“Probably.” I took a deep breath.
“Didn’t that concern you? I mean, where was your father?”
“In jail for killing someone in a drunken brawl.” I exhaled tightly. “It didn’t worry me knowing that my mother was close to Sir William because for one, my father was a sadistic brute, and for two, Lady Catherine, Dylan’s mother, had been having an affair with the gardener for years.”
Penelope shook her head. “My God. It was a soap opera in there.”
I sniffed. “That it was.”
“So this Dylan couldn’t contest the will, and he’s now trying to get his money by other means, is that right?”
I nodded. “I hadn’t seen him for years until that night at the Cherry Orchard.”
“You told me you went there out of curiosity after James invited you.”
A cold feeling gnawed my gut. I stared at Penelope. “That’s right.” I stopped pacing. “I need you to do something for me.”
She looked up at me.
“I need you to hang low. He’s affiliated with nasty people. If something happened to you, I’d fucking kill him.”
Her face scrunched in fear. “Oh. Please don’t talk like that. You’re scaring me.”
I knelt down at her feet. “I’ve never used that love word before because…” I let out a slow breath. “I don’t know how to.” I paused. One minute felt like ten.
There was no pity, only compassion that I detected in Penelope’s teary eyes. I kissed her hand and held onto it. “I need you in my life.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Blake. I’m not hiding. I want to be with you.”
I lifted her in my arms and took her to bed. My dick was hard as steel. This time it wasn’t solely due to her heart-melting beauty, but also because of her belief in me and my shedding of a skin.
34
* * *
PENELOPE
LILLY LOOKED AT ME all wide-eyed and rosy-cheeked. “You wouldn’t believe what we got up to.”
Going on Blake’s account of the Dark Room, I braced myself for some filth. “Tell me.”
“I looked for you. You left early.”
I sighed. It had been an intense night. We didn’t end up sleeping much. Blake made slow, achingly tender love to me, and then he stayed with me as I held him close. He tried to move into the other room, but I wouldn’t let him. It resulted in him feasting on me so slowly and completely that I left my body, as I moaned through one orgasm after another. His cock was red-raw and greedy.
“We did. There was this guy there. Dylan Fox. He’s evil and connected to the Cherry Orchard.”
“I met him.”
“You did?” I asked.
“He spoke to James at the ball.”
“Oh.” For some reason that struck me as odd, given Blake’s closeness to James.
“So tell me about the Dark Room.”
“A woman went down on me, and James watched.”
I studied her face for signs of regret or even shame, but she seemed rather relaxed. “Were you coerced into it?”
“Did James force me, you mean?”
I nodded.
“No. I was buzzing from a party drug.”
I squirmed at that image. “You let others fuck you?”
She shook her head.
Although my mind filled with questions, I had to leave Lilly for a life-drawing class. It was my last week of college, and I’d fallen behind on two written assignments. I’d become too preoccupied with Blake and his life at Raven Abbey. Add to that what Milly had revealed, and I understood why he would often retreat into himself.
I headed for the spare easel. The model was Rubenesque, which suited me. I loved working with curves and found women easier to draw. Luckily for me, I was to be marked on that session of drawings.
“There you are,” said Sheldon.
I clipped the paper to the board. “Hey, Shelly.”
“I haven’t seen you for so long. I miss you.”
“I know. You’ll have to come over to my new house,” I said.
“You do realize that you’re living close to my parents?”
I shook my head. “I know. It’s crazy. The neighbors look at me as though I’m a freak. Initially, they thought I was a squatter.”
“I can imagine.” He sniffed. “Snobby assholes. I’ll have to come over just before drag night and rub myself up against the lamp post in front of their house.”
I laughed. I’d seen Sheldon before a drag night—something he did for a little fun and to frock up. “I’m sure the rich and mighty have seen it all before. The masked ball had its fair share of deviants.”
“I’m dying to hear about it.”
“All in good time, my friend. I’d better get cracking.” I pointed to the model. “She’s gorgeous.”
“Yes, nice and curvy.” He smiled. “Let’s have a drink after class. Yes?”
I nodded distractedly. There was something I needed to tell Blake.
35
* * *
BLAKE
SMALL PRINT SWAM AROUND as I peered down at the contract, and the muddle of heritage layers and council stipulations failed to sink in.
I peered up at my screen. My chest tensed as I opened the photos sent to me anonymously. I didn’t need to be Einstein to guess the sender. There were images of me holding Tatiana at the ball, obscuring my face. The sapphire ring, which I never removed, gave me away. That ring had belonged to Sir William, who on his deathbed had slipped it off his finger and placed it in my hand, making me promise I’d wear it in his memory.
Ironically, that ring was now evidence against me, as no doubt Fox was aware. The seedier images included half-naked shots of me. One of the women I’d bought for sex must have taken them.
I’d been set up. Pure and fucking simple.
They were masterfully devised shots of me lying on my side, revealing a scar from when I’d slipped on a rock as a child. Tatiana sat up, naked, and by my side. She looked so hair-raisingly young with that flat chest that my gut knotted.
I looked up. Peter Barnes stood at my door.
“Come in.” I pointed to the chair.
When he was seated, I asked, “How did you hear about Tatiana?”
“One of the guards who works for Fox. We were in the army together. He’s a little ruffled by what’s going on in there. He’s seen the young girls.” He paused. “He’s got a family to support and Fox pays his security well.”
“So why’s he turning on his boss?”
“Because Tatiana came to him with some sob story that she wanted out and needed protection. That’s how I met her. She seemed pretty fucking genuine. Crying and desperate to make a new life for herself, promising to testify against Fox.”
“I’m being blackmailed.” I studied him for a moment. Barnes had come recommended by a fellow card player, who’d hired him to spy on his cheating wife.
He held up his hands. “Hey. I’m not in on this. I’ve got a daughter. That scene makes me fucking sick.”