“He says it makes no sense to pay rent to someone else when he owns his own roof nowadays, and apparently the Albany costs an arm and a leg and he’s counting his pennies.”
“Well, the Albany is in Mayfair.” Where everything cost at least ten times what it did in Clerkenwell. “And Mayfair is expensive.”
Tommy nodded. “And he don’t exactly need to be in Mayfair anymore when his business is here now, does he?”
Vee supposed that made sense, although it added to her cringing sense of foreboding. “Surely he isn’t moving into a building site?” That seemed a bit extreme, as well as awkward, but before Tommy could answer the man himself strode out.
“Is that the last of the delivery, Tom…” He stopped mid-stride. “Venus…” His handsome face was part surprised to see her and a greater part uncomfortable.
She sympathized because, thanks to her scandalous and wanton behavior, she was instantly discomforted, too. The flirtatious and seductive behavior that, according to her eldest sibling, had been the first time she’d truly lived up to her hideous name. Thankfully, in all the other excitement, only Minerva had noticed the lengths she had gone to in order to distract Galahad from the game.
“I heard Shropshire got canceled.” There was no disguising the tinge of disappointment in his tone that that was the case.
She matched her peeved expression to his, determined to appear indifferent to his blatant lack of enthusiasm to see her even though she wanted to howl at the moon.
“Giles didn’t want to risk it. He wants his wife within spitting distance of a Harley Street physician if complications arise. Never mind that my unstoppable sister was out of bed the day after little Gethin came into the world and has been in the finest of fettles ever since. But hence we are all now celebrating Christmas in Berkeley Square.” Thank goodness it was dark and he couldn’t see the hurt barricadedbehind her eyes. “Olivia is livid that you refused her invitation, by the way.” Vee, however, was relieved. She needed as much space between her and the confusing, befuddling man in front of her as possible until she was over him. “She is determined not to take no for an answer.”
“I have to work. I tried to explain that to her when I called the other day, but you know Olivia.” He had called upon Giles and Diana three days ago, managing to catch them in the only two hours that Vee hadn’t been there, too. That avoidance was either sheer coincidence or entirely by his design. After the way she had tormented him with her cleavage, Vee could not help suspecting that it was the latter—that he wasn’t any keener about seeing her on the back of her overtly come-hither performance as she was him. “My den of iniquity needs me.”
“Not until at least ten o’clock it doesn’t, Mr. Sinclair.” Tommy’s interruption earned him a glare spiked with daggers. “Muldoon will have everything so well in hand.” Oblivious of the reluctance of his temporary master, the boy gestured toward Vee with a tilt of his ginger head. “Christmas is a time for families, Mr. Sinclair, and you should be with yours. The Den can spare you for one night.”
Embarrassed to be caught in what appeared to be yet another lie, Galahad shuffled from foot to foot. “Muldoon wants the night off himself to be withhisfamily.” Another pointed look passed between the man and the boy, and this one Tommy caught.
Short.
Because it clearly surprised him. Or baffled him. She knew the boy well enough to know the innocent but rapidly blinking eyes were a sure sign Tommy knew more than he was letting on.
“Who is Muldoon?”
Vee asked the question to Tommy, but it was Galahad who answered. “He works for me. Behind the bar and the like.”
She suspected the “and the like” was a line to fob her off to avoid any further explanations or talk of Christmas, so she filed it away to ask Tommy the moment they were alone. “How are the renovations going?” She gestured behind, pretending not to notice how the abrupt changeof subject relieved Galahad. “I see the roof is all finished.” Even under the hazy moonlight, the new slate shone.
“Indeed it is. No more leaks, for me or your orphanage.” He rocked on his heels, clearly wishing he was anywhere else.
“Splendid… splendid.” Good gracious. Thanks to her short stint as a temptress and the knife still lodged in her heart, this conversation was like pulling teeth.
As if he realized that, too, he blew out a breath and gestured awkwardly behind. “Care to see inside?”
No! I want to curl up into a blushing, humiliated, wretched ball and avoid you for all eternity.“All right.”
“All righty…” His pained smile pinned in place, Galahad held the front door open for Tommy to pass with his parcel, then swept his arm toward it in wary welcome. “To set your expectations, it’s still an unholy mess almost everywhere.”
He wasn’t lying.
The dim lamps that lit the stairwell revealed that the necessary destruction of the renovation was in full swing. Here on the bottom floor, several of the connecting walls that separated the three buildings were gone. Scaffolding supports currently held up the ceiling, but it was impressive how much those missing walls opened up the space.
Galahad picked up a lantern and wandered farther in, pointing to the now long back wall, using the building works to distract them both from their discomfort. “The bar is going to stretch all the way along here. All wood, but the wall will be covered in fancy mirrors to maximize the light. I’m having all the countertop brass for the same reason, with big crystal chandeliers above. Huge, ostentatious clusters of sparkles running all the way to the stage.” He lifted the lantern toward the wall between their buildings to point out the location.
“A stage?”
His answering smile was faraway, as if he could see past all the piles of rubbish and debris to how it would all look. “For the musicians. Not an orchestra-sized stage but large enough to house four or five performerssimultaneously to give the place a party atmosphere. Lively fiddlers and banjo players rather than those sedate string quartets the aristocracy favor that would only send everyone to sleep.”
“Which I cannot help but notice puts all that lively fiddling directly next to my classroom.” Vee hadn’t meant to sound snippy, because she really was trying to be polite and indifferent to do her part to banish the awkwardness, but all that boisterousness mere feet away from the orphanage’s dedicated place of study was a major cause for concern.
“I’ve thought about that, and believe it or not, I intend to be a considerate neighbor. Mr. Evans is going to reinforce all the walls between us, make them all a foot thick to muffle the sound. It’ll be padded, too, in case all that additional brick doesn’t stop everything. And there’ll be absolutely no fiddling during lesson times. My business will open after yours closes for the day.” He held up his palm solemnly, his unusual eyes dancing. “I swear your students won’t even know that I’m there.”
At her I’ll-believe-that-when-I-see-it look, he grinned as he walked to the very center of the space and spread his arms wide, managing to look both boyish and sinfully handsome at the same time. “Right here will be the staircase. I’ve got an architect working on all the important structural details, but I can tell you it’s going to swoop.” His hand whooshed an arc in the air while his eyes danced with barely contained excitement. “It’ll punch its way through all three floors and look impressive. Wider here at the bottom so everyone can get to the gaming tables on the floor above and getting narrower and narrower the higher it climbs to the third floor, because only my most prestigious clientele will be allowed up there.” He rubbed his thumb and fingers together to let her know that “prestigious” meant the richest rather than the titled. “I want it to be seriously exclusive. By invitation only.”
