A Lady's Trust (The Rose Room Rogues #2) - Callie Hutton Page 0,15

be treating her differently.

She placed her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her upraised hand. “I am too full for dessert, but I would love some tea.”

The maid immediately left the room to fetch the tea. The silence was deafening. It annoyed him that Dante’s departure had put him on edge.

During the dinner, he’d spent time studying Amelia’s hand to determine if there was an indication of a wedding ring that she might have removed. The thought that she might belong to some man depressed and angered him. And the thought that said man might have harmed or threatened her in some way, forcing her to flee into the wet, cold, dark night, had his blood pounding in his head.

Then he chided himself. Amelia was an anomaly, someone who by speech, manners, and demeanor, clearly came from the upper class, but had the nerve and audacity to wear trousers, leave her home in the rain, climb a tree, and enter an unknown building through the window in the middle of the night. The two scenarios did not gel.

The tea arrived and every subject Driscoll thought to discuss would have sounded like he was questioning her. He didn’t realize until now how very difficult it was to have a conversation with someone who was hiding their identity.

Finally, Amelia saved him by asking her own questions. She stirred a bit of sugar into her tea, avoiding his eyes. “You said the Earl of Huntington is your brother. How is it you ended up owning a gambling house?”

Driscoll leaned back in his chair, happy to have an easy question to answer. “Dante and I, being second and third sons had no expectations of inheriting anything. Hunt—which is what everyone calls the earl—was generous enough to settle a yearly allowance on both of us. However, after a year or so of wasting our time and money, we came up with the idea of buying this club.”

“So, it had already been a gaming club when you bought it?”

Driscoll nodded. “Yes. It hadn’t been very successful and was subject to numerous raids. Since Hunt has a standing in both the community and the House of Lords, we were pretty sure we could turn the club into a place where the elite in London could go for some gambling fun and not be harassed by the police.”

“Since gambling is illegal,” Miss Pence said with a slight smirk.

“Hmm. Technically,” he smiled. “We approached Hunt about advancing us the money to buy the club outright. The previous owners were anxious to sell, so we got a good deal. We completely renovated the building, added sleeping quarters and a kitchen in the basement and opened for business.”

“And have been successful since then.”

“Yes. If Scotland Yard plans a raid, which they must do on occasion to avoid too much animosity with those who care about such things, we generally know at least a half hour in advance, which gives us time to close down the gaming part of the room and make it appear as any other gentlemen’s club.”

Amelia blew on her tea and smiled at him. “Very clever.”

Driscoll’s jaw dropped at the glorious way her smile lit up her face. His muscles tensed and his body responded by his blood taking a joyful race to his cock. He knew he was in serious trouble.

The little bit of wine she’d had at dinner along with the wonderful food left Amelia more relaxed than she’d been in a long time. Living with her stepbrother had been fraught with anxiety. Even before Randolph had come to her with his ridiculous demand that she meekly surrender to Lyon’s lecherous plans, she’d put up with numerous parties in the house. She would lock herself in her room, terrified someone would attempt to break in.

She’d not felt relaxed or even safe since she left her home in the country. It didn’t speak well of her stepbrother that she found security in a gambling club in the middle of London with two men she’d only just met.

“Does your brother, the earl, ever visit the club?”

“Occasionally. Right now, his wife is expecting their first child so he tends to stick close to home.”

“Oh, how lovely. They must be very happy.” She sighed, thinking about being happily married with her own home and a caring husband. A child would make her life perfect. Right now, it didn’t appear that would ever be her life. She had to save money and move as far as possible from