Page 16 of The Notorious Lady

“Very well.” He straightened and cleared his throat. “Now show me the secret passage.”

Tricheuse dipped her hand into her pocket. He thought she’d procure another key and lead him to the secret passage. Instead, she pulled out a handkerchief bundled in her hand.

She unwrapped a piece of bread with a slice of cheese nestled within it and nudged it toward him.

Gunning eyed the offering suspiciously. “What is it?” he asked hoarsely, his mouth watering.

“Food,” she answered matter-of-factly. “Do not worry, it’s not poisoned.”

Eyeing her warily, Ford took the offered food and studied her impassive features. Without taking his eyes off her, he brought the piece of bread to his nose and sniffed it. The corners of Madame Tricheuse’s lips curled up just a bit. She was clearly enjoying his distrust.

He doubted she desired his demise. And even if she did, she had dozens of other ways she could have done that already.

With a shrug, he took a hearty bite, his stomach rumbling in approval.

“Thank you,” he mumbled around the bite.

“Lucky for you, I have known hunger, mon petit chou.”

Ford nearly choked on the piece of bread. “Petit?” He wasn’t exactly fluent in French. But he knew enough to understand that one word.

Madame Tricheuse ran her eyes down his length and stopped for a moment on his crotch before returning her salacious gaze to his eyes. “Until I know otherwise.”

Ford paused in his chewing lest he expire from choking on his food, his hand frozen on the way to his mouth.

No doubt Madame Tricheuse was a popular harlot. She didn’t do anything overly sensual. She didn’t even look that appealing to him. The wig and the paint on her face disguised her real features. Even in her harlot’s attire, her bosom hadn’t been spilling out of her bodice, and she was covered from head to toe.

There was nothing physically attractive about her at the moment.

Yet, the low and calm timber of her voice, the way her eyes glinted with some unfathomable feeling, the heady scent of jasmine and skin, and simply the way she moved—all these things combined made her undeniably desirable.

Ford couldn’t rationalize his reaction to this woman. His pulse picked up its pace when she was around. And his cock… well, to put it simply, his blood was happily trudging in the direction of his crotch.

Ford finished chewing and swallowed unhurriedly before addressing the harlot once more. “Now, the secret passage.”

She folded her lips in a pout. “You’re too cruel.”

He let out a chuckle. “Come now, you didn’t think I would forget about it simply because you offered me a piece of bread, did you?”

“And cheese.” She shrugged. “I showed you kindness. It’s only fair for you to show the same in turn.”

“Do you want me to find the killer?”

“The passage won’t help you do that,” she countered.

“It will. Right now, we have five ways someone might have entered this room. One—they entered through the main entrance, waited in the settling area, and slipped in while the hostess was away. Two—they were in the watching chambers and snuck in when they heard Portsmouth moving to his room. Three—someone let the murderer in through the back door. Four—one of the brothel workers let the murderer in through the secret passage. And five—they learned about the secret passageway on their own and snuck inside. It is my job to consider every possibility. Therefore, I need to know how hard it is to figure out the entrance to the secret passageways and how easy they are to navigate.”

She pursed her lips together in displeasure. “How about we explore the second and third possibilities first? I can show you our logbook, and it will certainly remind me of who was in the watching chambers at the time of the murder. Those would be our likely suspects.”

Ford blew out a long breath, his temper rising. “You are, without a doubt, the most infuriatingly stubborn, maddeningly unyielding, exasperating, vexing—”

“Is that all?” She blinked innocently.

“—immovable force of stubbornness I’ve had the displeasure of meeting in all my thirty and one years of existence.”

Her lips spread in a self-satisfied smile. “I am glad I was able to broaden your horizons. Should we proceed to the room that holds a logbook?”

Before she could turn away or take a step, loud banging noises from downstairs caught both their attention. “Are your constables—?”