Page 70 of Her Rake Fiancé

“He’s so…so… Richard is right. He’s a rake! I know why my brother tried to stop me dancing with him. But…why would a man like Kelford dance with a wallflower like me? No one ever invites me for dances. Especially not for a waltz!”

Jane chuckled. “I’m not the one to pose this question to, dearest, as I’ve only danced two dances in my life, both of them with your brother. But the duke…he’d be lucky to have you!”

Calliope sighed and put her hand on her stomach, sucking in a long breath.

“It seems you enjoyed it greatly,” said Jane with a soft chuckle.

“Oh, I did. I liked it more than I should.” She giggled. “If Kelford affected me like Richard affects you—”

But she didn’t finish as there were some gasps and a shuffling of feet that came from the entrance door. The music stopped, the room filling with angry outcries and a general murmur of discontent.

As Jane craned her neck, trying to see what was going on, she noticed a group of men barging in through the large open doors. Royal footmen rushed to stop them but failed.

Jane’s feet grew cold, and she had a sensation of falling through the floor. She recognized all of them…

Her brother, tall and broad-shouldered, marched through the crowd. Behind him, with the same air of determination, walked Brace, Morgan, and Tristan. The quartet, as always, were dressed immaculately, as though they had come to the ball as guests, wearing crisp cravats, perfectly fitted coats, windswept hairstyles. As handsome as devils, the four of them drew every single pair of eyes to themselves. Behind them, Atticus, Reuben, and about ten more of Thorne’s men followed.

Ice filled the pit of Jane’s stomach, spreading over her entire body.

Thorne looked around himself, his dark eyebrows drawn together. The sharp features of his face, so stern and unforgiving, gave her the impression of an eagle hunting prey. She didn’t have a good feeling about this at all. Why would Thorne barge into a royal ballroom with a small army of men in his wake?

He searched wildly through the crowd, and she began to make her way through the people. His gaze fell on her. “Here you are. Jane, come here this minute.”

“Sir, what in the world are you doing? And where are my guards?” cried the prince regent, coming closer, his puffy face red. But, to Jane’s surprise, he didn’t look outraged.

He looked…amused.

Jane knew that by implying he didn’t know who Thorne was, the prince protected his own reputation…kept everyone from knowing he frequented Elysium.

Ashton stood protectively in front of him. “Your Highness, I implore you not to try and approach the madman…” he murmured.

But the prince regent raised his hand to Ashton, stopping him.

Thorne bowed gallantly to the prince. “I am Thorne Blackmore, Your Royal Highness. Your guards didn’t want to let me pass.”

Thorne, no doubt, surprised everyone with his proper gentleman’s manners after disrupting the ball like he had.

“I do not mean any harm to you, Your Highness,” Thorne continued. “I came here to find my sister and the rascal who made a fool of her.”

Jane gasped. More people murmured around one another. The crowd moved as Richard marched forward to stand by Jane’s side.

“Blackmore,” Richard said, lifting his arms from his sides in a placating gesture, “I assure you, there is no need for this. I have every intention to marry your sister.”

“Yes, you do,” growled Thorne, stepping forward, his fists clenching. “To get certain information from me. Information that, as I heard, you tried to get without my knowledge and against our agreement.”

Jane’s gaze darted to Atticus, who looked at her with a guilty expression and then looked down at the floor. Her stomach dropped.

Thorne went silent, his eyes on Richard as deadly as when he’d once caught a patron of Elysium beating one of the whores.

“Is it true you planned to break off this engagement?” Thorne’s voice was calm.

But Jane knew very well the lethal threat that lay beneath. That calmness was a death sentence. She’d heard him talk like that with a man who had tried to sell him indentured children to work in the brothel. Ruby had told her later that no one had heard from the man again. His house was burned to the ground, and all the children were delivered to an orphanage, which Thorne had supported ever since.

The gasps of dozens of people went through the ballroom like a wave.

How had he found out about the false engagement? No one knew but she and Richard.

Jane’s cheeks blazed as hundreds of pairs of eyes landed on her. The reputation of a lady with a broken engagement would be scandalous. Despite the fact that it was what she’d planned from the beginning, sweat sheathed her skin, her stomach flipping with nausea.