was decidedly different.
“Please forgive any interruptions we might experience,” Brutus greeted them as they were led into the huge banquet hall where the feast and orgy—and yes, it had ended up being an orgy in the end—that they’d attended the other night had been.
“One of the classrooms is being repainted today, so the lads are having their lesson in here.”
In the corner of the room where the musicians had been playing the other night was a small gathering of young men, the same ones who had been dancing, serving, blowing, and being fucked senseless by the members of the Den.
They were seated in a circle, slates in their laps, as a gentleman with spectacles stood beside a movable chalkboard, apparently teaching them mathematics.
Penny stopped halfway across the room to gape at them. Georgie, whose name was now Erastos, was among the students. Penny almost laughed. He’d always considered Georgie to be clever, if a bit pitiful and weak. He looked pleased as Punch as he copied down figures on his slate.
“What sort of place is this?” he asked as Brutus ushered them to the low table at the far end of the room, where a veritable feast had already been laid out.
The white-blond man with the black armband, Valentine, was dressed in a costume that might have been seen in a sultan’s harem, billowy trousers and all, and was serving them.
Brutus laughed as he gestured for Penny and Greer to sit. “I thought you’d made up your mind about that the other night,” he said.
“Did I not tell you The Zagreus Den is a school as well as a brothel?” Greer asked with a teasing grin.
Penny couldn’t remember whether he had or not. Either way, it was clear to him now that whether he was having his arse stuffed by nobs at night or not, Georgie had landed himself in the luckiest position any young bit of rubbish in the street could ever find themselves in.
“Behold, your prize,” Greer announced with a flourish, taking the bundle of letters they’d purloined from Pennington from his pocket and presenting them to Titus, who rose from his seat at the table to greet them.
“So you found them after all?” Brutus asked, seemingly surprised.
Penny and Greer shared a baffled look before Greer turned to the brothers. “Yes? Of course,” he added with a shrug.
“You realize Scotland Yard is all over Berkeley Square at the moment,” Titus said with a smirk, shuffling through the letters.
Penny’s face heated. So they hadn’t escaped into the night without a care in the world after all.
“Pennington summoned the coppers, did he?” Greer asked, pretending to be gruff and careless, even though his cheeks burned as he took a seat at the table and reached for a roll.
“We believe one of the neighbors called for the police,” Brutus said, his eyes shining with mirth. “From what we’ve been able to gather thus far, a commotion was heard coming from Pennington’s house, and one of the maids, who has a friend in the house adjacent, dashed over in a panic.”
“Our eyes and ears say that Pennington had a devil of a time convincing the police that nothing untoward had happened,” Titus said.
“Did they even know there’d been a housebreak?” Penny asked. “I was there, and it seemed as though Pennington had more to hide than not.”
Brutus laughed. “You’re perfectly correct,” he said, beaming as he picked up a slice of apple from the plate in front of him. “He had a devil of a time explaining why Lord Langston’s head footman was in his house in the middle of the night dressed only in trousers and a loose shirt.”
Penny was glad he hadn’t yet taken a drink of the beer that had been offered to him. He would have spit it all over the table. He’d assumed Pennington’s friend was of his same class. That it was the neighbor’s footman was rich.
“So there you have it,” he said, taking a sip of his beer at last. “Greer and I broke into the man’s house, took the things you needed, and managed to pin the blame on something else entirely.
” He saluted Brutus and Titus with his cup, took a long draught, then said, “When can I bring my sister to her new home, then?”
The beer threatened to spoil in his stomach when Brutus and Titus exchanged an uncertain look.
“Your endeavor was far from perfect,” Titus pointed out.
Penny gaped at the man and put his glass down. “Are you going back on our agreement?” he demanded.
“There is no agreement as of yet,” Brutus said. “Pennington was a test. I’m not certain you passed.”
Anger pulsed through Penny. “We got into the bloody house, nicked your damned letters, and got out without a soul suspecting we were there.”
He turned his head to Greer, expecting the man to support him.
Greer stared stoically at the table in front of him.
That hurt more than being accused of failing.
“We did the bloody job,” Penny defended himself. “I may not be the master thief that Greer is, but I held my own. If I can get in and out of a house in Mayfair without years as an apprentice thief and get you what you need, surely, I must be good enough for some silly castle in Cornwall.”
He couldn’t believe he was arguing that he should be allowed to do something that he had adamantly refused to do only days before. But Helen’s welfare was at stake, and now that he’d had a taste of working with Greer, he wanted much more of it.
Brutus seemed to sense the heart of things. “Greer?” he asked, leaning slightly closer to Greer. “What say you?”
Greer was forced to look up. He met Penny’s eyes and stared at him long and hard for a moment, then let out a breath and turned to Brutus.
“I am used to working alone,” he said. Penny bristled with betrayal, until Greer continued with, “It was not Penny’s fault the house was stirred.
Nothing either of us did caused Pennington and his guest to awaken.
They were likely already on high alert lest they be discovered. ”
Penny snapped his mouth shut. That was a lie. Their carelessness had been the problem.
Greer wasn’t exactly defending him, but he wasn’t undercutting him completely either.
“Would you like another test?” Penny asked sardonically. “Anything to prove my worth to you.” He narrowed his eyes to make certain the brothers knew he would not bow or shrink before them, no matter how much power they purported to have.
Brutus and Titus stared at each other for a long moment before Brutus sighed and gave his attention back to Penny and Greer.
“There isn’t time for another test,” he said.
“Lord Fabian is in imminent danger. The more we delay, the more likely it is that this supposed buyer Hammond has for him will come to collect.”
“We need you to depart for Cornwall with all due haste,” Titus agreed. “Whether your partnership is tried and tested or not.”
“And you will shelter my sister while I am away?” Penny asked. Nothing else mattered besides that.
To the brothers’ credit, Brutus didn’t hesitate before saying, “Yes, we will care for your sister in your absence. But if anything should happen to you, we would not be able to keep her indefinitely.”
A sick, quivery feeling shot through Penny’s gut. Helen was safe, but only for now, only if he succeeded in doing something he was unskilled at, aided by a man he was uncertain wanted him along, against what was reputed to be an impregnable castle.
He did the only thing he could think to do. He grinned as if it were nothing, rubbed his hands together, and said, “When do we depart?”