Taming of the Beast (Scandalous Affairs #2) - Christi Caldwell Page 0,31

his sides and found Faye had shut the door and now smiled widely back at him.

“Is this amusing to you?” he growled.

“Do I look amused?”

“Yes,” he said flatly. “You’re smiling.”

That immediately killed the tilt of her lush lips. “That was my angry smile.”

“You’re going to have to work on that, love. Go with the frown.” The corners of her mouth dipped a fraction more. “There, that’s better.”

She stomped over. “I am not happy with you, Mr. Wylie,” she said in impressively silken-hard tones.

“Yes, your frown now says as much, and that stomp?” Given her appearance here and the friend she’d brought, he really shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as he was. “That’ll require work, too. It’s a bit lurching.” Alas, it was rather delicious getting under her skin as he was.

The corner of her right eye twitched. “You lied to me, Mr. Wylie,” she said tightly.

“Yes.”

“And stole from me.”

“Welllll…” He stretched that syllable out. “In fairness, you freely handed it over.” That trusting nature would eventually land her in trouble.

“I want my money back, at least until our arrangement is complete.”

Tynan whistled slowly through his lips. “My God.”

“What?”

“You still think I intend to help you.”

She blinked slowly. “I expect nothing less.”

“I don’t have honor, Faye,” he said smoothly, walking a path around her. “I’m a liar. I strike deals and break them. I bribe men and women to increase my power and wealth.”

“And you also take care of children,” she said softly.

Tynan jerked. “I don’t—”

“You’ve cared for Finnegan. Finnegan, who believed you are deserving of loyalty and waited for you to be freed from Newgate. And you also helped any number of children who lived here before your imprisonment.”

Damned if he didn’t feel his neck heating up. “He said too much,” he clipped out. “Those children served a purpose to me as a warden.”

“But… you’re not a warden,” she said with such a melodic gentleness he was instantly drawn under whatever spell she now wove upon him. Faye drifted closer, the angelic glide of her steps a fascinating juxtaposition with the midnight mourning skirts she wore. “Not anymore. You may have relied upon Finn and those other children to assist you with your work then, but helping him now does not benefit you, and yet, you still do.”

Heat continued climbing up his neck and spilling onto his face. His cravat grew tight, and he fought the urge to wrestle with the scrap of fabric he always donned for the meeting he’d only just returned from. “You’re making more of it than it is,” he said.

Faye cocked her head at a contemplative little angle. “I don’t think I am.”

She could think whatever the hell she wanted. He, however, had no intention of arguing a point she was wholly wrong on. The lady was as obstinate in discourse as she was in this foolish plan to record and publish the crimes of Polite Society. Tynan continued studying her. The diminutive miss stared patiently back, as if all the time in the world belonged to her, and she intended to wait him out. Now that she knew this place, she’d continue hunting him down whenever he was here. He ran a hand through his hair. Bloody hell.

He tried once more. “You’re playing with fire, love. The men and women who’ve sold their souls to keep their secrets will find you. And hurt you,” he said bluntly. “They’ll do that, too.”

“I’m not scared,” she said with an automaticity born of an arrogance that could have come only from her birthright and an absence of strife in her short life.

Tynan rested a shoulder against the wall and looked her over, touching his gaze on the elegant lace adorning her gown, the crystals that trimmed her neckline and hemline, the fine sheen of her black leather boots. “You’re not afraid because you don’t really know the fire you’re playing with.”

She opened her mouth, but he cut her off.

“You’re no doubt going to tell me how you know firsthand the evil your family perpetuated.”

Faye pressed her lips together, that quick silence confirming he’d guessed unerringly.

“You’re going to insist,” he went on, “that because you know the darkness people are capable of that you’re somehow prepared to face down the world.”

Her features dipped, her brows pulling together.

“But you don’t really know, Faye.” Pushing away from the wall, he took a languid path over to her. Tynan ran the tip of an index finger across her throat, tracing it back and forth along that silken flesh. “You’ve never