Page 94 of A Duke in Her Fate
“How dare you!” Dunn cried.
Winthrop’s eyes widened. But his words were calm as he asked, “That’s quite a claim, Your Grace. I am interested; do you have any proof?”
“Yes!” Julian appeared at Ronan’s shoulder. Papers were waved about in his hand. He was breathless but beaming. “Of course we have proof. Why, Dunn here just attempted to blackmail Westvale’s family. Didn’t you hear? Which is why we’ve got our proof and are taking it to the House of Lords.”
The blood drained from Dunn’s face. “What?”
“I don’t like this riddle,” someone muttered low in the crowd. There was shuffling and whispers, but otherwise they were listening. “What proof?”
“I have accounts and witnesses of forged banking information and false accounts that don’t exist. Additionally, we’ve investigated with at least three other families who attempted investments with Lord Dunn, only to be blackmailed once they could be tied to said corruption,” Julian explained.
Ronan looked to everyone. “Which means any of you who might have signed a contract with Dunn here might be caught up as well. You simply don’t know it yet.”
“What the devil?”
“Dunn, you had better explain yourself!”
“I want out!”
As the angered voices grew louder in the party––and others outside of their circle had come in to investigate what was happening––Lord Dunn began to panic. He flung his arms out to appease the crowd. Sweating profusely, he jumbled his words to try and defend himself.
But he couldn’t. And they all knew it.
Dunn glared at Ronan one last time before attempting to make a quick exit. He only made it two steps before the crowd was upon him. It was Ronan who punched him in the chin. He wished it had been. There were too many hands however, and then Dunn fell down.
“Call the magistrate. Constable. Security. Whomever,” Ronan muttered to Julian as they moved out of the way.
His friend was trying to get into the crowd, looking about with bright eyes and a slight grin. He always loved a good bit of drama. “You don’t want to stay?”
“No.” Ronan took a deep breath.
Dealing with Dunn was over. He found the anger fading out of him. He could breathe again. His heart was pumping. The trouble and pain of the recent days was dissipating at last. It was much faster and easier to let go than he had anticipated.
The lord would have no option but to leave London now. He was injured, now, and would face quite a scandal beyond the angry Ton and legal trouble. No woman would consider him for marriage, and no one would do business with him. No house would host him again. Dunn could never do anything in London again, not with high society.
“No?” Julian echoed in surprise. “What are you going to do?”
With Dunn out of the way, there was nothing stopping Ronan from seeing Isla. He had a feeling he knew where she would be. And that everything could be fixed.
He grinned. “I’m going to see my wife.”
Julian paused for a friendly smirk. “As you should. Give her my best. Genevieve and I would like to host you soon. Properly, of course.”
“We’ll see. There is much for me and Isla to sort out.” And Ronan could hardly wait to begin. He fixed his cuffs and headed out the door for one more mission of the day.
The sun was shining, and now it made him smile.
EPILOGUE
Isla looked at the chests alongside Doreen who was frowning. “We can pack everything if you like. Why aren’t we bringing everything?”
The next question would surely be her asking where they were even going.
And Isla didn’t want to answer any of those questions. Her reality might feel a little softer and safer so long as the truth wasn’t loud. But time was running out. She knew this. And she hated it dearly.
“Your Grace?”
“Don’t call me that.” The words came out more sharply than she intended. Inhaling deeply, Isla ducked her head. “I’m sorry, Doreen. I don’t mean to be short with you. It’s only… Why don’t you take a break? I’ll finish this and then we can have the evening to ourselves.”
