Taming of the Beast (Scandalous Affairs #2) - Christi Caldwell Page 0,50

her frustration, she stood and packed up her things. “I thank you for your time, Mr. Colb.”

“Mr. Colb,” the stocky informant snorted.

“Do you think I might come ’round and speak to you again?”

“As long as Mr. Wylie don’t ’ave a problem with it.”

Tynan caught Faye by the arm and all but shoved her through the doorway, and the moment the door shut behind them, he continued dragging her by the hand away from the slum, and over to their hackney.

He yanked the door open, and hauled her inside.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, slightly out of breath from the pace he set for them. “I was not done, and he was not done sharing.”

Tynan drew the door shut, and then with a hard knock on the ceiling, he called out his address. “You were done.” With that, he directed his gaze out the carriage window.

As the carriage rocked and swayed, she studied the man opposite her. That was…it? That was all he intended to say? Just: “You were done.”? Several minutes later, it became abundantly clear he intended to say absolutely nothing more than that. Faye clenched her teeth.

The only thing she was done with in this instant was his blasted high-handedness.

“Ahem.”

He ignored her; continuing to stare intently out at the passing streets.

“I said… ‘ahemmmm.”

“What?” he snapped.

“What?” she repeated. “You’d ask me that question? What is the matter with you, Tynan?”

“Too many things, love,” he said with his usual drollness.

The hack rolled to a stop on Tynan’s street, and he shoved the door open, and jumped out.

He made to push the panel shut, but she stuck her arm out. “Do not even think about it.” And glaring hard at him, she dared him to try and send her on her way.

And for a moment, she thought he intended to do just that, but then, with a curse he reached up, caught her around the waist, and lifted her down. The moment her feet touched the cobblestones he released her.

Turning dismissively, he handed over a handful of coins to the driver. “Wait at the corner,” he instructed the young man.

With a snap of his reins, he drove off, leaving Faye and Tynan…alone.

For just a moment…

Tynan started off in the direction of his house…and did so without her.

“I’m not finished with you,” she called after him, adjusting her strides to try and catch his longer ones. She slashed a hand at the air as she went. “You brought me to someone who has direct knowledge of a person involved in some of the darkest, most evil crimes, and not only that, but he is able to direct me to someone who is willing to speak to me, and you decide to cut our meeting short. Why, it doesn’t make any—” Her words abruptly cut off as a thought slipped in. She came up short, as her mind raced, putting the pieces together.

And for all that very obvious desire he had to be rid of Faye, he whipped around. “What?” he demanded, a handful of paces between them.

“Why, you didn’t want me to actually learn anything this day. Or any day. You brought me here, thinking to fulfill your obligation and believing it was nothing more than a dead end. Didn’t you?”

Color splotched the sharp, angular slashes of his cheekbones, and at that telltale color, Faye narrowed her eyes upon.

“Well, well, well, it appears you blush when you’re feeling guilty, Mr. Wylie.”

Tynan glanced over at his residence across the way. He took her lightly by the arm and started them towards the house.

“I asked you a question,” she said angrily as they went. “You never really intended to help me find the information I seek, did you, Mr. Wylie?”

“First,” he said on an angry whisper, “do not go about Mr. Wylie’ing me in these parts or any parts. Are we clear?” he demanded the moment they reached the front of his residence.

Faye gave him a smug look. “You just did. Said your own name, that is.”

He closed his eyes, and his lips moved, and she’d wager her very soul that it wasn’t a prayer escaping that harshly beautiful mouth. When he opened them, he glared at her, and Faye shivered, huddling in her cloak and backing away from him as she acknowledged that mayhap she wasn’t quite as unafraid of Mr. Tynan Wylie after all.

Stop. He is no monster, and you are no coward.

Even as Faye forced herself to cease retreating, she wasn’t certain whether she merely offered herself false assurances. Either way,