Taming of the Beast (Scandalous Affairs #2) - Christi Caldwell Page 0,77

by any other person. Drawing his palms to her chest, she squeezed them lightly.

She spoke of him.

She spoke of seeing more in him.

And she couldn’t be more wrong.

Faye’s gaze moved beyond his shoulder. “And there it is.”

He followed her stare to the hack that at some point had rolled up to the corner of the street.

She released him, and this time, his hands went cold at the loss of that heated connection between their interlocked fingers. Faye gave him a smile and started for her carriage.

Clasping his hands behind him, he followed her retreat.

Suddenly, she stopped. “Why were you there?” she asked suddenly, unexpectedly.

“I was speaking with Oswyn in advance of your meeting. Making sure he was amenable to speaking with you.”

Her lips parted, and a little audible intake of her breath filled the quiet. “Oh. I am so—”

Tynan waved off that apology. “I’ve not given you any reason to trust me, Faye.”

“But…”

“And I never will. I’m not a man you can trust. I’m a man who can be bought if the price is high enough.”

“Would you betray me for coin?” she asked softly, without inflection.

He opened his mouth to answer with an unequivocal yes. Aside from the family he’d left behind, there was no one to whom he owed a damned thing, and he certainly never would. “I’d betray anyone for a coin,” he finally said.

Faye drifted closer. “You hesitated.”

“You’re seeing what you want again. You were within your rights. But… I am sorry that Jack and Johnny had the idea to enlist Bragger’s help to frighten you.”

“They meant well by you.”

That was what she’d say? She’d not be filled with a rightful rage and disgust at the boys who’d attempted to put the fear of God into her? Any other person of her station would have likely called the law on the boys.

Faye took another glance off toward her waiting hack and lingered still. “Is our time together still done?”

Yes. It should be. She’d given him his out, freed him of his obligation. And now, he was free to concentrate his focus where it had always been: on himself and his work and Sara’s security.

“Tomorrow, Faye,” he said before he could call the offer back. Though, he wasn’t entirely certain he wanted to. Everything had become all mixed up because of this woman. “I’ll come for you, and we’ll see Oswyn together.”

He might as well have grabbed her the moon. Faye clutched her hands to her chest. “Thank you.” She took a step back toward him.

He inclined his head. “Go,” he said gruffly when she would have rejoined him. All of this was still too much. He’d help her with her plans, and not just because she’d helped free him from Newgate, but because, against all his better judgment, he actually liked her.

But when the time they’d agreed upon was complete, he would be done with Faye Poplar. For no good could come of any of this.

None at all.

Faye made her way to her waiting hack.

Her heart beat a quick double-time rhythm. That accelerated tempo had little to do with the pace she now set.

He was going to help her.

When he didn’t have to.

What was more, he’d intended to talk to Mr. Oswyn on her behalf, to smooth her meeting with the man who might provide her with the information she required for her work.

And she’d doubted him.

Granted, as he’d reminded her, he’d given her every reason to doubt him. But that didn’t ease the guilt.

The world saw a mercenary warden who’d lost his post and landed himself in prison.

Faye would now forever see only the devoted brother doing everything within his power to care for his sister, providing her with a life that was safe and secure.

The man who read Keats and spouted clever limericks.

Her nape burned with the feel of his gaze upon her as she went on her way. Unbidden, her steps slowed, and she glanced over her shoulder. In the seven paces between them, she caught the narrowing of his eyes, that familiar darkness—

She slammed hard into a solid wall. The force of her collision sucked the breath from her lungs, leaving her gasp as nothing more than a shuddery, noiseless exhalation as she landed hard on her buttocks.

Dazed from the force of her fall, she gave her head a shake.

“Faye!” Tynan’s shout came as if from a distance.

A meaty arm wrapped about her waist, and Faye found herself snatched to her feet. The man wasn’t many inches taller than Faye, but what he