In Total Surrender by Anne Mallory Page B

had moved and were safely installed elsewhere. He had almost asked after their new location but denied the impulse.
    What Phoebe Pace was, was gone.
    No more biscuits or trouble or strange pits of thought. Thank God.
    He had assigned a set of five men to stay near the Paces, wherever they were. He’d leave the knowledge of where they were to others and just rely on the reports.
    People gawked as he walked through the kitchens. He’d been expected back two days from now, not tonight, and he knew he looked like absolute hell. He sneered, and the only boy who had opened his mouth to say something closed it with a snap, backing away.
    Useless. He continued up the stairs to the private rooms on the top floor where he and Roman maintained chambers on opposite sides of the hall. No, just his rooms now. The other hall door on the floor was never opened anymore.
    He stepped from the landing and walked down the hall. He was going to lock his door and sleep for a week. And anyone who disturbed—
    Bark.
    He slowed his steps. What the hell—
    Yap, yap.
    He mentally went through his correspondence. Roman wasn’t due back for another three weeks. And Charlotte would get some ridiculously yappy dog, but even if she did, it would be taken to the Grosvenor Square house where they lived.
    Yap, yap, yap.
    If one of the boys had picked up a stray and thought to hide it in Roman’s rooms, there would be bloodshed.
    A deep voice shouted something, followed by a crash.
    Yap!
    He narrowed his eyes and put his hand upon the handle to Roman’s rooms. It turned beneath his fingers and honey brown hair pushed beneath his nose. He pulled back, nearly stumbling.
    “Oh! Mr. Merrick. I didn’t see you there.”
    He stared at her. His living nightmare. Hair unbound and curling around her shoulders.
    She wedged her body into the crack of the door, blocking his view behind with her simple dress . . . was that a nightdress ? “Welcome back. I . . . I thought you would be back two days from now. Perhaps I might speak with you later?”
    Something wiggled under her thin skirts, and he could only stare as a scraggly mass of brown fur dove forward, furry paws extended. He reacted instinctively, bending and catching the thing by the scruff of the neck as it tried to surge past him.
    “Oh! Mr. Wiggles.” She gently extricated the . . . thing trying to bite him . . . from his grip. The ends of her locks brushed his wrist as he rose. He straightened quickly, stepping back, as if bitten after all. “Thank you. He has been into everything. I swear, when we got him we thought he would help with”—she pulled her rosy lips between her teeth—“that is, we thought he’d be better behaved. I must admit I haven’t had time to properly train him.”
    “Why is your . . . dog . . . here?” he asked stiffly. It was far from the most pertinent question, but he thought asking the question of why she was here might emerge less . . . evenly.
    “Oh, well, when you ordered us out of our house, we needed a safe place to stay, you see, and . . .” She cocked her head. “You look awfully tired. Perhaps we should discuss this in the morning?”
    “We will discuss this now.”
    She shrugged. “I spoke with your men. They said your brother had abandoned his apartments here.”
    Abandoned was not the word he would have chosen. He reached down to rub his leg before he realized what he was doing.
    “He now resides with his wife,” he said tightly.
    She nodded. “I wish to rent his rooms.”
    “ What? ”
    “It is perfect. It will better allow me to repay my debt to you, and it is far closer to the financial area in order to complete our transactions.”
    “No.”
    “Well, you see, I must admit, we’ve already moved in.” Brilliant smile. “It would make things much simpler if you just agree.”
    “No.”
    “It’s the perfect solution really. You said I needed to leave to parts unknown. And what’s more, I figured you wouldn’t burn down