Taming of the Beast (Scandalous Affairs #2) - Christi Caldwell Page 0,60
her firmly by the shoulders, he gave her a light shake. “Have you still not learned the peril that awaits you here?”
Chapter 14
The moment the imposing, menacing stranger had stepped in her path and put his hands upon her, there hadn’t been time to question the motives that had brought her here alone.
There’d been only one thing.
Fear.
All-consuming and paralyzing. A terror so deep it didn’t allow a person time to truly process what was happening or consider the decisions that had led a person to this moment.
All of that had come after.
After her assailant had been laid low, and she’d processed it was Tynan who’d rescued her from certain peril.
With Tynan standing over the larger, but not stronger, man, the shock of being accosted had lifted, and an uncertainty had been ushered in for what she’d set out to do. She’d come to the Rookeries to question the men and women here with firsthand knowledge of the crimes belonging to the peerage. For the first time, she’d doubted the wisdom of her undertaking.
“What did you say?” she whispered.
Tynan frowned. “What part? About not having the sense God gave a fly, or asking whether or not you’d at last realized the danger you face every damned time you come here?”
That one. That had been the question that stirred suspicion… and more.
“I don’t know how many more times I need to say it, or what it will take to get through to you, Faye.” As he launched into a stinging lecture, his voice hummed in her ears even as his words faded in and out.
Faye knew a thing or two about betrayal.
When she’d been a girl of thirteen, she’d come upon her mother and father lamenting the fact that Faye, their third daughter, should have been born both ugly and an oddity. They’d given thanks that they had at least two daughters who’d make respectable matches.
Then there had been the neighbors and friends who, upon learning of her father’s complicity in the disappearance of Lord Maxwell, had cut her, severing all connections and ending all relationships because of acts committed by her parents.
Somehow, none of those betrayals struck quite as sharp as this one with this man.
A veritable stranger.
So why, then, should it hurt so very bad?
Hurt swirled in her breast, and tears stung her lashes. Merely from the cold. That was all it was. Because she would never, ever do something as foolish as cry because of Tynan Wylie.
She opened her eyes, and mayhap Tynan saw something in them, for he abruptly stopped speaking.
“Faye?” he ventured, and gone was the vitriol lacing his lecture, replaced with a hesitant concern.
Concern, she silently scoffed. As if he were really concerned.
“It was you,” she whispered.
He opened his mouth. “What?” he blurted. “I’m not…” He cocked his head, a lock tumbling over his brow and giving him a boyish look. Even as there was nothing boyish about him.
She hardened her heart, finding strength in her deserved outrage. “And to think I was relieved to see you,” she spat. “Glad to.” Nay, it had been more than that. Her heart had lifted and soared to realize he’d cared enough to come after her.
She’d not had time to process how it was he’d known she was there.
Or the sense of recognition that had flashed in his gaze when he’d stared down at her assailant.
With a sound of disgust, Faye adjusted the bag on her shoulder and marched off.
“Faye?” he called after her. “What the hell is it you think I did?” It would have been easier to bear his surly snapping than this hesitant concern. Concern that couldn’t be in any way real.
“Go to hell, Mr. Wylie,” she shouted, not looking back and continuing onward toward her hack.
He easily overtook her. Placing himself in front of Faye, Tynan held his palms up.
She ground her feet to a halt, stopping so quickly her skirts whipped and swirled about her. Faye glared at him. “Do not think to lie to me,” she snapped. Any more than he already had.
“I’ve lied about much, love,” he drawled. “This latest transgression that has you in a huff is not one of those times.”
In a huff. She gnashed her teeth, refusing to take his bait. He was merely trying to get a rise out of her. “You knew that man.”
“Yes,” he said slowly, eyeing her perplexedly. Tynan let his arms fall. “Everyone in the Rookeries is familiar with Bragger. He’s one of the most famed street fighters.”