The Girl in the Steel Corset - By Kady Cross Page 0,106
gave a queer little thump in his chest. Sam smiled. His heart didn’t need to be real flesh and muscle to feel.
And when his lips touched Emily’s, he felt so much. His heart danced in joy. His free hand came up and cupped her cheek, stroking the soft skin with his thumb. How many times had he dreamed of doing this? It was even better than he thought it would be.
He smiled against her lips. She smiled against his, but they kept kissing. And for the first time in a long time, Sam knew true happiness.
Finley was hanging upside down on a rope, supporting her body weight by twining the fibers around one booted ankle and leg, when Griffin entered the training room. She wore the short pants she so favored, a black leather corset, sleeveless shirt and fingerless gloves.
Did she know that her stockings were mismatched? Probably, he thought with a smile.
“I say,” he began as he walked toward her, arms folded across his chest. “Did you know that your face is almost the same color as a tomato? Perhaps it’s time to return to an upright position?”
She curled her body upward and took hold of the rope—much like he’d seen the Pick-a-Dilly Circus trapeze artists do—and pulled herself upright.
“I like tomatoes,” she quipped as she descended the rope with the agility of a monkey. Then she said, “You know, you’re in very high spirits considering all that’s happened.”
He shrugged. He couldn’t explain it, either. “I know it’s odd, but just knowing the identity of my parents’ murderer has lifted a great weight off my shoulders. Knowing that we’re also so close to catching him pleases me.”
“I imagine it would.” She gave him an assessing look. When he arched a brow, she said, “What are you going to do to him when we catch him? Kill him or turn him over to the Peelers?”
It shamed him that he had to think about it. His honor demanded revenge, but knew the right thing was to let the authorities take care of it. “I don’t know,” he told her. “I suppose I will need my friends to help me decide.”
She smiled. “Indeed, but I don’t think Garibaldi’s what you came in here to discuss with me.”
“It is not.” His good mood evaporated. “Jack Dandy telephoned a few moments ago.”
She was surprised, perhaps a little more pleasantly so than Griff liked, but it was obvious she hadn’t thought to hear from the criminal again.
“What did he say?”
He offered her a slip of paper where he’d jotted down Dandy’s words. “That he would like you to return his call.”
Finley stared at the paper for a few seconds before taking it from between his fingers. “I wonder what he wants.”
“We both know what he wants,” Griff replied curtly. Surely she couldn’t be that naive? Not after all she’d been through. “He wants you.”
Her head jerked up. It was probably lucky that her cheeks were flushed from her earlier exertions so he couldn’t tell if she was embarrassed or not.
“I should ring him at once. It might be important.”
There seemed to be a strange bitterness on Griffin’s tongue, like bile. “Of course. Use my study, you’ll have more privacy there.”
She was at least worldly enough to look uncomfortable. “Griffin, there’s nothing…romantic between Jack Dandy and me.”
Was he that pathetically transparent? “It’s none of my business, regardless.”
She tilted her head—the perfect mockery of his gesture. “Isn’t it? I am a guest in your house, and you are something of a protector of the kingdom. I would think one of your associates having ties with a notorious under lord would present certain…conflicts of interest.”
Griffin’s eyes narrowed. He’d not heard her speak in quite that tone before. This was part of the amalgamation of her two personalities. Challenging him was only the beginning. Oddly enough, he liked it. Frank speaking was not something he was accustomed to where young ladies were concerned.
“You have a point,” he conceded. “Shall I put my foot down? How about I issue an ultimatum? It’s Dandy or me. What would you say to that, Miss Jayne?”
Her honey-brown eyebrows lifted. “I would probably choose Dandy just to spite you.”
“So I will keep my mouth shut and allow you to make your own choices—and mistakes.”
Finley smiled at the pleasantly delivered barb. “That is very kind of you. I propose an agreement. I will tell you if I feel my association with Dandy becomes a threat to my place in this house, and you feel free