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She wanted to smack him for his obstinacy. “Or else?”
The duke seemed entirely arrested by that challenge. The way he stared at her…Theo curled her toes into the thick carpet.
“I will dismantle your little club brick by brick until there is nothing left,” he said with ruthless assurance.
Theo stared at him, her heart pounding, for he had the power and connections to crumple everything she worked for with little effort. “Am I so ineligible to be a friend of your sister?”
“Yes.”
She contained her affronted gasp, hating to admit that she felt the pain of his rejection in her heart. Utter rubbish for she did not know this man!
“Then you inform your sister yourself that she may not visit me anymore.”
“I have already spoken,” he said, and turned away.
The man was leaving.
“You are using me to do your dirty work,” she said, anger snapping through her veins. “To prohibit Perdie from coming here ever again will hurt her terribly. Of course, you will force me to do it for you, so she will not be angry or disappointed with you, but very much so with me for callously dashing her hopes and trampling on the joy she found here.”
The duke faced her, his eyes flashing a cool warning. “You invited a young lady here without doing your due diligence under whose protection and care she fell. No doubt you only cared about lining your pocket with your fees and making social-climbing connections.”
Theo’s gasp of sheer outrage strangled in her throat.
“I was not considered in the formation of this agreement…and I do not need to be there when it is broken. I bid you a good day, Lady Winfern.”
“Your Grace!” Theo took a few bracing breaths. “I…I must secure your word of honor that you will not mention what you have seen here today.”
“And do I have your word of honor that my sister will no longer be allowed here?”
Theo understood this negotiation, and she loathed to agree. “If you were to mention this to anyone…the knowledge of your sister being a frequent guest will surely be just as scandalous. So even without me agreeing to your ridiculous trade, I believe I am assured of your discretion.”
Admiration lit in his gaze, and his lip curved slightly. “Brick by brick, Lady Winfern, brick by brick.”
The duke stared at her as if he had not just flattened someone’s hopes and placed Theo in a most untenable position. How had she ever thought, even if it had been a moment of ignorant stupidity, that this wretched man was kissable?
A beast is what you are, she thought darkly.
Chapter Four
Sebastian allowed his gaze to drop to the dowager viscountess’s mouth, and what a lushly sensual mouth even if those lips were now flattened in anger. Still, she was beautiful…and unexpected. Every detail of Lady Theodosia Winfern had been designed to wickedly arouse the male imagination and senses. For the first time in a long time, Sebastian found himself stirred.
He took a quick, harsh breath, almost rattled at the anomaly. Of course, he’d been attracted to women before in the past and had a lover here and there, but this sharp and unprovoked heat twisting through his body had never happened to him before. Aggravated with this entirely unexpected attraction, he said, “As of this moment, my sister is not a part of …this club, do you understand, Lady Winfern? I am off to Newmarket for a few days; I trust normalcy will return to my household upon my return. Once I have your agreement, my discretion in this matter is very much assured. Do we understand each other?”
The Lady’s golden-brown eyes flashed with anger, and her delicate toes curled into the carpet. He mildly wondered if she imagined lifting her feet and kicking him. Somehow that notion did not surprise him. She had pretty feet too. There was a quiet, fine-boned quality to her features that might give one the impression Lady Winfern was delicate. To Seb’s mind, nothing could be further from the truth. The lady was a spitfire. His impression of the woman before him was quiet strength, boldness, and impetuosity. A most dangerous combination in his experience. She would keep any man on his toes.
“I understand, Your Grace,” she said after a few tense moments. “I will speak with Lady Perdie.”
He saw it had cost her to make the admission and that her pride had suffered a blow. Sebastian wasn’t here to pander to her feelings but to save his sister’s dignity and reputation. And to also protect her heart. “Do not make me your enemy,” he said, assessing the determined lift to that stubborn chin. “You will surely regret it.”
Somewhere during the eleven years he had acted as a father to Perdie, he must have failed her or let her down abominably for her to believe she had to lie to him to visit here. All that deception would end now. Without awaiting Lady Winfern’s reply, he turned away and made it down the long hallway. Sebastian collected his top hat and coat from the butler, putting them on before exiting the townhouse. Walking down the cobbled steps into the still trickling rain, he slowed his steps. Two ladies with their hands looped together, and heads bent close were walking toward the townhouse. They froze upon seeing him, their pretty expressions were of comical dismay. Sebastian tipped his hat and made his way past them and to his parked carriage waiting a few houses down. He would not disclose to any but his mother what he found here. There was hardly much scandalous about it since even his mother hosted her monthly saloon with notable society ladies. Though he suspected Lady Winfern and her band of ladies got up to more mischief than book discussion.
That damn wager board had his name on it. Everyone in society seemed to be betting on Lady Edith becoming his duchess. How ridiculous they all were.
A ladies’ club.
Nothing much had the power to surprise Sebastian anymore. But this did. She did. Her long eyelashes, flowing golden-brown hair, full breasts, inviting curves, and lips made to tempt the heavens.
Heat rushed to his groin, and his heartbeat thundered in his ears.
