A Rake's Ruin (Devilish Lords #1)(3)

But he was the very reason she needed to seek out Jed. She spotted her brother’s blond hair through the crowd. The earl had given him a second chance, and in doing so he’d given them all a second chance.

Now it was up to her to ensure that Jed didn’t ruin it.

Was it up to her? This new voice, the one that had apparently been set free tonight, taunted her from the back of her mind. Why did she have to be the responsible one? That wasn’t her role anymore. At least, it didn’t have to be.

She shushed that voice as she drew close enough to hear Jed’s voice as he spoke to that reprobate, Galwin.

“I cannot go back there, George, you know that,” he said.

She stopped at his side. “You cannot go where?”

Both men whirled to face her with varying shades of surprise. Jed’s eyes widened and he blinked repeatedly.

He looked guilty. She pressed her lips together and tried to rein in her temper. Out of habit, she began to count backwards slowly from ten. It was a convenient tool her mother had taught her that helped her to maintain an air of dignity and poise no matter what emotions roiled beneath the surface.

She stopped when she reached seven. What did it matter if Jed saw that she was irritated? She spared a glance at Galwin, with his smug smile and his devilishly handsome features. She certainly did not care what he thought of her or her temper.

Tilting her chin up, she resolutely ignored her brother’s irksome friend and focused instead on her clearly guilt-ridden older brother. “You cannot go where?” she demanded.

Jed’s eyes widened at the rare show of temper. Granted, she hadn’t so much as raised her voice, but her tone held an edge that was previously unheard of from her.

Simpering and docile. That was the way Galwin had described her at a party the year before. She’d overheard him laughing at her with some of her brother’s other friends.

Simpering and docile. They’d been true, which had made them all the more hateful.

The words taunted her now and it took all of her will to keep her gaze locked on her brother rather than face Galwin.

She wasn’t at all certain what she might say in this state. Not only was she angry but she was…Well, she felt out of control. For quite possibly the first time in her life, she could not see and feel the boundaries she’d long since set for herself.

No, that wasn’t quite right. She could feel them, but for the first time she questioned them. She doubted them. Did she always need to be simpering and docile?

And if she wasn’t, what then? How would she act if her reputation was not the crux on which her family’s fortune hung?

“I, uh…” Her brother looked to Galwin as if for help.

Her eyes narrowed. “Does Lord Nicholas hold all the answers, Jed? Surely you can answer such a simple question on your own.”

She didn’t have to see Galwin to know that he was staring at her in shock. She could feel his mocking gaze focused upon her.

“Yes, Jed,” he drawled in that teasing tone she knew and despised. “Do tell your eavesdropping little sister what we were discussing. Surely it’s her right.”

She stiffened at his tone. What gave him the right to sound so judgmental? It wasn’t his family who’d very nearly lost everything to Jed’s gambling while he’d stood by and watched.

Jed’s gaze shot to his friend before returning to her. “Claire,” he said quietly. “I’ll explain everything later.” His eyes shifted to the people standing around them. He looked uncertain and afraid, as if he worried about how this might appear or what they might overhear.

Ha! She pressed her lips together to hold back another laugh that bordered on hysterical. Jed was worried about appearances and she was not. It was as though the world as they knew it had been flipped upside down.

Jed leaned in closer, studying her with obvious concern. “Are you feeling quite all right?”

A short laugh escaped from between her lips. “You sound just like Lord Cauliflower.”

“Lord who?” Jed’s brow furrowed in confusion and concern as he looked from her to Galwin, as if that rake understood her better than her own brother.

“Jed, we don’t have time for this,” Galwin said, all mockery and teasing gone from his voice as he addressed her brother.

Of course, her brother the reprobate gambler deserved Galwin’s respect, but heaven forbid he look at her as anything other than a pestering little sister.

A simpering and docile pestering little sister, that new voice pointed out.

Jed gave her an apologetic wince. “He’s right. I’m sorry, but I have to go.”

She reached out for him, clutching his sleeve as panic edged her voice. “Please, don’t leave.”

She didn’t know where he was going but she didn’t need to. Wherever he was going, he was heading toward trouble. The fact that Galwin was goading him on told her as much, as did the fact that he didn’t feel comfortable telling her the truth.

He gave her another apologetic grimace as he gently pried her fingers from his arm. “I’m sorry, Claire. I promise we’ll talk later.”

He turned his back and started weaving through the crowd before she could protest again.

He’d left her there. To do heaven knows what.

Worse, he’d left her alone with Galwin, of all people.

“Don’t worry, darling,” Galwin said. “We’ll be back before you know it.”