You know perfectlywellwhy.
She frowned at the voice in her head. The theater was tonight. And Lucien was supposed to attend. Though given how they had parted, she wasn’t entirely sure he would show up. He had received her note of apology days before, and yet she’d still had no response. Had no idea how his meeting with Benjamin had gone—though that hadn’t stopped her from imagining the two men galivanting around London together. Perhaps even sharing a laugh at her expense. But she forced the ugly thought aside. It was beneath her. And there was no good reason why Lucien’s attendance should concern her. If he was prepared to end their arrangement because she had engaged in the same business practices as she always did, then so be it. Let him be ridiculous and offended andon his own.
Alex pushed back her chair. Enough. If she was going to wasteaway the afternoon, there were far better places to do it than her office. Trouble was, she couldn’t think of anywhere to go. If she went home, her mother or aunt would only pepper her with questions she didn’t want to answer. And she couldn’t visit the British Museum because it would only make her think of Lucien even more, and that wasnothelpful. Will was in Parliament, Phoebe was at her school, and Freddie in parts unknown… which were all the people she knew. Alex grimaced. How small and dull her life had become. Then, before she could stop it, the thought flitted through her mind for perhaps the hundredth time that day:
I wonder what Lucien is doing?
The near-constant refrain was slowly driving her insane. She didn’tcare. Not one—
“Miss Atkinson.”
Alex blinked and turned toward the doorway of her office where Potts hovered with a nervous look on his thin face. She suspected it was not the first time he had addressed her.
She cleared her throat and sat up in her chair, as if she hadn’t been caught wool-gathering. “What is it?”
Potts stepped into the room and lowered his voice. “There is a policeman here to see you. Inspector Holland. He says it’s urgent.”
“You had better show him in, then.”
Potts nodded and hurried away.
Well, this was unexpected. She had met the detective inspector last month after he got mixed up in some business with Phoebe and Margrave. He was far too serious, even for a man in his position, and didn’t suffer fools. Alex rather liked him.
As Inspector Holland strode into the room, his eyes met hers and he nodded hello.
“Miss Atkinson. Thank you for seeing me.”
“Of course. Please sit,” Alex said as she gestured to the lone chair before her desk.
As he took his seat, his broad shoulders tightened underneath his jacket. He had the kind of muscular build that was usually found in boxers and sent young ladies into a swoon. And yet, Alex couldn’t help thinking she preferred Lucien’s lean form.
You are ridiculous.
“I’m sorry to drop by unannounced,” he began, entirely unaware of the direction of her thoughts. “But I was in the area and wanted to warn you in person.”
Alex tilted her head. “Warn me?”
“I have it on good authority that the criminal known as the Nun has indeed returned to London and was funding Fleur.”
“Oh. That. I had forgotten.”
Before Will and Phoebe came to their senses and admitted their love for each other over the summer, Will had first thrown over the daughter of his mentor, Lord Fairbanks. The man in turn threatened to name Phoebe as Margrave’s mistress in retaliation, so Alex had taken it upon herself to buy up the earl’s debts to keep him in line. However, unbeknownst to Alex, Lord Fairbanks had also been involved in a new private gentlemen’s club called Fleur with a shadowy Irish criminal—the Nun. When Alex bought his debts, the earl pulled out of the club and then fled the country when he failed to pass a bill that would have targeted woman-owned brothels across the city, while leaving his own establishment untouched.
The inspector’s dark brows rose at her blasé admission. “I’m afraid you may be in danger.”
Alex waved a dismissive hand and shook her head. “The Nun’squarrel is with Lord Fairbanks. And last I heard he was hiding out somewhere on the Continent.”
The inspector pursed his lips. “Forgive me, Miss Atkinson,” he began. “But it was your actions that led to the closing of Fleur. You cost the Nun money and possibly his foothold in the city. That will not be forgotten.”
Alex crossed her arms. “What do you want me to do about that?”
“Stay close to home until I arrest him.”
“Well, that is unfortunate because I have a business to run,” she said dryly. “I also have tickets to the theater this evening.”
And nothing short of a meteorite crashing into the city would stop her from attending.
The inspector huffed. “This is serious, Miss Atkinson. The Nun is a dangerous man and he does not appreciate competitors.”
