Duke of Decadence (Lords of Scandal 9)

“I am waiting for my escort, though you may have frightened him off,” she replied, notching her chin higher. She refused to be intimidated by her uncle. He had no sway over her.

He yanked at her arm, causing her to lose her balance and lean closer. “Listen to me, girl,” he hissed in her ear. “You may think that you can get away from me, but I am still your uncle and you’ll do as I say.”

“I won’t,” she fired back.

Mr. Taber sneered. “It’s all right, Henry. I like a filly that needs to be broken.”

That made her start. The words were so coarse and deep down crass that she attempted to take a half step back. And Eliza never ran from anything.

But this man was dangerous and so was her uncle. Her stomach rolled as she considered the idea of intimacy with him. A shiver ran down her spine. She couldn’t. She would not allow this man to touch her. Ever.

Eliza and Isabella had decided that the best way to keep all the sisters safe was to marry each of them to a respectable man and so they were attending every party they could gain an invitation to in order to officially enter the marriage mart.

As soon as her sisters were married…she’d be free of her uncle and his schemes forever.

Of course, in the meantime partaking in society meant her uncle could easily find them. Her sister and new husband usually attended but they’d taken an evening for themselves. A miscalculation. Eliza would have to tell them that Devonhall needed to be with them at every event. She nearly sighed. Bash had taken on a great deal of responsibility when he married her sister.

She looked back at Menace, clearly visible on the terrace.

Despite his title, the Marquess of Menace was not on the list of potential candidates. He was a man no respectable woman should marry.

Not that Eliza was all that respectable. In the period between her mother’s passing and her sister’s wedding, Eliza had done a great many things that would have caused her to be ostracized from society, but she regretted none of them. She’d do them all again to save her sisters.

She’d managed to keep her virtue but her innocence…that was long gone. She knew things about the world now and there was no going back.

“If you’ll excuse me, Uncle. I see my escort.” And then she yanked her arm, with a quick jerk, out of his grasp. Because she needed to escape this conversation.

And much as Eliza hated to admit it, Menace could help.

So as the fake Aunt Mildred patted her sister Emily’s arm and pointed to a major she wished for Emily to meet, Eliza stepped backwards and slipped out onto the terrace. Away from her scowling uncle and the leering Mr. Taber. She’d die before she married that man.

Menace stood with his back to her, staring off into the darkness.

Even she had to admit that his shoulders were devilishly broad as he stood with his arms crossed.

His dark hair waved back from his face in a careless windswept look that highlighted his strong jaw and piercing green eyes. Not that she could see his features now. But the memory of them haunted her more often than she cared to admit.

She drew in a steadying breath, trying to decide where to begin. She looked back to see Mr. Taber still watching.

“What do you want, Eliza?” Menace asked, not turning to look at her.

She stopped, still several feet away. The cad. How had he known it was her? Still, she was strangely relieved to be out here with him and not still in the ballroom. “What are you doing here? I never see you at these sorts of events.”

“Because I never come,” he replied. Then he turned to look at her. A half wall flanked the terrace and he rested his lean hip against it, looking casual and masculine and rakishly handsome. “And you answered a question with a question.”

“So I did,” she murmured, moving closer again. But not too close. The man was distractingly appealing. He radiated the sort of heat that made her flush and he smelled like…leather and pine and male musk that scattered her thoughts. Rakes were so good at that. And he was the best. “I was hoping to ask you a few questions. Privately.”

She heard him let out a sharp breath, his back straightening up. “No.”

Drat.

Eliza suspected that her brother-in-law, the duke, had warned Menace to stay away from her. Which suited her just fine. She didn’t need a rake making her already complicated life even messier. In fact, she’d like to avoid men and marriage all together.

Her sisters all had a rosy view of their parents’ marriage, one that drew them to the union. But as the eldest, Eliza knew better. Her father had been gone for long stretches, casting most of the work onto her mother. Work, her mother had then relied on Eliza to help complete.

The truth was, Eliza didn’t need a husband and she wasn’t sure she wanted one either. Not when she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. But the sooner she got her sisters married, the sooner they’d be out of her uncle’s clutches. “You don’t even know what questions I might ask.”

He shook his head. “I know exactly what questions you’re going to ask. Ask them of your brother-in-law.”