“No!” Benedict protested loudly, his scowl encompassing Chloe as well as the other two gentlemen in the room. “I forbid it,” he added in case any of them should doubt the strength of his opposition. “A talk with Chloe’s parents’ solicitor should set matters straight regarding her still being very much alive.”
The four of them had agreed the evening before that they were tired and should all sleep on the problem at Winter House, and talk of matters again in the morning, when they were feeling less fatigued. They were currently discussing how best to confront Lord Henry Gordon with his theft of Chloe’s inheritance, as well as his cruel treatment of her in the two years since her parents died.
Jimmy had suggested a way in which they might confront Lord Gordon in front of witnesses, and Chloe had been quick to agree with his plan. Benedict was less than happy with Jimmy’s idea. In fact, he was vehemently opposed to it.
“Lord Gordon is guilty of beating me and treating me with extreme cruelty, as well as having lied about my death and subsequently stealing from me.” She gave a shake of her head. “Simply accusing him of doing those things without proof is not enough. Yes, I am obviously very much alive, but Lord Gordon could deny all knowledge of how that came to be when no one has known of, nor will confirm, my presence in his household these past two years.” Lord Gordon’s household staff, with the exception of Mrs. Tailor, were almost as afraid of him as Chloe was. “Without anyone to confirm his cruelty to me, there is always the possibility that he might be able to talk himself out of being charged with those crimes. I believe the element of surprise in Jimmy’s plan could result in Lord Gordon confessing, in front of witnesses, to things that he might otherwise not.”
“I am very sure there will be an element of surprise,” Benedict echoed her words disgustedly. “I should think the old bastard would have a heart attack at seeing you in a place like Club Venus. I know I am in danger of it just from thinking about it!”
“But this club is owned and run by a friend of yours, is it not?”
Benedict’s scowl deepened at the deliberate innocence of her expression. “It is still a place where gentlemen go to purchase and enjoy the…the attentions of young ladies.”
Chloe almost laughed at the manner in which Benedict was attempting to avoid revealing Club Venus as the high-class brothel Jimmy had already told her it was. “You frequent the place yourself, do you not?” She couldn’t resist teasing him.
“In a professional capacity only,” he refuted indignantly before turning his narrowed gaze to Jimmy. “Do I have you to thank for Chloe being privy to this—this inappropriate information?”
The younger man raised mocking brows. “We hear things on the streets, and it was several hours’ drive from Surrey to London. We had to talk about something. And if it is such an inappropriate place, perhaps you ought not to be entering that establishment either,” he drawled.
“I am physician to the ladies there, not a paying customer,” Benedict defended.
He felt the heat rising in his cheeks as he thought of some of the duties he carried out on Gabriel’s behalf in regard to the ladies wishing to take up residence at Club Venus. Gabriel refused to allow a woman to live and work there if she did not enjoy and respond to physical pleasure. To date, it had been part of Benedict’s medical examination to ascertain the level of that response. Not in any sort of lascivious way on his part, but he could see that any woman in his own life—such as Chloe?—would find those sexual examinations objectionable.
“Then perhaps it is time you passed that task on to someone else?” Julius suggested with a pointed glance in Chloe’s direction.
“Perhaps it is,” Benedict agreed between gritted teeth. “Now, could we get back to my original objection to Chloe so much as stepping foot in that establishment?”
“Do not hate me, old friend, but I have to agree with James and Chloe’s assessment of the situation.” Julius grimaced. “I know there are narrow walkways between the walls of most of the public and private rooms, built that way deliberately so that someone might hear and observe what is taking place inside those rooms. Gordon will be totally taken by surprise at seeing Chloe inside Club Venus, and if she can get him into one of the private salons, he is unlikely to watch his words once he believes them to be alone.”
“He will accuse us of entrapment.”
“No doubt,” Julius confirmed, unabashed. “And to ensure Gordon stays entrapped, I will ask the solicitor of Chloe’s parents, a man with whom my investigations mean I am already acquainted, if he would agree to come to Club Venus tonight. Once I have explained the situation to him fully, and purely as a representative of the law and an independent witness of Gordon’s lies and deceit, of course. That knowledge alone should prevent Lord Gordon being able to insist on Miss Gordon immediately being returned to his guardianship.”
“He can insist all he pleases, but it will not happen,” Benedict assured harshly.
Julius had revealed that his investigation had shown, while his men continued to search for Chloe, Lord Gordon had resumed his own nightly visits to Club Venus.
Armed with this knowledge, Jimmy had suggested that rather than them all descending on Gordon House, where Lord Gordon’s household staff would no doubt deny all knowledge of Chloe’s presence there, that instead Chloe confront and so disarm her step-uncle in the last place he would think to find her.
Club Venus.
Coming from anyone else, involving any other woman, Benedict knew he would not have objected quite so strongly, that the plan was sound. But even the thought of Chloe entering such an establishment was abhorrent to him.
If he felt that way, then perhaps it was, as Julius suggested, time for Benedict to sever his own professional connection to the club.
But not today.
If Chloe intended to put herself in danger—and she was being surprisingly stubborn on the matter—by confronting Lord Gordon at Club Venus, then Benedict had every intention of being there too.
Did that mean he had accepted the plan?
Did he really have a choice, when Chloe herself was so determined to see it through?
“I do not understand what was wrong with the gown you arrived here in.”
