Her Quicksilver Lover: Even Gods Fall in Love, Book 6 by Lynne Connolly

cannot answer, except to say you are lovely, and clever, and nimble.”
    “How can you tell all that?” That was not the way she usually thought of herself. Resourceful, maybe, and attractive and cunning. She’d had to be. With a father like hers, she had to make do and keep a roof over their heads.
    “I have a gift for detecting human nature.” He stayed where he was and folded his arms over his chest. The fine ruffles at his cuffs cascaded down, creating a contrast with his long, lean hands.
    “And of course I’m your servant.”
    The expression in his eyes hardened. “ Never say that. I do not prey on maids, whether they be mine or anyone else’s. In any case, you are not just a servant, are you?”
    A sudden lump solidified in her stomach. A heavy one that sank and took her spirits with it. “What do you mean?” It took all her courage to shape the words. The implications hit her hard. She could never come back here after today.
    “You do other things, do you not?”
    She couldn’t look at him any longer. Joanna hung her head and closed her eyes against the inevitable tears. “I have no excuse.”
    “For what?”
    He deserved his pound of flesh, but he would leave her bleeding and raw. A few minutes ago they’d been wrapped around each other, and now? She’d been ready to tell him anything, to pour out her heart and her life to this man.
    He’d kissed her to weaken her, or to punish her, to seduce the truth out of her. She looked up, seeing him through a mist of tears, but inside she was blazing with anger. “Why did you stop? Did you want to show me what I was missing?”
    His brows went up, and his mouth quirked. “Explain.”
    “You called me in here and kissed me because you wanted to complete my humiliation.” Bracing her hand against the arm of the chair, she pushed herself to her feet. At this rate she’d wrench her wrist as well as her ankle.
    “Why would I want to humiliate you?” He watched her, silver eyes sharp. This man missed nothing. He was clever and devious and he knew exactly what he’d been doing.
    Unlike her. “Because of what I was doing.”
    “You haven’t told me what you were doing yet.”
    Ah yes, this was where she confessed her sins. She folded her hands before her in a simulation of an obedient maid and looked him in the eyes. Her tears wet her face, but they were drying fast. She would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her wipe them away. Tears came altogether too easily when she was with Lord d’Argento. Perhaps one day she would show him her mettle—but no, she would not be seeing him again, unless at a distance in the theatre or another public place.
    She gazed at the floor, the epitome of a humble petitioner. She should know, because she’d practised it before the mirror. The pose had proved especially useful when she had to admit she and her father could not pay the rent. She’d used it a lot in recent years. At least she could leave the Pantheon Club cleanly, knowing she had told him the truth.
    Sucking in a deep breath, she began her confession. “My father owns a journal, the Argus . There are many such in London. We thought we could find a place by promising that all our stories were true, but—” She cut herself off. “We pick up stories in the clubs and coffeehouses, so when you opened the Pantheon, I—”
    He cut her off. “Why did you not come here when we first opened last year?”
    “I do not like this kind of work.” Nothing but the truth.
    “You don’t like hard work?”
    “Not that part. The listening part.” She had never told anyone that, and it was as if a weight lifted off her shoulders. She hated the prying and spying, for all her father’s excuses and reasoning. Even if Lord d’Argento blasted her for it, at least that much good had come of this whole messy affair.
    “I see.” Pushing away from the fireplace, he strolled toward her, a slight smile on his face. Probably because he’d caught her out, and done it in