Chapter 3 #2
He let his gaze drift over her face and watched the flush bloom on her cheeks. Her pulse beat rapidly at her throat, but she held herself so rigidly proud despite the torn gown and his obvious effect on her. Austin removed his coat and passed it to her to cover her exposed leg.
“Thank you,” she said softly, avoiding eye contact with him. “You should go before someone sees us, and I’ll be exiled again.”
Austin’s curiosity piqued when she mentioned her exile, but it was not a suitable time to ask her about that.
“Deena, I never thought you were a child,” he replied sternly.
“And I’m not leaving you alone or rescuing you for applause.
Dominic is not here tonight. If anything happens to his sister under my watch, he will hunt me down and flay me alive.
Friendship only stretches so far. Not to mention your grandmother, who would have me beheaded if anything happened to you. ”
Her lips parted, then pressed together. “Dominic sent me away once before to protect the family name. I doubt he would lose sleep over a torn hem.”
Austin’s jaw tightened. “That was different. And wrong. But it does not mean he stopped caring.”
She looked away, arms folding across her chest as though to hold herself together. He could see her pride warring with her uncertainty.
“You shouldn’t be this kind to me,” she said at last, almost too quietly to hear.
“Why not?”
“Because…” She stopped and shook her head. “Never mind.”
“Because you’re planning to expose me in your little pamphlet?”
Her eyes snapped back to his. “I gave you my word I wouldn’t.”
“Yet you’re still hunting the Velvet Duke.” His voice dropped. “Which, as we’ve established, is me.”
She did not deny it. They stood in charged silence, the air between them humming with tension.
Then Austin exhaled slowly. “We could help each other, you know.”
Deena’s brow arched. “Help each other how?”
“I know every secret the ton whispers. I could feed you stories, real ones, about men who deserve exposure. In return…” He let the words hang, watching her face. “You could be my shield.”
“Your shield?” she frowned.
“Every single woman wants me tonight. Debutantes, widows, their mamas. It’s a bloody circus. I need someone clever at my side who isn’t trying to trap me. Someone who can sift the genuine from the ambitious.”
Deena stared at him. “You want me to help you find a wife.”
“I want you to help me find the right wife.”
She gave a soft, incredulous laugh. “Is it truly so difficult? The infamous Velvet Duke is unable to secure a bride?”
His gaze darkened. “The problem isn’t a lack of candidates. It’s surplus. Every woman in that room sees a coronet and ten thousand a year. I need one who sees…” He stopped, jaw tightening. “More.”
Deena’s expression softened, just a fraction. “More than the title.”
“More than the gossip,” he said quietly. “More than the bed.”
Silence stretched again.
Her eyes searched his face, and he felt the pull between them like a physical and undeniable force. He should have stepped back, but he did not. Finally, Deena extended her gloved hand.
“Very well. We have a deal.”
Austin took it slowly, turning her palm upward. He bowed over it, brushing his lips to the inside of her wrist where the glove ended, and her warm skin began. The contact was brief, chaste, and yet heat flared up his arm as though he’d touched a live flame. Deena’s breath caught audibly.
He straightened, still holding her hand. “Sealed.”
She tugged free, but not quickly enough to hide the tremor in her fingers.
“There’s something you should know,” she blurted.
He waited.
“I’m being blackmailed.”
The words landed like a blow, and Austin went very still. “Blackmailed?”
She nodded; her green eyes fixed on the floor. “I have a friend in Paris who has a secret. Someone found out about that secret and blackmailed us. They’re demanding I expose the Velvet Duke’s deepest and darkest secrets to protect ours or else…”
“Or else what?” His mind raced as anger rose.
Could this be the same person who threatened my title?
“Or else we will be exposed,” Deena continued, and he saw the vulnerability in her eyes.
“Do you have any idea who it may be?”
“I do not know for certain. But they gave me a deadline, and there is not much time.”
“Did you tell your brother?”
“No! Please, do not tell him.”
“But—”
“Please.” Deena looked up at him pleadingly.
Austin exhaled loudly. Dominic would kill him if he kept such a huge secret from him.
But looking at Deena made Austin change his mind.
Somehow, he would convince her to share her worries with her brother.
“I won’t tell Dominic anything.” She sighed in relief.
“But I need to know…why me?” he asked quietly.
“Why does your blackmailer want my secrets?”
“I don’t know that either.” Her voice shook, just slightly. “But I never intended to comply. Not truly. I thought if I pretended, and stalled—”
“You thought you could outmaneuver them alone.”
“Yes.”
“You won’t do this,” he said. “Not alone.”
Her eyes widened. “Austin—”
“We have a deal now,” he reminded her roughly. “Your enemies are mine. Your secrets…” He paused. “Are safe if my secrets are safe.”