A Scandalous Portrait (The Rose Room Rogues #1) - Callie Hutton Page 0,44
It wasn’t a great deal of light, but with his excellent night vision, he was able to read fairly well.
After about an hour and a half, Hunt pulled out papers from the safe he’d found behind a shelf of books. His training in lock picking paid off again when he was able to get into the safe.
He stared down at the papers, and his lips tightened. Not only was Melrose involved with the anarchists, two MPs were named in a letter Melrose had received.
Hunt folded up the documents and tucked them into his jacket. He closed the safe and straightened up the desk as much as possible, so it didn’t look searched.
“Diana,” he called in a loud whisper.
“What? I hope you found something since my muscles are getting sore from pulling out books and flipping through them. I must have gone through a hundred books.”
“Well, you can stop. I found what I was looking for.”
Diana shoved a book back onto the shelf and stood. “Thank goodness. This spying stuff isn’t as exciting as I thought it would be.”
“Things are rarely as exciting as one thinks they will be.” He joined her and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Thank you for your help.”
“What help? You found what you were looking for.”
His eyes drifted down to her legs. Damn, why did she have to wear those trousers? Slowly he bent his head and brought his mouth to hers. When his tongue nudged her lips, instead of pulling back, she moved closer and opened her mouth.
He wrapped her in his arms and groaned when she shifted, pressing her soft breasts against his chest. No need to wear a corset when one was dressed in trousers. Hunt grasped her chin to tilt her head and take the kiss deeper. Diana was right along with him.
He smiled at her slight moan of disappointment as he pulled back. “We are pushing our luck here, sweetheart. It’s best we leave as quickly as possible.”
She nodded and took his hand. After he made a quick visual sweep of the room, he opened the door, looked out, and pulled her forward.
They quickly left the house and hurried down the pavement to where the carriage was parked. Hunt helped Diana in and they were off.
Diana looked out the window and frowned. “Where are we going? This is not the way to my house.”
“That is correct. I have to stop at The Rose Room and let my brothers know that they can release Melrose now.”
Her eyebrows flew to her hairline. “Are they holding him prisoner?”
Hunt laughed. “Not at all. They are just making sure he is enjoying himself enough that he has no interest in leaving.”
They arrived at the club within fifteen minutes. Hunt turned to Diana. “I will be right out.”
“Wait!” She scuttled forward on her seat. “I want to see the club.”
“No,” Hunt said. “Women are not allowed. Decent women, that is.”
“You mean there are other women in there. Indecent women?”
Hunt leaned back in his seat. Knowing Diana, this would be a longer conversation than he would have liked. “Yes. Women from the demimonde and mistresses are allowed.”
“That’s not very fair.”
“Not so much fair as necessary. Any woman who wants to protect her name would never enter a gambling hell to begin with. Especially since they are not legal.”
“If they are illegal, how do you stay open?”
“There are ways that I don’t want to go into right now. I am ready to be done with this assignment. Just wait here for a minute, please. I will speak with my brothers and be right back.”
Diana opened her mouth to reply, but Hunt hurried off. He shouted back to his driver. “Don’t let her out of the carriage.”
There was no doubt in his mind that Diana would attempt to sneak into the club, so he needed to make this a fast mission. He sighed, afraid he would spend the rest of his life thwarting Diana’s plans to harm herself in some way.
He would have to get her with child post haste to keep her busy at home. Just knowing her as well as he did, Diana would not be one to hand over her child to a nanny and governess to raise. He knew as much as she loved her grandmama, she had missed out on the love and attention of a mother.
Then he smiled at how much pleasure would be gained in the effort to produce his heir.
17
“I don’t understand why you think we should invite these gossipmongers to