The Rebellious Rake (The Notorious Nightingales #4)

Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

T urning, Flora found Ramsey at her side.

“Hellion,” the masked man said, bowing. “I did not know you had staked prior claim, but then considering your reputation, I am hardly surprised.” He then walked away.

Having Ramsey’s past liaisons thrust in her face did not sit well with Flora. It made her feel irrationally annoyed.

“What the hell are you doing walking about alone in a place like this, a masked ball, where anonymity brings promiscuity, Flora?” he demanded, taking her arm. His mask was silver like hers, which annoyed her way more than it should also.

“Following—”

“You are like a lamb to the slaughter among some of these wolves, Flora,” he cut off her words. “This is not a game for a country miss like you to play.” His words were harsh.

“Country miss?” she spat out.

“You are a small fish swimming in a sea of sharks here. Your intelligence and arrogance will not save you,” he continued .

“Arrogance?”

“Belief you are right on every occasion?” He glared down at her. She saw it then—the tension in the lines of his face and flat, hard look in his eyes.

Flora counted slowly to ten in her head. He was under a lot of pressure and merely looking out for her, even if she didn’t want him to, but his tone was not warranted, nor had his words been. Gone was the gentle lover.

She inhaled slowly and exhaled once more before speaking.

“If you will cast your eyes ahead, Bramstone and Ivy are a few feet in front of me,” she said through her teeth. “So release me, and I shall return to their side, Mr. Hellion.” When he didn’t comply immediately, she put her fingers on top of his and pinched the skin.

“Ouch,” he hissed.

She walked away when he released her and made her way to Bram and Ivy.

“Ah, Ramsey, good to see you. All is well?” Bram asked, his eyes focused over her left shoulder.

“All is well, Bram, thank you. Where is your brother?” Ram then asked Flora.

“Talking to friends.”

“Where are the others? I think you should all stay together,” Ramsey said, and she heard the tension in his words.

“Ramsey.” Bram placed a hand on his shoulder. “We are well and, as you know, can look after ourselves. We have been giving Flora and Charles lessons on self-defense also. They are proving able students.”

Ramsey shot her a look. Flora raised a haughty brow.

“We stand ready to assist you in any capacity you need,” Bram said.

“I know and thank you for that.”

“For tonight, we are putting it all aside. Have you seen the Christmas tree yet?” Bram asked Ram and Flora. They both shook their heads.

“Take her to view it, Ramsey, but talk to no one, and if anything suspicious?—”

“Yes, Bram,” Ramsey said. “I understand the rules. Come along, Flora, before Gray arrives and forbids me to leave his side.”

He took her hand before she could force it behind her back and placed it on his arm. Ramsey then started walking, and she had to follow.

“Do I get a say in this?”

“No.”

Flora huffed out a breath. People smiled at Ramsey, some offering greetings. She intercepted more than one flirtatious look from a woman and hated the lance of jealousy that stole through her.

“Do you flirt continuously?” Her words came out with a snap to them.

“I am a well-liked man. I can hardly help that,” he said, looking down at her.

“That’s one way of putting it.”

“What way would you put it, Miss Thomas?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Flora muttered.

“I’m sorry.” Ramsey exhaled loudly. “I behaved badly when I saw you this evening. Forgive me.”

“I forgive you, as I’m sure you are under a great deal of stress.”

“Are you all right, Flora?”

“I am well, thank you.”

“I’m sorry I have not seen more of you since?—”

“I understand, and it is not necessary, as you owe me nothing.”

“That’s not what?— ”

“Have there been any more attacks on you?” she said, cutting off his words again.

“There have not.” He exhaled loudly, his eyes moving down her face to the bodice of her dress. “You look stunning, Flora.”

“Thank you.”

“I missed you.”

The words surprised her into silence.

“I’m not going to ask if you missed me too,” he drawled.

“I did.”

“By that tone, it suggests you’re not happy about that.”

“Have you found your Uncle Brandon?” Flora said instead of answering his question. She hadn’t wanted to admit it to herself, but she had missed him. Flora felt different when Ramsey was close. He pushed aside her grief and anger over her father, and made her feel… hopeful. It was an odd choice of word, and yet that was the only one she could come up with.

“I have not.”

“If you need my help?—”

“You are not to involve yourself in this, Flora. It is dangerous, and I won’t have you or any of the others?—”

“You mean other women, don’t you?”

“Stay out of it, Flora. I won’t be responsible for hurting you or anyone I care about. Even if you are now able to defend yourself.”

She knew, of course, that he cared about her, because what they’d shared had shown her that. Ramsey may have spent time with many women, which she did her best not to think about, but Flora understood that night had been special to both of them. She did not want to think about more than that until he was safe.

“I could actually be of help to you in your investigations, you know,” Flora said .

“I’m sure you could, but that is not happening,” Ram said.

“Oh very well.”

“There now, that didn’t hurt.”

She snorted out a laugh.

