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

feeling.
    Lilith was no fool. He knew he’d have to tell her something, some measure of truth about the work that he did, in order for her to trust him. Or at the very least, in order for her to give him the information that he needed. When the Crown demanded information, people tended to comply.
    “It has been a few years, and I know that it must seem as if I sprang into your life suddenly.”
    “It certainly does,” she said. Her frown stayed firmly in place, and he had to force himself not to look at the way her breasts swelled with her angry breaths.
    “I’m not trying to frighten you, Lilith, nor anger you,” Gabe said.
    “That is difficult to believe.”
    He took a step toward her. “I need for you to trust me.”
    She crossed her arms over her chest; again he fought to keep his gaze on her face and not her tempting curves. “Why the devil would I ever trust you?” she asked.
    “It is I who should have difficulty trusting you, yet here I am fully expecting you to answer my questions honestly.”
    She winced as if he’d struck her.
    He went to put his hand to her face and stopped himself, instead moving to the window though he made no move to look outside. “It’s quite evident that you and the girl are in danger, and I can help, but only if you let me.”
    Her features set in a frown. “We shall be safe enough. I am planning to leave town soon.”
    “Lilith, you can’t lie to me,” he said. “You saw what happened at the school. Certainly you cannot deny that Isabel is in danger.”
    “No, I do not deny that, but it does not mean I require your assistance.”
    “Enough!” he said, more forcefully than he’d intended. He walked back to her and gripped her upper arms. “We can dance around this all night.” He softened his tone. “But hear me now when I say that like it or not, I am in your life for the indeterminable future, and I will get answers. I can only help you protect the girl if you give me some information.”
    She released a low breath. “What do you want to know?”
    “Who is she?”
    “Thornton’s niece.”
    “You don’t believe that any more than I do,” he said. “Thornton was involved in something deadly before he got himself killed, and that girl has something to do with it. He wouldn’t have holed her up in a school outside of London if he weren’t hiding something. I don’t think it is as simple as her legitimacy.” He dropped his hands off her. Standing this close to her, touching her, it was an assault on his senses, and her allure was clouding his mind.
    Lilith was quiet for several moments before she spoke again. “The truth is, that’s what Thornton always told me, but I haven’t believed that for some time.” She shook her head. “But I honestly don’t know much about her. She does favor Thornton’s sister, at least judging by her portrait, she died before Thornton and I married.” Lilith moved away from him and sat on the leather sofa. “My main concern was not allowing Thornton to sell her off into marriage. I will be damned if I allow that to happen, and I have no notion of what sort of plans Thornton’s heir will have. I’ve only met him once, and he seemed no better than his cousin.”
    “So you plan instead to—”
    “Take Isabel somewhere else. Give her a new name. Let her choose her own future.”
    He nodded. “That is what the money is for.”
    “Yes.”
    She looked vulnerable in that moment, almost fragile, but he knew better than to succumb to how things appeared with Lilith. While he believed what she said about the girl, he knew there was much more left unsaid. She was many things, but altruistic wasn’t one of them.
    “How is it that you and Viscount Ellis have the resources to protect us?” she asked.
    “I cannot tell you that.”
    “Cannot or will not?” She looked up at him. “We will not stay. I’ll run at first chance, and then you’ll never see us again.”
    “You would risk that?” he asked.
    “I need to know