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She wasn’t going to tell her friend that Bradshaw had already proposed. She chased after Bradshaw for a few weeks and now that she got what she wanted, turned out, it wasn’t what she wanted after all. Olivia felt guilty about how she’d treated Bradshaw. She’d made him care for her, and now she was about to reject his suit.
Olivia had trouble understanding her feelings. She just knew that she couldn’t possibly accept a suit from a gentleman who wasn’t the one to make her heart jolt.
Luckily, the conversation came to a halt at the same time as the carriage did.
They’d arrived at the Duke of Kensington’s residence.
Jarvis had spent most of the week avoiding Olivia. He’d gone out during the night to check on the orphan house, to look for his pursuers, but everything was quiet. Of course, he’d allowed himself to walk past Olivia’s home and even stand in the street across her townhouse staring at her open window, but he hadn’t dared make himself known. Neither as a friend nor as a lover.
Now that he knew the sweet taste of her lips, the sounds she made when he brought her to bliss, and the scent of her desire, he was drawn to her even more.
She was so passionate in his arms, so pliant. So easily fooled into giving up her virtue for a night in the darkness with a man she did not know.
The gnawing jealousy was driving him to distraction.
Since the night he’d spent in her bed, he was torn between wanting to taste her again as a Shadow, confronting her and telling the truth, or letting her go. He hadn’t come to a decision, so he spent most nights on the periphery of her life looking in.
He didn’t want to go to the masquerade either. He knew she would be there, and he wasn’t certain that seeing her—actually speaking with her—was the best idea.
But he had an agenda. He needed to eliminate his suspicions about the Duke of Kensington. He had too many uncertainties in his life. The bandits were after him; the Shadows were in trouble because of him, the thief-taker could turn on him if he so wished, and in the midst of it all was his Olive, who had fallen in love with his alter-ego and was in peril because of it.
Since he couldn’t find the bandits, he needed to pursue another angle.
Was Kensington Erebus? Or was he the man behind the bandits? Jarvis had no way of knowing that yet. But eliminating him from the list of suspects would bring him one step closer to the truth.
And what better way to do it than during the biggest masquerade ball of the year in the duke’s home?
It seemed like every lord and lady in the country had come to this ball. The hosts were busy with their guests, and therefore Jarvis would be free to snoop around the house.
He looked around the crowded ball and saw Olivia enter in the company of her friends, the Earl and Countess of Payne. She was wearing a white gown with golden frills. Leaves of an olive tree were cascading from her neck and shoulders.
Olives. Jarvis smiled. He knew she disliked the nickname. She detested olives and never failed to tell him so. Nevertheless, she’d still worn the costume of the Goddess of Athens, embracing the nickname he gave her.
The realization made his insides tighten.
She looked incredibly beautiful in that pure white gown, her lovely figure outlined by the fabric. But most of all, she seemed confident in her new attire. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her with her head held up high, her shoulders rolled back among the throng of the crowd.
Bradshaw came to greet her at that moment, and Jarvis’s heart sank. Perhaps she was this confident not because of her new attire but because she’d won the love and admiration of a gentleman she fancied.
Jarvis turned away. He was unable to look at her brazen flirting without wanting to go to her, hoist her onto his shoulder, and carry her away to his carriage. He’d lock her away in his townhouse and not come out for a long, long time.
But he was not who she wanted. At least, not really.
She craved adventure, and that was why she’d fallen for the Shadow so quickly. She’d fallen in love with the promise of danger and clandestine meetings.
She’d turned out to be so fickle, his little Olive.
She walked through the crowd on Bradshaw’s arm, and Jarvis forced himself to stand still. He needed to leave.
Right, leave, damn it!Jarvis turned and walked out of the ballroom before he did something he would regret.
He needed to concentrate on the mission, not on his soul-eating, unrequited passion for the woman who wanted anyone but him.
He stood for a moment, collecting his thoughts. Right, he needed to find Kensington’s study and look for evidence.
But Olive was right there in the ballroom. He’d missed her so much. Perhaps if he courted her as himself and not as a Shadow, she would look upon him differently.
Jarvis closed his eyes and shook his head. Even if he did court her and she was amenable, that did not eliminate the threat that came with association with him.
