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“Yes. Fine. Yes. Whatever.” Adelaide waved a hand at Imogen. “Abrisk walk. So yes, I’m taking advantage of him.”
Everyone went silent at the words, and if he’d been able to look away from the infuriating woman he loved, he would have noticed that they were all staring at him, watching wide-eyed as he crossed the room, ignoring them all, to stand in front of Adelaide.
Tall and beautiful, she lifted her chin defiantly, a challenge in the velvet eyes behind her spectacles when she said, “Someone ought to free you from my clutches.”
“Hear this Adelaide Frampton,” he said, quiet steel in his words. “You are the most remarkable person I have ever known. Strong and brilliant and with more courage than I’ve ever seen in another. And more beautiful than any one person has cause to be. I’ve no interest in being freed from your clutches.”
And then, in full view of these women who were her partners and friends, who clearly loved her as much as he did, Clayborn pulled Adelaide close and kissed her, fast and lush, until she was clinging to him and there was no question as to his intentions.
When he lifted his head, he met her gaze and whispered, “You may clutch me anytime you like, love.”
“Oh, that’s very romantic,” Sesily said happily.
The words unlocked Adelaide, who stared at him with a dazed look that made him feel big as a house. “Don’t encourage him. It’s nonsensical,” she said, stepping out of his embrace. “Andirrelevantto our current situation.”
He bit his tongue, tempted to put the whole conversation on hold and take her back to bed for a bit, even knowing that Jack and Helene were more pressing.
But the moment they were found... he was taking her for a brisk walk until she was too weak with pleasure to deny him what he asked.
Which would be forever.
She looked to Duchess. “So, The Bully Boys have them.”
“We believe so. But they haven’t sent word to Havistock,” Duchess said. “Which is... odd.”
“Why not?”
Henry looked from woman to woman. “Are you suggesting The Bully Boys are expected to ransom Helene and my brother to her father?”
Duchess turned to Adelaide. “You didn’t tell him.”
She gave a quick shake of the head. “It’s not my secret to tell.”
“What secret?” he demanded. In the silence that fell, things began to sort into place. “Havistock. You said he had a file.”
Adelaide nodded.
“Thick as your thumb, you said. I thought you meant the factories.”
“As if that isn’t enough,” Imogen interrupted. “But we’ll take care of them.”
He ignored the words. “Adelaide?”
“There’s something else.”
“What?” He paused, his mind racing. “You were in the house as the Matchbreaker. Not there to end Helene’s marriage to Jack. You don’t care about that.”
“No. Jack is imperfect, but he is not a monster. I wasthere to learn more about the whereabouts of Lady Helene.”
He came forward, irritation flaring. She’d kept something from him. Something important. Something that impacted her safety. That of his brother. “Why? Why does she matter? What do you have? The children in the factories... It’s none of it illegal.”
“Not until you make it so, no.”
He would. He would do whatever he could to make it so. To make her proud of him. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t growing increasingly frustrated with her.
“It won’t matter soon enough,” Imogen interjected, which Henry wanted very much to discuss, but the Duchess spoke, then, and everything changed.
“Lady Helene witnessed Lord Draven’s murder.”
