Page 62 of The Devilish Pleasures of a Duke

She glanced around. “One moment only.”

He looked back, noting Drake’s figure only a few feet away. “It isn’t over between you and me,” he said under his breath. “It can’t be. I have spent every hour since—”

He broke off as they turned a corner together and discovered her younger brother Devon sitting in a chair perusing a collection of state papers. “Well, isn’t this a surprise,” Adrian muttered. “The entire family is here. There’s your brother.”

Emma glanced back through the doorway in consternation. “It can’t be my brother. I can see him standing right over there with Charlotte.”

“The other brother. Devon.”

“Devon? In a museum? Now I have seen everything.”

Devon lowered his sheath of documents, pretending to look astonished to see them, and gave a friendly little wave.

“This has gone too far.” Emma came to a halt. The girls crowded into the arched doorway behind Adrian. “I shall put a stop to it as soon as I return home.”

Adrian looked at Devon, whose friendly expression had gone faintly discouraging all of a sudden. “All I want to do is talk to you, Emma. Without a full complement of guards.”

She glanced back meaningfully at her brother. “It seems as if you shall have to do so by committee.”

He crossed his arms. “Unless we can arrange a private meeting.”

“We can’t,” she whispered. “At least not until they stop pestering me like this.”

His gaze darkened. “Well, I’m not giving up. And just so that you’ll know what you’re dealing with, I have never failed in any mission before.” He stared at her in male arrogance underlaid with a very appealing vulnerability. “And I don’t intend to start now.”

“We’ll see,” she murmured.

To Adrian’s surprise, his declaration of amorous warfare would demand a good deal more strategy than the straightforward military conquests he had waged in the past. He had earned his reputation as a hard fighter.

He had not, however, masterminded a campaign against the Boscastle brothers before. He had to admire their ingenuity and determination when it came to protecting one of their own.

His admiration would not deter him from his purpose. In fact, it only made him more determined to win.

He just wasn’t quite sure how to go about it.

They were four Boscastle brothers and one of him. Obviously he needed a powerful ally. And a bolder plan of action.

Chapter Fourteen

Heath’s sleek black carriage rumbled over the glistening cobbles of the city street. The three brothers borne within stared back at the receding museum in silence until Devon tossed his black leather gloves onto the seat in disgust, if not defeat.

“This is getting a bit ridiculous. We can’t follow Emma everywhere. She’s planning on attending a Flemish needlework display this evening in Caven dish Square. A man does have his pride.”

“Dear God,” Drake muttered. “I thought ancient pottery was bad enough.”

“At least none of you had to buy pink lace in public,” Heath remarked dryly. “And tomorrow morning she’s been invited to inspect a parish school for the children of unwed prostitutes.”

“Well, count me out on that one,” Devon said. “I think Chloe is accompanying her.”

Heath snorted. “And Chloe, as we all recall, knows absolutely nothing about illicit affairs and staying away from dangerous men. If anything, Chloe will push Emma right into Adrian’s arms.”

“Well, we cannot accompany her forever on all these forays,” Devon muttered. “I’m beginning to feel like my dowager auntie. Moreover, I think Jocelyn is beginning to suspect I’m up to no good.”

Heath blew out a sigh. “We must hang in only until Grayson returns and we have a forum to decide on action.”

“Our presence doesn’t seem to have convinced Wolf to stay away from her,” Drake said.

Heath laughed. “Perhaps he can’t help himself.”