Page 22 of Winter's Waltz
“Do you have enemies, Miss Winter?” he asked.
She pursed her lips, thinking. “Suttons. There was Paul Wilmore, but he’s been dead for a year now. Mayhap more. Haven’t heard a bit from his mongrels since then.”
Max knew the Suttons. He had gambled in their hell. Had lost a staggering sum there. He had also frequented Wilmore’s establishment at one point, until it had ceased its operations. At which point he had ventured back to the Suttons’ Sinner’s Palace, although he had been strongly discouraged from gaming there, and where he had lost everything he had left, including his own self-respect.
He paused, pondering over that information. “The Suttons are a rival of the Winters, are they not?”
“Aye.” She nodded, weariness lining her countenance once more before she straightened her shoulders and cast it away. “We have been rivals. Jasper Sutton is a bloody bastard and a thieving scoundrel capable of doing anything, if you ask me. My brothers have been deceived by his claims of truce, but I ain’t about to believe it.”
“Would the Suttons have attempted to destroy your hell?”
She sighed. “Don’t know. Damn these bastards. Until today, the worst problem I expected to face was attempting to lure fancy ladies here to empty their reticules. But now…”
Now, it seemed she had an enemy who was hell-bent upon razing her gaming hell before it had even had the chance to open.
“Miss Winter,” he began, seeking to comfort her and then faltering.
“Cease theMiss Winter, damn you.” She bit out a laugh that sounded as if it were one-half sob. “Look at me. Look at you. I am covered in dirt, as are you.”
“Gen,” he relented. “I am sorry.”
“For what?”
Her demand cracked like a whip through the stillness between them, which had fallen so strangely and unexpectedly after the bustle and intensity of the last few hours. So many people, faces, voices, clamoring and working together in a united cause.
“I am sorry some bastard attempted to destroy this place. Sorry I did not interrupt the miscreant before he could set fire to the kitchens. Sorry for the fright you had tonight.”
“I ain’t afraid of anything, Marquess.”
She was clinging to her defenses once more. Attempting to rebuild the walls which had been dismantled during the course of the night. He was having none of that. He had made it this far. She was not going to slam the door upon him now.
“Your fearlessness is commendable, my dear, but that alone will not be sufficient to vanquish whatever foe is determined to destroy you,” he warned her. “You will have to make a plan. We need to find out who was behind tonight’s attack on your establishment.”
“We?” Her chin went up in defiance. “I don’t reckon I asked you for help, Marquess.”
She was a prideful woman, and he admired that in her as well. She was fierce in her determination to maintain her independence, to be the ruler of her own domain. Max was not intimidated by her zealous leadership, however. If anything, it drew him to her more. He could truly, honestly say he had never met a woman in his life who could compare to Genevieve Winter when it came to determination, bravery, and daring. Except, mayhap, for his sisters Addie and Evie. The twins had managed to find their own ways, it was true.
“You do not need to ask for my help,” he countered. “I wish to give it, freely.”
“And how much aid can a duke’s wastrel son be to me?” She frowned at him, looking vexed.
Her question stung.
He stepped nearer to her. “How quickly your gratitude fades, empress.”
“My gratitude has not faded,” she said. “Forgive me. It’s been a long day and I am…bloody hell, I don’t know what I am anymore. Thank Christ no one was hurt or worse.”
Indeed.
Arthur whined at their feet. The hound had not left his mistress’s side since the fire. He was a fiercely protective dog.
“Loyal little lad,” he said, hunkering down to give Arthur a thorough scratch behind the ears. “He was locked away, barking and scratching like mad when I rushed to find you, and then he raced off to your apartments when I released him.”
She frowned down at him. “Arthur was locked away?”
Max rose to his full height once more. “Yes.”
She muttered something beneath her breath.
