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He shrugged. “I have my ways.”

“And how long does this rule apply for?”

He took her gloved hand and gently lifted it to his lips. His kiss was lingering, sensual, sending shivers up her spine. He looked up at her, his mouth still close to her hand, his warm breath hitting her skin through the fabric of her gloves. “For as long as I’m alive.”

Chapter 6

William clamped a cheroot between his teeth and lit it, his back to the small cottage he had just exited to inhale the blend of fresh air and smoke. The uneasy tingle at the back of his neck had already alerted him to an interloper approaching, but the swish of fabric only confirmed that the trespasser was female. So, it could only be one person.

“How did you find me?” he asked gruffly.

“Please, William. You might be an enigma to others, but I know all your hiding spots.”

He snorted, smoke puffing out of his nose and mouth. “I don’t hide.”

“And since you were not at Hades or home, there are only two options left. Either following your…” she paused in a deliberate show of hesitation, “wife or here.”

William turned slowly and studied the dark silhouette draped in a long cloak with a hood over her head. “Have been spying on me, have you?”

The intruder tossed her head back, revealing the bouncing, pitch-black curls beneath the hood. “I don’t need to spy to know things. And despite what you might think, I know you. Very well might I add.”

“What do you want, Grace?” His patience was waning, but most of all, William hated it when people implied they knew him. Nobody knew him. And nobody could trust him. That’s how he’d survived so far.

“I need your help.” Her voice was calm and measured, as always. And for some reason, that prompted a burst of laughter from him.

“Help? To leave your sordid business affairs behind, I hope.”

She straightened. “No. I need help with my business affairs. That man—the toff—you saw dead on the floor of one of our rooms. He wasn’t the only one killed in recent months. The constables think I am responsible for those deaths.”

“And you’re not?” William raised a brow, and for the first time since she appeared before him, Grace’s demeanor faltered.

“You know that’s not what we do…” she paused and bit out, “anymore. You have no love for aristocrats just like me. Do not deny it.”

William waved an elegant hand. “I have no love for you either.”

“Hades is away on his… romantic trip with his wife.” Jealousy lined her tone. “I have nowhere else to go. The constables completely ransacked my brothel, my house. People are out of work. I am hunted like an animal.”

William took a menacing step closer, but she didn’t move a hair. “It’s not my problem. I can’t help you. I want nothing to do with brothels, you know that.”

“And yet you had no problem coming to me for help,” she countered.

William let out a chuckle. “And you helped how, exactly?”

She licked her lips. “Please.” This was the first time in a long time, if not ever, that she was pleading with him.

William thought for a while before saying through his teeth, “I can’t help you.”

She gave a sharp little nod and was ready to turn away when he continued. “But I know someone who can.”

Her gaze snapped back to his, surprise evident in the dark pools. “You do?”

“He doesn’t like me though,” he said with an ironic tone in his voice.

She scoffed. “Does anyone?”

“And he will hate you.”

She let out a delicate snort. “Nothing new about that either.”