“Why should I believe you?”
“What I want to know is how did you ladies get in here?” Daring asked just behind him.
Jack swore softly under his breath. These distractions were going to be the death of him.
Cordelia attempted to step around Diana and Exile but tripped and wobbled to the side, crashing into Malice, who was still leaning against the door. “Oh dear. My apologies.” She held onto his shoulders as he grasped her waist. “Without my glasses, I can’t see a thing.”
He reached up a hand and removed the domino from her face as he watched her, drinking in every detail. “Leave the spectacles off, you don’t want to see this anyhow,” Malice said, tossing the domino to the floor before he returned his hand to her back.
“I’ll take your word for it,” Cordelia answered, her fingers splaying out on his neck and collarbone. “It sounds terrible.”
Malice did something that Jack hadn’t seen him do in ages. The man smiled. An actual, genuine grin that lit his face making him look years younger.
“It does indeed,” Malice said.
“Can we get back to the question?” Daring snapped, his voice ringing with authority. “How did you get in?”
Emily still pushed Jack’s chest and he was running out of patience. This was his future. “The guard mistook them for the harlots you sent for,” he growled out. Then he turned to Emily. “And I had every intention of leaving before they arrived. This is business, Emily. Nothing more. We run a business, do you understand? No women for me. Well, that isn’t true. There is one woman for me…you.” If he hadn’t lost her forever.
She softened underneath his hands, at least a little, her own no longer pushing at his chest. “I want to believe you.”
“This is why you shouldn’t waste your time with marriage,” Malice said, though he still held Cordelia against his chest. Jack would have pointed that out but he wasn’t speaking to anyone but Emily. His friends be damned. He needed her to stay by his side.
Cordelia looked up at Malice. “Are you a lord, sir?”
He looked down in her face, and Jack could swear that his features relaxed, that his cheeks were less hard, the slope of his mouth more gentle as his dark eyes glittered in the candlelight. “I think that information is best left unsaid.”
“Oh, forgive me. Of course,” Cordelia answered. “It’s just that, if you are, won’t you eventually marry if for no other reason than to produce an heir?” Then she started in his arms as though she realized she’d allowed a man to hold her while discussing making babies. Pulling away, she smoothed her skirts. “Thank you for catching me.”
Malice said nothing more and Jack turned back to Emily. He needed to speak with her alone, he was tired of the interruptions. “Emily, listen to me.” He gathered her closer. “I gave my notice here. I’ll never step foot through these doors again if you ask it of me. You are what’s important. Not this place. I’ve only continued on to provide the life that you deserve.”
“Oh, that is so sweet.” Ada gave a tiny clap before Diana silenced her with a look.
“You’re doing this for money?” Emily’s hands started sliding up around his neck. “If this was a business, why didn’t you say something?”
He hadn’t wanted to tell her about his humiliating past or his earlier financial woes in addition to the club’s secret nature. That was an excellent question and a sticky one too.
Emily’s insides churned so much that she didn’t know how she’d keep the contents of her dinner in her stomach. Cold sweat slicked her forehead. Her life was falling apart.
Jack’s warm brown eyes stared down into hers. His eyes had been what she’d fallen in love with first. While much of him was hard angles and strong muscles, his eyes were like home.
“It’s not a respectable establishment,” he answered. “We keep our identities secret, which is why you being here is doubly dangerous.”
Emily swallowed. Dangerous? “You’re not going to hurt us, are you?” Even as she said the words, she didn’t believe them. But she also wouldn’t have believed her fiancé ran a place like this or that he’d lie to her. How little did she know…
His brows crinkled and he leaned down to softly kiss her lips. “I would never hurt you. Nor will I allow any harm to come to your sisters or cousins.”
She gave a tiny nod. “What sort of business?”
“No,” Daring ground out from next to Jack. “No more information.”
Minnie, her red hair flashing in the candlelight, stepped up to the duke. “They are trying to save their future.”
He leaned down, his nose nearly touching hers. “I am trying to save our livelihoods and our reputations.”
She gave a loud sniff. “You’re men. You’ve almost nothing to lose. Unlike Emily, who could be utterly ruined. You’re not to interrupt her again.”
“You’re not to tell me what to do.” He reached for her arm, but she knocked his hand away before he could grasp it.