“But there must be something you can do,” she pleads. “I have money and jewels too, lots of them. More than you could wish for!”
I shake my head, but before I can tell her that a few fake diamonds would never be enough for a job like this, she reaches into her skirt.
When she dumps a load of glittering necklaces onto my desk, my brows shoot up to the ceiling.
“Those are not real,” I breathe. But I’ve never seen fake diamonds shine like that.
“They are,” she insists, shoving them towards me, “and there’s plenty more where that came from too. We just need Hugo gone.”
Carefully, I reach for one of the necklaces. It’s heavy and finer than anything even the richest whorehouse owners of Night Alley would wear. Just one of these could finance an entire palace.
“Where did you find these?” I rasp. The girl in front of me is pretty, yes, but clearly not rich. Her gown is plain and servant-like, even if it hugs her curves in all the right places.
“I…” She pauses for a moment. “I work for the Royal Family. I’m a maid for one of the princesses.”
“A maid?” I repeat, glancing at her hands shaking in her lap. “Those are some soft hands for a maid.”
“The princesses are good to me,” she says with a scowl. “Now will you help us or not? Because I’ll walk away with all this right now and find someone else who can. Someone not afraid to get hisownsoft hands dirty.” Ruby folds her arms. The sudden fire in her voice catches me off guard.
Holding back a smile, I return the necklace to the table and lean back in my chair.
She’s lucky that I’m a gentleman. There’s plenty of assassins in Night Alley that wouldn’t be so patient – plenty who would have no issue with bending a pretty maid like her over a table and reminding her of her place in this town.
“I’ll consider the job, but you need to tell me more about Hugo,” I reply, trying not to think about how she’d feel underneath me, the noises she’d make. “Where can I find him?”
“Right now he’s in the palace,” Ruby says, her tone softening. “I’m not sure where his chambers are, but I’m sure I can find out.”
“Chambers? Who is this guy? A lord?” I laugh.
“He’s a prince.”
My jaw hits the floor.
“You want me to ‘scare away’ a prince?” I slam my hands against the table. “Are you insane? If I get caught I’ll be hanged, possibly even worse. And I can’t just wander up to him. He’ll have guards. And that’s not to mention all the guards surrounding the palace, and they’ll all have weapons! This mission would be suicide. I can’t risk it.”
“I’m sure we can come up with some way to get him alone,” she offers. “And I’m sure there would be some way for you to sneak into the palace. We can come up with a plan.” Her eyes meet mine, and I can’t help but stare as she gnaws her lower lip. Damn perfect lips.
Scowling, I let my head fall into my hands. “I said I’d consider it, so I will,” I grumble.
“Thank you, oh thank you!” she squeals.
“I’ll be taking one of these as a deposit, though.” Lifting my head, I snatch up a necklace. Stars know I’ll need the compensation after the sleepless nights I’ll have this week.
“Take them all,” Ruby insists, shoving them into my arms. “Like I said, there’s plenty more at the palace.”
Before she moves her hands away, I catch something glinting on her finger. Instinctively I reach for her wrist, and she gasps as I hold her in place.
Her tanned skin is warm and softer than silk under my hand, but I cast the feeling aside, focusing instead on the thin silver band set with a tiny amethyst on her index finger.
“What’s this?” I ask, studying the ring. The band is nothing special, but the violet stone matches her eyes almost perfectly.
“It’s just a ring,” she replies, but I hold her tighter when she tries to pull away. “I’ve got plenty more like that at home, but they’re probably worthless compared to the necklaces.”
“I want this instead,” I tell her, slipping the ring off her and placing it onto my little finger before she has a chance to stop me. “I’ll take it as a deposit instead of the necklaces.” The metal of the band is warm and fits well. Like it was made for me.
“If you insist,” Ruby mumbles, pulling her hand back. Within seconds, the necklaces are scooped up and my newest client is making her way to the door.
“Wait,” I call after her, finally tearing my gaze from her ring. “I’ll have Bertie escort you back through Night Alley. It’s not safe for a maid to walk through the streets on her own.”
