Dangerous Diana (Brambridge Novel 3) by Pearl Darling

been settled. I didn’t understand so didn’t pay. I had no idea what book the note meant. I no longer own any books.”
    Hades looked down his nose at her.
    “What do I have to do to protest my innocence?” It seemed as if every which way she turned Hades was determined to give no quarter to her. “Just let me go home, please.”
    “No. You have something that the Viper wants, and I can use that.”
    “You can use that? You mean as in use me to capture the Viper?” Hades didn’t even have the grace to look embarrassed. Even in her frustration Melissa had to admire the strong curves of his face as he gave her a look of complete granite.
    “Yes. We call it using bait. Very apt with a villain named the Viper.”
    “Bait? Bait! But what about…” Melissa trailed off into silence. The heat of her body had rapidly cooled and she shivered. Had those kisses meant nothing to him? Were they all another elaborate show of his will, to entice her into his bidding?
    “What about what?” Hades raised his eyebrows.
    “Nothing. I’ve decided not to wear this dress. Please leave.” Melissa stepped behind the Chinese screen that decorated the end of the bed chamber and dropped the dress to the floor. With a muffled scream, she stamped at the heavy material.
    After a short silence, Hades stepped quietly across the carpet and only the squeak of the handle as he left through the door heralded his exit. Clad only in a short shift, Melissa stepped back into the room. Oh, why hadn’t she made her escape before? Clutching her arms to her body, she shivered. She had turned from being the Viper, to an undefined captive, to now being used as bait.
    With slow steps she moved to where the high-necked dresses hung in a large cupboard opposite the end of the bed. Unfurling her arms, she opened the doors and stared inside. Jerkily rifling through the masses of fabric, she found one that she would be able to do up herself. It was a vibrant blue with intricate flowers woven onto the hem and waist. Efficiently she stepped into the dress and deftly buttoned as many hooks as she could find. Without wasting time to check on her reflection, she left her hair loose around her shoulders and, swiping her silver spectacles from the table, settled them on her nose.
    Sadly she looked down at her old brass glasses that also sat on the vanity table. Their lenses remained completely shattered from the knock that she had taken on entering the house. There was no point in keeping them. They were useless now. As useless as they had been when the now dead Edgar had stepped on them and, holding them hostage, forced her blindly and unknowing out on the ton to find a husband that would have supported them, gambling debts and all.
    She stepped into the hall and closed the door with bang. Arturo stood guard outside her door. With a small yip he followed her down the stairs and into the hall. Male voices argued good-naturedly in the study. Hades never had any visitors. She sidled closer to the door, leaning in to catch every word.
    “The Viper has apparently killed another man. Word is he’s very angry. And nobody will buy the information he is selling. His price is too high.”
    “Perhaps in his heightened state he will make a mistake.”
    “I sense that he will just grow more violent and we will see more deaths, Harding. You need to start employing another strategy to catch him and soon. Some of the men at the office are beginning to chatter. They are wondering why you aren’t making a move. You’ve had four weeks.”
    “I, err, had a small distraction.”
    Melissa gasped, and clapped a hand over her mouth.
    “Distraction? Don’t tell me you’ve been chasing women for the last couple of weeks.”
    “Nothing of the sort.”
    Melissa huffed indignantly. So she didn’t fall into the category of women any more, did she?
    “Something has fallen into my hands that will allow us to defeat the Viper.”
    So she had just fallen into his hands had she? Hades