Mastering a Sinner by Kate Pearce Page B

achieved much, but if Charlotte was living at the pleasure house, he knew Christian would alert her to his interest. If she was willing to talk to him honestly, he might be closer to solving both Harry’s issues and his own.
     
    “What did Mr. Maclean want?”
    “Information.”
    Diana sat down and settled her skirts around her. She’d left Malinda at the door to the Sinners and taken the hackney on to the pleasure house to speak to Charlotte. She hadn’t yet reached her friend, having been met in the hallway by a footman with a pleasantly worded, but definite request for her to attend Mr. Delornay before she did anything else.
    “About me?”
    “No, Charlotte.”
    “Oh dear.” Diana sighed. “He’s far quicker and more intelligent than I thought he’d be.”
    “And I’m slightly annoyed, Lady Theale.” Christian sat forward, his expression cool. “What exactly are you and Charlotte plotting together, and how does it involve the Demon Club?”
    Diana stared at him for a long moment, refusing to drop her gaze. “It’s complicated.”
    “It usually is.”
    “Charlotte is on a quest to bring Harry Maclean to his knees. She reckons the Demon Club are the only people who can do that for her.”
    “I’d agree, but what does that have to do with you and the older Mr. Maclean?”
    “Nothing.”
    “I don’t think Mr. Maclean would agree with you. He is very protective of his younger brother.”
    “So it seems. I . . . have other plans for Alistair Maclean and the Sinners Club.”
    “You intend to use his particular sexual proclivities to break him down and use him against his employers?”
    “No! I don’t have an issue with his employers.”
    “Then, what?”
    “I’m trying to trace someone who was associated with the founding of the Sinners.”
    “By using Alistair Maclean.” Christian shook his head. “I don’t like it, Diana.”
    “Why not? You didn’t seem to mind when I married Lord Theale!”
    “Because he married you knowing what you were, and what he wanted from you. It was a business arrangement. This”—he waved a dismissive hand—“seems cruel and unlike you.”
    To her amazement, Diana found herself biting back tears. “That’s unfair.”
    “I’m just telling you how it appears to me. Can you not just tell Mr. Maclean what it is you are after, and ask for his help?”
    “Life’s never that simple, Christian, you know that. If I ask Mr. Maclean for help, he’ll tell his employers. He’s far too honest for his own good.” She gathered herself and thrust the unwanted emotions down. “I didn’t know he liked to submit to a woman until I saw him here.”
    “And you couldn’t just leave him be?”
    “I couldn’t .” She held Christian’s gaze. “He is such a challenge. He still is. I’ve never met anyone like him. He fights me every step of the way, and I want to break him, I want him to kiss my feet and mean it.”
    “How inconvenient for you.”
    She glared at him. “It damn well is!”
    His expression sobered. “At some point, you will have to tell him the truth, or he will be forced to choose between you and his loyalty to his employers.”
    “I’m hoping to avoid that happening. When I find out the answers to my questions, I will be able to leave the Sinners, and then he can choose whether he wants to have a relationship with me or not.”
    “Now who is being delusional?” Christian sighed and sat back. “Let me recap. I don’t care what Charlotte is up to with Harry Maclean. He deserves to be brought down. But I don’t want anyone from the Demon Club on my premises or for us to have any association with that place.”
    “I’ll tell Charlotte.”
    “You can also tell her that Mr. Alistair Maclean would very much like to speak to her.”
    “She won’t agree to that.”
    “I didn’t think she would. I didn’t confirm that Charlotte worked here, but he is suspicious. For some reason, he also knows that you are connected to her, which is why I