Bronwyn Scott's Sexy Regency Bundle (144 page)

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Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady

'You're doing fine, quite convincing actually,' he whispered near her ear.

She threw again and the table cheered.

The raucous laughter coming from the hazard table held Sam Brown's attention almost against his will. There was a boisterous crowd tonight. The noise made it hard to concentrate on surveying the rest of the club. He'd been here the prior night, too. He'd spent that night in vain. No sign of his boss's girl had

Yet, he had a hunch

that someone here knew something. The glint in the big doorman's eye suggested as much. The

had been

too quick to dismiss his questions and deny knowledge of anyone meeting the girl's description. So, with nothing else to go on, he'd come back to wait and to watch.

From his small table against a back wall, he had a clear view of all the comings and goings in the place.

Technically, no one was going to slip past him, but his attention kept drifting back to the hazard game.

whoop of excitement carried over the general commotion, followed by applause. The sea of people around the hazard table shifted. He caught a glimpse of a nattily dressed man in dark evening clothes and a stunning dark-haired woman dressed in a

rose gown,

leaning over the table with the dice.

The man, he recognised from the prior night. The man had been alone then and not dressed as formally as he was tonight. Still, it was the same person. His face, with its elegant cheekbones and aristocratic flair, was quite memorable.

Scott

serving girl in a provocatively low blouse passed his table. He grabbed her arm. 'Another brandy,' he ordered, tossing a coin on her tray. He jerked his head towards the hazard table. 'Who's the gent?'

'That's Paine Ramsden.' The girl sighed, her voice full of an annoying touch of hero-worship.

He grunted, scoffing at the girl's obvious infatuation.

The handsome coves had it too easy. 'Is he bleeding royalty, then?'

'He is to us. He runs this place. He comes in every night and handles all the business personally.' She smiled, but he knew the smile wasn't for him. She was remembering something about the god-like gambling-hell owner. Well, at least she was willing to talk about the object of her adoration. It was more than what he'd got out of anyone else-another telling sign that something simmered beneath the surface here. Everyone was too close-lipped.

He smiled back at the girl and nodded, encouraging her conversation. She leaned towards him. 'He's not royalty, but there's a

that his brother is an earl.'

She sighed again. 'Just think, the brother of an earl rubbing shoulders with us in our part of the world. Who would have thought?'

The girl moved on, her stock of facts about exhausted. But she'd given him plenty to chew on. Who would have thought, indeed? What was the brother of an earl doing managing a cut-rate gambling establishment? The place wasn't a place the Quality would frequent. He could see first hand that the people here

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Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady

were from London's underbelly, rough men, men of disrepute-the

in the corner being an exception.

But Sam could imagine why those toffs had come. No doubt they were looking for the adventure and excitement they thought hobnobbing with the lower classes could provide.

The girl returned with his brandy and set it down.

'What about the woman with him? Do you know her?'

The girl shook her head. 'He's always got a pretty bird on his arm. Some of the other girls say she's an actress.'

He nursed his brandy and stared hard at the handsome couple. He could tell, even from a distance, that

was a charismatic man, but the real reason everyone flocked to the table was the woman. The deep hue of her gown was a siren, drawing men to her from across the bleak, colourless hall. Her laughter kept them.

She was enthralled in the game, her excitement over winning as genuine as her disappointment when the dice betrayed her.

The man finished his brandy and edged closer to the crowd, hovering on its rim, studying the woman.

Someone in the group called out, 'Come on, Eva, roll a good one!' She held up the dice for

to blow

on for luck. She tossed and won. The group cheered.

'Hurrah for the St George luck!'

Eva St George. Now he had a name and an occupation. That would be something to go on. But what? According to the serving girl, it wasn't unusual for this to have a woman by his side. There was nothing to suggest a connection between this couple and

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the lost girl. Another wasted evening and an unusual incident of his hunches failing him.

He gave the happy table a last look and was about to call it a night when he felt a discreet presence at his elbow.

well dressed young man with slightly dissipated features stood next to him.

The young man stared ahead at the game in progress as he talked, making no attempt at eye contact. 'Are you the man

information about a girl?'

He eyed the newcomer, sizing up his potential. 'Yes.

Do you know something?'

'Do you have the means to pay?'

He nodded. 'But only for good information. I've got a nice knife in the ribs for liars. Meet me in the alley out back and we'll see what you've got.' He hadn't survived this long as one of Oswalt's henchmen for believing every tip he received.