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He rolled onto his side and she grabbed his arm, steadying his balance as he got to his feet.
She had to help him forward against his staggering steps, yet he still threw an arm across her back, shielding her from the front of the Lion’s Tap as they ran down the alley, then to the next street and through another alleyway.
She didn’t know where they were going, and she guessed Roe didn’t either, other than they were making their way as fast and as far as they could away from the docks.
Minutes passed, street after street. Her breath gone. Her legs screaming with every step. Roe finally slowed as they crossed over a busy street, moving toward the white stone facade of a brightly lit building.
Of course he knew where he was headed. Always a back-up plan.
“What is it?” she asked.
Roe didn’t look down at her, his eyes shifting all around them, still wary of someone following them. “It’s a gentlemen’s club.”
“A—a gentlemen’s club?” Her voice squeaked out, betraying the bravado she had tried to paste onto her face.
“Yes. The most discreet place in town. We’ll enter in the rear and be safe here at least for the night.” His arm around her tightened, his balance and strength back in place. He pulled her deeper into the cover of him as they walked along the front of the club, then turned in at the end of the row of buildings to reach the mews.
Though they had to duck under the light of the lanterns above the rear door, once inside, deep shadows prevailed. Only enough light from a sconce at the far end of the entryway to see the room at the rear entrance was encased in deep, dark marble—almost as though they had stumbled into the middle of a black obsidian stone.
Roe spun her into his chest as they stepped into the room, keeping his arm high around the back of her head and draping down alongside her face. It was nearly impossible to see anything.
“One room.”
“Of course, Mr. Lipinstein. Your preferred room is filled for the evening. Will the reflection room be appropriate?”
Torrie jumped. She hadn’t even seen the man standing stoic next to the door. He only stepped forward once Roe started to talk to him.
Roe nodded. “It will be. And I need brandy and a dinner brought up.”
“Of course, sir.” The man stepped in front of them, leading them to a black curtain that hid a staircase.
Roe nudged her in front of him as they moved up the stairway, but when the man paused at a door on the third level of the building, Roe was quick to step in front of her, blocking the man’s sight of her.
Still shielding her, and this time, shielding her from certain scandal. Not that anyone knew her in Plymouth. But Roe wasn’t taking a chance.
She stepped into the room, the door closing behind them, and her jaw dropped.
The only furniture in the room was a bed and a red silk rococo chaise lounge at the foot of it, with one side open and the other side scrolling upward in the Greek style.
Those two pieces were not the focus point of the room.
It was the mirrors.
Mirrors with ornate gold gilded frames encased the room—the walls, the ceiling—only the floor didn’t reflect back at her. Not a scratch of plaster to be seen. She spun in a circle, only to make sure she was seeing it all correctly, her reflection staring back at her a hundred times over.
She glanced at Roe as he sat down with a heavy grunt on the open end of the chaise lounge at the foot of the bed, the tufted ruby red silk crinkling under his weight. Maybe he was still in pain from the fall.
“I’ve never been in a gentlemen’s club.”
“I should hope not.” His left arm lifted and he started to shrug his dark coat off.
“Are they all set up for…this?” A crooked smile came to her face as her hand flitted about her.
“Set up for what?”
“I assume this is for…coupling.”
A chuckle rumbled from his chest. “It is, and no, not all of the rooms are like this. Very few, actually.” He tugged off the right sleeve of his coat. “This room is an exception, but as I showed up through the back door clutching onto a female, the butler assumed what would be best for the situation. I wasn’t about to argue with him for more elegant accommodations and have him take a closer look at you.”
