The door to Liam's office stood slightly ajar. Kitty sauntered through without knocking, as was her common practice, a small stack of papers clutched in one hand.

Liam sat at his desk sifting through a pile of documents, a cigarette dangling from his lips. “Mornin', Kitty,” he greeted her in his typical brusque manner as he exhaled the smoke in a white plume.

“Mornin', too right you are. You have a pile of messages from yesterday,” she informed him, sorting through the notes. “Serves you right, comin' in late and takin' off early. What were ya up to?”

“Does it matter?” he asked. “You run me office, Kitty. It's all smooth so's long as you're here.”

“Be smoother still if the boss were here,” Kitty retorted, her empty hand on her hip. She set the messages on the desk in front of him. “Good for morale, and all that jazz.”

“D'ya ever knock? Eh?” He moved to grab the messages that she'd set down and started flipping through them with obvious disinterest, his cigarette held between two fingers.

Kitty sniffed, bemused. “Door was open. And I knocked the other night, didn't I?”

“Ya sure did,” he agreed. “And ya got a reward for it, too, as I recall.”

“A reward? That's what you're callin' it?” Kitty asked. “As I recall, you wanted a ‘distraction,’ and I provided one. Good one, too, if memory serves.”

Liam gave her a thin smile. “It serves.”

“Good, glad to hear it,” she said. “Yet barely a cursory glance since. What is that, Will? Are ya tellin' me that if I want a fuck I gotta knock on your door?”

“Couldn't hurt,” he said with a little shrug. Taking a drag from his cigarette, he dropped the messages back onto the surface of the desk. “This everythin'? Nothin' more from Gallagher?”

“Nothin' more from that employee poachin' prick, no,” Kitty replied. “But there was one other message yesterday. Well, after a fashion.”

“That so?”

“Aye. A visitor. Some hoity-toity little toff. Blonde girl. Pretty, I s'pose, in a prudent sorta way. Said she knew you and that you'd ‘want to see her.’ Can ya imagine? She couldn't be bothered to leave a name, o'course.”

Liam took his time snubbing out the cigarette butt, his eyes on the ashtray rather than on her. “I see.”

Kitty raised her eyebrows at Liam's indifference. “It ain't like you to show no interest in a pretty girl, Liam,” she said. There was an edge to her voice that she didn't like, but she plunged on. “Was she tellin' the truth? D'ya know her?”

“Aye. I know her.”

“You know her.” The edge in Kitty's voice became more pronounced. “Who is she, then?”

“She works for me. Not from around here.”

He spoke the words with nonchalance, but Kitty knew Liam. She knew him very well. And the less he said, the more there was to say.

“Aye, I can tell she's not from around here. Reeks of high society, that lass. Where's she from? London?”

“East of Manchester. Yorkshire.”

So, she was from peerage country, this girl. This girl with the posh way of speaking and the perfect posture. Fitting. Beyond basic irritation, only one thing had come to mind when Kitty had met the little blonde interloper the previous day: the girl had reminded her of Clementine.

“So, she works for you,” Kitty repeated, her voice devoid of emotion. “Works for you how, Liam? Like I do? Or like I used to?”

He sighed and gave a small shake of his head at her question. “She's not a whore, if that's what you're implyin'.”

“Oh, good,” Kitty stated, her words coated in sarcasm. “Had me worried. If not polishing your knob, what's she doin' for ya, then?”

His eyes wandered the room, settling anywhere other than Kitty's face. This habitual wont of his did not go unnoticed by the secretary.

“She'll be passin' on information, messages, the like.”

Kitty pursed her lips. “Passin' on information and messages, hmm?” she repeated in the same deadpan voice. “Can't one o' your brothers do that? Or your sister? Or me, for that matter?”

“My brothers are just as conspicuous as I am,” Liam said. “Audrey wouldn't deliver a message to save her life. You already do too much, Kitty. This lass is ideal, as no one who matters knows her. She'll be good as invisible.” He paused, his lips forming a solemn line. “She's also hostin' the benefit with me.”

Kitty's eyebrow arched in displeasure. “I see. And this inconspicuous messenger co-host toff, she got a name?”

“Rose Sinclair.”

Kitty expelled a loud scoff and tossed her hair. “Rose. Of fuckin' course her name is Rose. How fitting, that.”

“What's that s'pose to mean, eh, Kitty?”

“Nothin', Liam. Nothin' at all.”

Kitty suddenly had an intense desire to be back at her desk, doing anything other than having this bloody conversation. Resolute, she turned her back to him and started for the door.

But a niggling thought gave her pause, and she stopped in the doorway. “If this...Rose is working for you, will we be cutting her cheques?” she asked, a ghost of a sneer twisting her lip. “Where shall I send them? St. James Palace? Or would you prefer to hand-deliver them yo'self?”

“I'll deliver them me'self. May as well. She's stayin' with me, after all.” He waved a hand in her direction as he turned his attention to the stack of documents in front of him. “Thank you, Kitty.”

Kitty's hand fell away from the door handle. Choosing to completely ignore Liam's flippant gesture to shoo her from the room, she barked: “I beg your pardon, she's staying with you? ‘Staying’ with you. At your house?!”

