The Trouble With Sin (Devilish Vignettes (the Devil DeVere) #2)(17)

"You would hinder my entrance?" Salime lifted a disdainful brow. "You may oppose me if you wish, but I warn you that Mustafa has crushed the life out of three men with his bare hands." She turned to her eunuch. "Mustafa, open the door."

Mustafa stepped forward to place his huge paws on the smaller man's shoulders, easily lifting him into the air and depositing him none too gently several feet away. A single kick followed, splintering the door within its frame.

Mustafa then stepped aside with a salaam and a gap-toothed smile for his mistress.

Returning a nod of approval, Salime stalked into the apartment to a scene that stole her breath. Brass lanterns provided a low glow of light. Countless yards of silk draped from the ceiling and covered the walls. Turkish rugs and cushions littered the colorfully carpeted floor. Kitty’s chamber had been transformed into a near duplication of her own. The situation was far worse than she'd thought.

Kitty had not stolen only her clients but her very identity!

"How dare you interrupt us!" Kitty screeched.

"How dare I?" Salime repeated softly. "I am not the brazen imposter." She speared her rival with a look of pure contempt, taking in the black wig that topped Kitty's head to the Turkish trousers encasing her legs.

"Who is this woman?" Baron Winthrop bolted up from the bed with a look of outrage. His wig was askew, and his falls were open, displaying his puny specimen of manhood.

"She is of no account." Kitty sneered.

"She lies, my lord." Salime advanced to the pedestal bed, her bells jangling with her stiff movements. "I am Salime, perhaps better known to you as Jewel of the East. It seems we are both victims of a great fraud. If you doubt me, here is your proof." Salime snatched the wig from Kitty’s blond head, tossing it to the puzzled nobleman.

In retaliation, Kitty grappled for the silk veil that draped across Salime's face, yanking it away.

Salime gasped, desperately grabbing at the wispy shield that concealed her disfigurement but it was too late. It was like Topkapi Palace all over again! Her secret was revealed to the one who would not hesitate to destroy her.

Kitty erupted in a chortle of delight. "So that's why you hide behind your veils? No wonder! Who would wish to bed such a hag? You see what I have saved you from, my lord?"

Kitty turned back to Salime with a vicious smile. "There is no room for such hideousness at King's Place. Remove yourself at once, you heathen whore!"

"As you wish."

Salime snatched up her veil with an outward hauteur, though her hands shook and her head reeled. She had come to Kitty’s apartment prepared to fight, but she had failed. Once more she would be cast out onto the street. There was nothing to do now but accept her fate with quiet dignity. Her reign at King’s Place had come to an end.

Her steps slowed as she returned to her chamber to pack her belongings. She pondered her remaining options with a growing sense of despair. Private keeping as a gentleman's mistress was not an option for her. There was a time that she had hoped differently, but her hopes had proven futile.

He had chosen another.

Yet she knew she could still turn to him, the only one aside from her mute Mustafa who knew all of her secrets—the only one she could trust.





Chapter Two

Medford Abbey, Kent



A sharp rap soon sounded on the door. Ludovic, Viscount DeVere glanced up from his periodical to the entrance of a liveried footman. "A message for you, my lord."

The servant offered the wax-sealed missive on a silver salver. "It was delivered by a most…unusual…courier." The footman gave a sniff of disdain.

"Indeed? What do you mean?" Ludovic asked in a bored drawl.

"'Tis a behemoth blackamoor, my lord."

"Mustafa?" Ludovic threw down his periodical and snatched up the missive. "What the devil?"

"He awaits in the kitchen. Insufferable rude creature he be. Just stands all akimbo. Refuses even to speak."

"The man cannot speak. He has no tongue. They took it when they castrated the poor devil."

The footman's eyes bulged. He involuntarily crossed his legs. Ludovic broke the seal and scanned the contents with a deepening frown.

Most honored Efendi,

It is with the greatest humility that I appeal to he who once safeguarded my life. It is with exceeding distress that I must entreat you once more, being much in need of a friend and protector.

Your most devoted and obedient servant,

Salime

Ludovic read the cryptic note once more. Salime in want of a protector? What a sticky situation that created. But given their shared history, he would never deny her aid. Beyond that, Salime had been instrumental in helping him to achieve his present state of connubial bliss. For that alone he owed her his undying gratitude.

"Tell him I shall be in touch with his mistress shortly…and that she should notify me at once should her circumstances become any more…distressed."

"Aye, my lord." The much-chagrinned footman departed.

Ludovic glowered after the departing servant. Salime had never been in want since coming to London. He wondered what could be behind her request, but then abandoned both letter and the dilemma the moment another surprise came bursting into his library.

"Ned?" Ludovic leaped up to greet his best friend. "What the devil has brought you all the way from Yorkshire to Kent?"