Chloe and Benedict were alone in a room off the main salons of Club Venus, with Chloe now valiantly trying to repress the laughter wanting to bubble free at the disgruntled expression on Benedict’s face as he glared his disapproval of her appearance.
Because, once at Club Venus—a large and garishly furnished establishment with three main rooms and a dozen private salons downstairs, the ladies’ own bedchambers up on the second floor—several of those ladies had taken Chloe away to change her appearance so that she looked the part.
In one of the rooms upstairs, they had applied powder and rouge to her cheeks. There was also a ruby-red pigment on her lips such as Chloe had previously only seen on actresses upon the stage, and yes, prostitutes walking the streets.
Her hair had been loosened from its fashionable style and now had several long and curling lengths brushing her back and shoulders left bare by the gown the ladies had chosen for her. A gown they considered to be more suited to their surroundings.
More suitable to the ladies, that is.
Benedict appeared to be scandalized by not only the color of the gown—a bright red to match the pigment applied to her lips—but also a neckline so wide and low, it left her shoulders bare and the tops of Chloe’s nipples visible. To shock him even further, the ladies had applied rouge there too.
Chloe gave Benedict a calming smile. “The gown I arrived in was more suitable for a respectable young lady of Society.”
“That’s because you are a respectable young lady of Society!”
“I cannot be that tonight,” she soothed. “This evening, my step-uncle must believe that I have become one of Club Venus’s ladies. It will alarm him as much as incense him not only to see me here, but to know that I am now free to speak with whomever I wish and on whatever subject I want. We came here to encourage him into confessing his sins, Benedict, not only of his treatment of me, but also to having ignored my parents’ last wishes when he claimed I am dead,” she reminded gently as he continued to look unconvinced.
His nostrils flared. “I shall remain close all evening, in case you have need of my assistance.”
Chloe touched his arm lightly. “Would that not cause Lord Gordon to think this might be a trap?”
Benedict stepped close enough to take her in his arms, his eyes having become so dark, they appeared like twin pieces of glittering obsidian. “I apologize for my language in advance, darling Chloe—but the truth is, I do not now, nor shall I ever, give a fuck what Lord Gordon does or does not think!” His mouth came crashing down onto hers.
Perhaps it was their surroundings, or possibly the gown she now wore, but Chloe felt emboldened to return the passion and demand of that kiss.
Her arms moved up about his neck, her fingers, bare of gloves, becoming entangled in the dark hair at his nape as her lips parted beneath the onslaught of his.
Breathing became labored as tongues dueled and hands caressed, their bodies pressed so close together, Chloe could feel the long length of Benedict’s aroused cock pressing against her abdomen.
She moved experimentally, rubbing herself against that hardened flesh, and had the satisfaction of hearing Benedict give a guttural groan. She—
“Gordon has just arrived— Oh dear, I apologize for interrupting,” Julius Soames dismissed briskly as they quickly ended the kiss. “But our quarry has just arrived and is circulating the main salon looking for a lady to dally with,” he added when Chloe and Benedict reluctantly broke apart and turned to look at him. “We need for him to see Miss Gordon and be incensed by her presence here before he settles his sights on one of the other women and disappears for the evening into one of the private salons with her.”
The thought of any of the ladies, who had been so kind to Chloe earlier, having to suffer the grossness that was her pseudo guardian caused the bile to rise in the back of her throat.
“I think,” Julius Soames tilted his head as he studied them, “that the two of you should leave this room together and exactly as you are now.”
“As we are?” Benedict rasped.
His friend smiled slightly. “You have a smudging of red lip rouge on and around your own lips—leave it there,” he cautioned as Benedict instinctively lifted a hand to remove it. “It complements the way in which Miss Gordon is suitably flushed and her lips are almost bare of that same color rouge. Voilà, the two of you have been in here kissing, at the very least.”
Which was exactly what they had been doing, Chloe acknowledged with a shy lowering of her lashes. “I agree with Lord Soames. We should stay exactly as we are.”
“Go one step further, in fact.” The earl obviously felt encouraged to add, “The two of you should leave this room, arms about each other and looking as if you had just indulged in sexual release and still have eyes for no one else.”
Benedict still wished to refuse to allow any of this to take place, most especially exposing Chloe to a house such as Club Venus. But he also accepted it was the quickest and most effective way of exposing Henry Gordon while at the same time ensuring, with the presence of Chloe’s family solicitor, that she could not be forced, even for an hour, into returning to being a prisoner in Lord Gordon’s home.
He drew in a deep and controlling breath. “Very well. But if that bastard tries to hurt her—”
“I will be the one to step forward and distract him,” Julius assured firmly. “You, my friend, must get a grip on your temper and maintain it.”
Benedict knew that. He just didn’t know if that would be possible if Gordon said or did anything to hurt Chloe. Anything more to hurt her, because God knows the man had abused her in every manner possible except a sexual one. Hell, if Gordon had ever touched Chloe in that way, Benedict would have to—
“All will be well, Benedict.” She now stood on tiptoe and placed what felt far too much like a platonic kiss on Benedict’s tightly clenched jaw. “We will do as the earl suggests and wait to see what happens.”
Benedict’s thumb and finger took a tight grip on Chloe’s chin, and he tilted her face up toward his. “When this is over, you and I will be having a private conversation.”
She eyed him quizzically. “About?”
“What comes next,” he replied enigmatically before turning to the earl as he still stood just inside the room. “Let’s get this over with,” he bit out.