“That's what I said.”

Temperature rising, Kitty stalked closer to him, her hands balled into fists. “Just what in the high holy hell, Liam? To my knowledge, you didn't even know the girl a few days ago, and now she's livin' in your bloody house? How's that work, eh? Does she have her own bedroom, or d'ya just got her tucked away in yours?”

His eyes narrowed as he looked up at her, the familiar shade of blue growing darker. “Not every woman I meet is sharin' my bed, Kitty. O'course she's got her own room.”

Kitty scowled down at Liam where he sat. “Not every woman you meet is sharin' your bed? Ha! What? Has she said no?”

“Nothin' to say ‘no’ to. I haven't asked,” Liam snapped. He sighed, apparently exasperated by Kitty's line of questioning. “That ain't the nature of our relationship. Truth be told, we quarrel more than we talk.”

Seething, Kitty ground the soles of her shoes into the floor in an attempt to keep control of herself. “Is that right?” she asked, her voice tight. “Well, she's exactly your type, then — especially if you two are in a constant tiff. You love it. And you're always aiming too high.”

“I'm not aiming at all, Kitty.”

“Rubbish, Liam. Ya got her livin' in your bloody house! When's the last time ya even invited me over for a visit?”

“Ya got the wrong idea.” He loosed a sigh and ran a hand across his brow. “Knew ya would. That's why I hadn't yet mentioned her to ya.”

A bitter laugh bubbled from Kitty's lips, and she shook her head, both in irritation at Liam and disappointment at herself. Had she fallen prey to yet another William Mercer hoodwink?

“Aren't I enough?” she asked. Her voice broke slightly, and the shame of it caused her cheeks to sting. “Haven't I been helpin' you heal since Clementine was murdered? Or am I really nothin' but a distraction?”

“Kitty, stop,” Liam commanded in an uncharacteristically soft voice. His gaze met hers, searching. For what, she didn't know. “O'course you're enough. Like I said, she's workin' for me. Only that. I need someone who won't be conspicuous while passin' information. As for being my co-host, she'll be able to talk to those wealthy sots in their own language. You suggested that. Remember? And you were right. She's perfect for the job. I'll hardly hafta open my mouth all night.”

Kitty frowned in thought. What he said did have the ring of sense to it. “That's all?” she asked, her indignation and skepticism beginning to subside. “Really? An errand girl. Nothin' more?”

“Not a thing more,” Liam confirmed. He took gentle hold of Kitty's hand and coaxed her closer. “As for invitations to me house, it should go without sayin'. You're always welcome to visit.”

Kitty felt her resolve giving way. “Am I?” she asked, her expression turning coquettish.

“Aye.” At that, the corners of his lips curled up in a slight smile. “I'd rather have you there than her.”

Kitty didn't miss the subtle flirtatious undertone that came into Liam's voice. Nor did she mind it. And as always, she was drawn to his smile. It appeared so rarely, that smile, and to have it directed at her made Kitty feel like the sun was shining for her alone.

He gave her hand a playful tug, and she settled on his lap, draping her arm over his shoulders.

“If that's the case, maybe I should visit soon, hmm?” she asked, leaning close to his ear. “I wouldn't want ya to get bored and do somethin' rash.”

Liam snaked his arm around Kitty's waist and caressed her hip through the fabric of her dress. “Somethin' rash, eh? Like what?” He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to the apple of her cheek. His lips then journeyed downward to her jaw.

Kitty allowed her eyes to drift closed. In light of Liam's show of affection, all was now forgiven. The priss named Rose, the fact that she was living with him, the fact that he hadn't shared that information with Kitty until after she'd met the interloper...all of it.

She reached up to stroke Liam's cheek with the backs of her fingers. “Rash, aye. Like what happened in this very room the other night.”

“So, I'm only permitted to be rash with you, am I?” he teased. Squeezing her hip tighter, he deposited a wanton kiss on the side of her neck.

“That's right. Only with me.”

His attention was all she cared about. The touch of his lips to her skin made her shiver. He could be so gentle when he chose to be. She loved that side of him, just as she loved the side that made demands and took what he desired.

“Maybe I'll come for a visit after the benefit concludes,” she offered, her lips caressing his ear. She smoothed one hand beneath his suit jacket and around his back. “You'll need another distraction by then, I'm sure. Princess Rose can keep herself occupied, can't she?”

“She can. And she will, if I tell her to,” he said. His lips curled into a smirk to accompany his words. “Speakin' of the benefit, did ya get a nice dress? Don't tell me I shelled out thirty pounds for nothin'.”

Kitty cast him with a sly smile. “Oh, it was thirty pounds well spent,” she vowed. In her mind's eye, she pictured the new gown that hung in her bedroom wardrobe. The material clung to her in all the right places and the lines were flattering and sensual. “You'll be pleased, Liam. I'd wager that you'll want to ravage me the moment I walk in.”

His eyes darkened with hunger. “We may hafta visit the coat room, you and I.”

“Yes, we may,” Kitty murmured in his ear. “Just wait, Liam. Tomorrow will be a night to remember.”

【♜】【♞】【♟】

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