Dueling With the Duke (Brotherhood of the Sword) by Robyn DeHart

said nothing, merely nodded. If she felt anything, she kept the emotion inside.
    The carriage came to a stop. Lilith looked outside and saw a traditional redbrick townhome with a portico framing the large green door. “Who lives here?”
    “Lord Ellis,” Gabe said. He held his hand out to them. “Ladies.”
    They followed him to the door, where he knocked once, then was quickly granted entrance by the butler.
    “Your Grace,” the servant said. “This way, please.”
    Lilith followed, but she wasn’t pleased about it. She used the length of her legs to match Gabe’s stride. “I’ll have you know I don’t take kindly to being abducted.”
    He gave her a sideways glance. “I believe I saved your lives, so that should make you grateful for my protection.”
    He was smug. Not the way his brother had been. His brother had been arrogant without reason. Gabe had reason to be arrogant. He was far more perceptive than most people, intelligent, and judging by how he’d beaten that man at the school, he was obviously stronger than any nobleman had right to be.
    The butler led them through a door to their right. A study, as it turned out. And the man who’d been with him earlier at her townhome sat behind the desk. He came to his feet as the butler announced Gabriel.
    “Ellis,” Gabriel said with a nod.
    “Are you traveling about London picking up stray women tonight, Lynford?”
    “Not precisely,” Gabriel said.
    Ellis came around his desk. He nodded to Lilith. “Lady Thornton, a pleasure to see you again.”
    She inclined her head. “I still do not understand why we are here. Not that I do not appreciate your hospitality, but is there a reason we could not return home?”
    “I believe Miss Crisp.” Gabriel paused and looked at Isabel.
    “Isabel is fine,” she said.
    “Very well, Isabel is in need of protection.” He came forward, lowered his voice. “We could discuss this in private if need be.”
    “Unnecessary. I trust your assessment. Who is she?” Ellis asked.
    Isabel coughed gently. “ She is Lord Thornton’s niece. I can certainly speak for myself.”
    “Duly noted. I shall address you directly in the future,” Ellis said.
    She nodded, then turned to face Gabriel. “Why am I in danger?”
    “We don’t know that for certain,” Lilith said, coming forward. There was no need to unsettle Isabel on her first night away from the school. “Perhaps that man was going after any one of us and by chance grabbed you.”
    “Someone tried to grab you?” Ellis asked.
    “Yes. He did not have hold of me long before Lord Lynford tackled him, though,” Isabel said. There was something dangerously close to admiration in her tone. Lilith needed to get them out of here before her charge began to see Gabriel as some sort of hero.
    “Until we know more about what Thornton was involved in, I’m afraid all we know at this point is there is a threat,” Gabe said.
    “Ellis, would you mind getting Miss Isabel set up in a room while I have a private word with Lady Thornton?” Gabe asked.
    “We have nothing to discuss,” Lilith said.
    “On the contrary.”
    Ellis managed to get Isabel out of the room and was introducing her to his housekeeper when Lilith rounded on Gabe.
    “I haven’t seen you in more than six years, and now you’re entirely too interested in my life,” she said, her dark eyes flashing with anger.
    …
    Gabe knew that as long as Isabel was safely in Ellis’s company, Lilith would not leave, thus giving him some measure of time to get information from her. First, though, he’d have to calm her down. Her anger would rob her of reason, and at the moment, it was robbing him of his senses. She was ridiculously beautiful in any scenario, but when angry, she became an entirely different creature. There was something authentic about the anger in her eyes. What was most disturbing was this wasn’t the first time today that he’d felt as if he was seeing the real her. He shook off the