They knew each other’s deepest secret, and that couldn’t help but make you grow closer to a person. But there was strangely no awkwardness between them, even considering the intimacies they had shared.

Taking the stairs back down behind several other guests, they walked a long hallway that had doors leading outside. The drapes were open so the guests could see the torches flickering among the trees. They then entered another room. It was huge, as the ballroom was, and in one corner a large tree stood, decorated in color. Paper chains and roses. Candles and baubles. The fresh scent filled the room.

“I believe the one at 11 Crabbett Close is still superior,” Ramsey said.

She nodded, her eyes locked on the tree. “It’s rather beautiful though.”

Ramsey led her closer, and as they walked around the room, she took in each new sight. The gaily wrapped gifts, small statues. There were so many wonders, Flora thought. She felt like a child eagerly taking in each new thing.

“I’ve never seen you subdued. I must remember this.”

“I am not subdued, just enjoying the display,” Flora said, studying an elf with a wicked look on its face. “He has the look of you.”

“Witch,” he said, squeezing her fingers.

“Flora?”

She turned at the voice and found him. Julian Lockwood stood before her wearing a black mask, but she would know this man anywhere, as he clearly knew her.

“Why are you on the arm of this man?” he demanded. Now she thought about it, Julian had always demanded and rarely asked politely for anything. Funny how she’d not noticed those things before.

Not overly tall when compared to Ramsey, he had a slender physique and was always dressed immaculately. That, in fact, had been a fear of Flora’s—that she could not hope to keep up with the high standards he set for himself with her own appearance. You never saw a smudge of dirt on a glove or collar tucked in instead of out. His boots were never scuffed. He had soft brown eyes and could flatter with ease, which had gotten her into the mess of being his fiancée.

“I have cousins in London, sir, who live in the city.”

“You are too close to that man,” Julian snapped. “Put distance between yourself and him at once, Flora.”

Flora expected Ramsey to say something, but he didn’t. He simply stood at her side, his large body touching hers, letting her take control of the situation.

“Too close to a man? Surely you jest, Julian? After all, wasn’t it you that got too close to several women, and thus began your downfall in the eyes of the Willow Hill residents?”

Color flushed his cheeks. “How dare you speak to me that way, and when I have come to London with the express purpose of giving you a second chance.”

She scoffed loudly. “Do you think me a fool, Julian? I know why you came to London, and it was not to see me. Did you think I wouldn’t have heard what is happening in Willow Hill? After all, I still have friends there,” Flora lied. In fact, she didn’t; she had acquaintances but not friends. But she did have a brother who was happy to tell her all the goings-on.

“They are lies,” Julian said. “People are jealous of me… us. They wanted to destroy what we had.”

“I found you with a woman in a compromising situation, Julian. It could not be any clearer than that. ”

His eyes went from her to Ramsey and back again. She could feel the tension in the arm beneath her fingers. His body, too, was alert. Ramsey wanted to step in but was allowing her to speak first. Her heart filled with a little more love for him.

“She lured me in. There has never been another that holds my heart but you, Flora,” Julian said.

Ramsey growled low in his throat like Chester when he was annoyed, but still he did not speak.

“And what of the new vicar’s daughter? Did she also lure you into the vestibule?”

“Yes,” he said. “I was quite awful.” He gave her that boyish look she’d once fallen for often. “Why are you dressed like that, Flora?”

“Like what, Julian?” Flora’s words came out coated in ice.

“Suggestively.”

“All right, that’s enough,” Ramsey said. “Introduce me to your friend, Flora.”

“Of course, please forgive my rudeness.” She shot him a look, but his gaze was locked on Julian, and it was hard and menacing. Dark brows were drawn together, and his face was an angry mask. She noted a tic in his jaw. “Mr. Ramsey Hellion, this is the honorable Lord Lockwood.”

They bowed, and Ramsey’s was insultingly shallow.

“Honorable, now that’s an interesting term,” Ramsey said. His hand then released her arm and slid to her spine. To Flora, it felt possessive and warm, which was impossible through the layers of her clothing, but she felt it just the same.

“I beg your pardon?” Julian was glaring at Ram now.

The man at her side moved suddenly and then was leaning into Julian, taking Flora with him. To anyone watching, they were speaking intimately on a matter.

“I know what you did, Lockwood. My suggestion is you walk very fast in the opposite direction if you ever see Flora again, or I will make you. If I am not close, trust me when I tell you there are plenty of others to assist you… forcefully.”

“H-how dare you threaten me,” Julian spluttered.

“How dare you hurt a woman such as she. Beautiful, intelligent, and loyal. Flora is worth ten of you, Lockwood, and you are a narrow-minded fool for not realizing what you had.”

Flora felt the sting of tears at his words. Ramsey thought her beautiful, intelligent, and loyal? It was humbling.

Julian swallowed loudly and then turned and walked away without another word.

“Excellent,” Ramsey said.

Flora didn’t know what to say, as emotion was almost choking her.