Page 54 of The Duke’s Unwilling Bride

My blood runs cold at that name. “You mean to bring the blackguard back? After what he did to those whores?”

“Well, apart from you, he’s the only one with the talent I need at the moment. But please, feel free to go home. I’ll figure it out on my own.”

My fingers clench as memories swirl through my brain. “He broke the rules.”

“That we’ve been told. Remember, there are two sides to every story. It could be he was telling the truth, and the girl was not upfront about her limits.”

Gritting my teeth hard enough to set my jaw to aching, I shake my head. “You threw him out. That alone is all the proof I need that he's guilty.”

“You have a point there, but I need someone now, and all the other qualified patrons are otherwise preoccupied. Come, you needn’t do anything you’re uncomfortable with. I merely need someone to observe and advise.”

With that, my eyebrows fly up. “You? You need someone to advise? Madame Pain herself?” Shaking my head, I leave a note for the server. “Fine. I will come with you, but I reserve the right to leave at any point.”

“That is all I ask from you.” Her soft voice takes on a saccharine tone, as if she’s hiding something from me.

Bollocks. Yet one more woman set to drive me out of my mind with secrets. I follow her down the familiar hallways, that prickle of unease once more driving me mad. But it’s not until a scent reaches my nose, a scent that by all rights should not be here, that my unease turns to pure panic.

Grabbing Madame Douler’s arm, I stop her in her tracks and force her to turn and face me. “Why is my wife here?”

“I believe you need to ask her yourself. Poor thing showed up on my doorstep, nearly delirious in her quest to find you. I, of course, told her that only working girls are allowed in this building. Funny, she hardly hesitated when she told me she’d be my girl in exchange to see you.”

Blood drains from my face as her words hit me. “What have you done?”

“Who, me? Nothing. I simply felt that you might want to be her first customer.”

“Not a customer,” I growl. “In that respect, there will be no first. I am her only, and she’s coming home with me.”

Of course, it doesn’t affect her. Lips parting into a wolfish smile, she stares at me, her brain calculating. “I do believe that was her choice. I gave her the option to leave or belong to me. Who am I to deny a person what they want? You, of all people, should know that.”

Her veiled threat doesn’t pass by unnoticed. “Careful with your tongue. I know several who would love to have it cut out. I am taking my wife away from here, and that’s final.”

Dipping into a low curtsy, she looks up at me, eyes glittering. “You are aware I have girls here who are married, and yet, because their husbands refuse to give them what they need, they find their way here. Who’s to say that this little omega isn’t the same?”

“Because you of all people should know I can please a woman.”

“If that’s the case, Your Grace, then perhaps you should ask yourself why she’s here instead of in your bedchamber, waiting. Or, for that fact, why you continue to patronize my humble establishment when you have such a fetching omega at home? And by the smell of it, so close to her heat?”

“Do I detect a threat in those pretty words?” Fury floods my system until my vision blurs.

“I would never dare to threaten one so esteemed. I’m merely informing Your Grace that I have protected your wife once, but I will not do so again. She was already seen at the front door, and luckily, she moved away before any other Alphas could see or smell her. But I cannot guarantee she will be safe in the future.”

My heart plummets as the realization hits me of just how much danger that unthinking little doll put herself in. “You will not be put in that position again.”

“Very well, Your Grace. The room is yours. On the house. But if I may make a suggestion? If I were you, I’d go in there and talk some sense into that fool head of hers. She managed, somehow, to get through tonight unscathed, but only because of my magnanimous nature. If someone else had found her… well, this story might not have had such a happy ending.”

Turning, she leaves, her back ramrod. I don’t doubt for a moment the veracity of her words. What was that little twit thinking? Does she have no concept of self-preservation?

My heart pricks at me as the realization slams home that she followed me here. She sought me out. But why? Why would she do something so dangerous? Unless it’s not me she’s after at all. Could it be my little omega is seeking pleasure elsewhere?

I run the conversation through my mind again, picking apart every sentence Madame Douler said to me. This seems to have been the first time, which eases that band around my heart a bit until I can breathe again. And it seems as if she was after something other than sex.

For her to have gone to the main entrance first, to seek me out, confirms her quest is not so much carnal in nature. Then again, she came all this way for something, and if not sex, what? Unless she merely put out my name to gain entrance but was looking for someone else?

I bristle at the very thought. I’d hate to have to kill any of the other men that frequent this establishment, but I would slaughter them all in cold blood if it meant keeping my omega all to myself. But none of that answers why she’s here.

Shaking my head, I wipe my hand down my face. More than that, however, how on earth did she manage to be here in the first place? That’s honestly the next biggest question. Her door was to be watched at all times. Again, that niggling sensation claws up my neck. There’s so much about her that’s shrouded in the cloak of deviousness, forcing me to hold on to my earlier notions of her being in the wrong, just like Middlehey said.

No matter. Tonight, I will have all my answers and more. We will not leave this room until she understands I own her completely, and she will never again put herself into a dangerous situation.