Sins of a Ruthless Rogue

“Did anyone notice there haven’t been any scandals about the military yet?” Ian sat up, swinging his legs off the table. “Church, yes.

Royal family, almost. Military, no. They’re the most powerful force in Russia. Vasin couldn’t have planned to rise to power with them

still unscathed. And there were three signs given in the code. Three agents that were supposed to do something.”

“Could the agent have changed his mind like Kate?” Olivia asked.

“Or he could have missed the sign. We weren’t told when we’d be called upon to act. I didn’t know when Vasin’s plan would be set in

motion. I was supposed to simply always be at the ready. But to be honest, I had stopped looking for the sign after Vasin died. I only

began watching for it after you both showed up with talk of revolutionaries.”

It was possible the third agent had missed their sign, or was perhaps still waiting to act, but Clayton suspected the final agent would

have been more careful than that.

“How did a weasel like Arshun get a war hero like Golov’s brother, Colonel Pavlo Golov, to follow him? Olivia, when the count

arrived at his house, you said there were two young men and the colonel with him?” Clayton asked.

Olivia nodded.

“And when we found Arshun yesterday, all the revolutionaries in the house were young, too. About the same age as the count.

University age. Most likely his friends.”

“Ah! Interesting fact— When did the colonel become a war hero?” Ian leaped to his feet. “Not after the battle like you’d expect. No,

several months later, a few of his soldiers came to the czar to tell him about the unknown, unbelievable bravery of a certain colonel.

Amazing humility for such a pompous arse, isn’t it?”

Olivia’s nose wrinkled as she considered. “If it is the colonel, what is he planning?”

Clayton tapped his fingers on the table. “He wouldn’t be able to shoot the entire royal family. Not before being stopped. And people

would know he was responsible. He wouldn’t be able to take power after that. He must be using another method. A bomb. Small,

portable. Timed fuse.”

“Like the one they tried to use on us?” Olivia asked.

Clayton stared at her. How had he not seen it before? “Exactly like that one.”

Ian pulled a coarse, dark roll from his pocket and broke off chunks for the others in the room, saving the largest piece for himself, of

course. “What are the odds the revolutionaries happen to have two skilled bomb makers in St. Petersburg this time of year?”

“Very, very small.”

“So how do we find this elusive maker of infernal devices?” Ian asked.

“I return to Kate’s.”





chapter Twenty-seven

Olivia had no idea why Clayton thought she’d let him go on his own. “Prazhdinyeh still has orders to kill you. And Golov will know you’

re there within minutes. I’m coming.”

Clayton glared. “You’re not.”

Ian sighed. “Didn’t you learn your lesson with Madeline? Either you let her come or she’ll find a far more dangerous way to come on

her own.”

Kate also protested. “If the final agent knows who I am, it will be best if I am where I’m supposed to be. Then he’ll be less likely to

improvise.”

Blin stood, his shoulders as wide as the door frame behind him. “I’ll go to protect the women.”

Ian tugged on his hat. “I suppose this means I must follow you as well. But I’m not driving. I need a nap.”

By the time they arrived at Kate’s, the roads were already growing dark in the early dusk of winter.

Kate and Blin walked in her front door, but Clayton led Olivia and Ian through a side window. Clayton’s hands lingered on her waist

before he lifted Olivia inside, and just for the barest instant, his lips found a small, bare patch of skin on her neck.

Kate ordered her servants to leave her alone for the night, and their small party slipped into her room without having been seen.

None of the spies from either side knew they were there.

Soon Olivia and Kate sat in the bedroom staring at the closed door that led to Kate’s dressing room. Olivia hadn’t even

remembered that the maid Iryna had named the revolutionary who had passed along the bomb, much less known who he was. But

Clayton had. Now all she could do was wait outside while Clayton and Ian interrogated Kate’s groom Barndyk.

Minutes passed.

Olivia removed her kerchief and her gloves, and as her body warmed, her coat followed.

The room was silent except for the murmurs in the dressing room.

Kate pulled a ruby ring off her finger and then on again, her motions jerky. Upset.

“I don’t think they’ve hurt him.” At least there hadn’t been screams. And as much as Olivia strained to hear, she still had no idea what

Ian’s methods were.

Kate blinked, staring at the door as if she hadn’t noticed it before. It was clear her worry hadn’t been for the events inside.

“What are you going to do about Sergey?” Olivia asked, suspecting the real source of Kate’s distraction.

Kate pulled the ring off again and set it on her knee. “I’m going after him.”

“What are you going to do when you find him?”

“Get my answers. What are you going to do about Clayton?”

This time, Olivia’s resolve matched Kate’s. “I’ll tell him the truth.”

And lose him.

No.

She was finished with this fatalism. She’d worked incessantly to save the mill, and that wasn’t even one tenth as important to her as

Clayton.

She was done making a decision, then cringing and waiting for the repercussions.

Her life wasn’t made of one choice. It was made up of dozens. Hundreds. Millions.

And she would use them to convince Clayton to forgive her.

She’d probably lose Clayton when she confessed her lies. But she would win him back. She might not deserve him, but she was

working on it. She loved him. She wouldn’t back down. Not even from Clayton himself.

The dressing room door opened.

Barndyk was tied to a chair, his skin ashen, much as Arshun’s had been, but again, with no apparent signs of injury.

Ian was glaring at him. “Couldn’t you have held out for a bit longer? Really, you need to speak to your superiors about your training.

Quite unsatisfying.”

“We have a name,” Clayton said.

“Who?” Kate asked.

“A clockmaker on Nevsky Prospect. Only a few short blocks away.”

Olivia was already retying her kerchief. But Clayton stopped her. “We go in the morning.”

“But—”

“We know where he works, not where he lives. We won’t find him until the morning.”

“So we just wait?”

Ian yawned. “And sleep. Don’t forget the sleeping part. Prone, eyes closed. In case you’ve forgotten what it is.”

“What about my groom?” Kate asked.

Clayton glared at the other man. “We’ll leave him tied. You said you have a few servants you trust?”

Kate nodded.

“Send the rest away. Tell them Barndyk is ill with some horribly contagious fever.”

It was completely dark outside now. “Now?”