Wicked Gentlemen Read Online Free

Harper turned toward me. At some point he had pulled his cap down even farther over his face. I could only see his mouth.
    "But this with Roffcale... " Harper shook his head.
    I wasn't sure if it was the third shot of gin or my self-destructive nature, but I was suddenly very interested in getting that damn hat off of Harper's head. I leaned in a little closer.
    "I don't want you to tell Edward about Roffcale, all right?" