A Gentleman of Means by Shelley Adina

Author:Shelley Adina
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Moonshell Books, Inc.
Published: 2015-05-28T04:00:00+00:00

15

Lady Claire gazed at Tigg in horror, at the pinched expression of pain around his eyes, and knew the truth even before she had to ask. “Are you sure?”

He nodded. “How many men can there be in England in the Famiglia Rosa’s employ, carrying a death medallion, and with such specific knowledge of Alice’s actions in Venice?”

“But he seems to have mixed up the actions of two or even three women—Alice, myself, and Gloria.” She glanced at Alice, sitting white-faced on the sofa with Jake while Ian paced in front of the fire like a caged lion.

“He saw Gloria loaded onto an airship and said nothing to make me believe he even knew her, or her connection with breaking out their missing convicts.” Granted, it had been from a great distance.

“Goodness,” she said a little shakily. “In that case, there is as good a chance that he meant me and not Alice at all.” Tigg reached out, and she took his hand with gratitude for its comfort.

“But Claire, you did not have a hundred-guinea price on your head,” Alice pointed out, her voice a whisper as dry as sand. “I did. He meant me, sure as rain means flash floods.”

Claire gave Tigg’s hand a squeeze. “But you, Tigg. What are your feelings after tonight’s events? What kind of a man did you find your father to be?”

“Besides the kind who can be hired to kill my friends?” Claire’s heart broke afresh at the bitterness in his tone. “I hardly know. Anything I might have thought before that medallion came out of his pocket by mistake was completely wiped away afterward. It was all I could do not to shoot him on the spot.”

“At the Sea Horse, you might have got away with it,” Jake put in helpfully. “I was waiting for something—but not that.”

“I thought the worst we’d have to deal with was the Cudgel,” Snouts agreed. “I’d never have expected this.”

“One never does expect a Venetian assassin,” Claire said in despair. “Well, so much is clear—Alice must leave London immediately.”

“Hey!” Alice objected.

“You were planning to anyway,” Jake reminded her. “Tomorrow, if I’m not mistaken.”

“But what about Gloria?” Alice asked. “I’m not going to abandon her—for all we know, her situation is as bad as mine. We ought to find her first and then run off and hide later.”

“It is not a matter of hiding,” Ian said. “It is a matter of keeping you safe until—” He broke off with a glance at Tigg.

Her dear boy’s jaw firmed in a way that told Claire he was a boy no longer—and likely never would be again. She just wished his final step into maturity and the knowledge of the betrayals life could hold did not have to be like this. Not cutting so close to the heart.

But then, was that not the case with betrayals, by definition?

Tigg looked his captain in the eye. “Are you saying that my father must be killed before he can kill Alice?”

“I am not saying that at all.

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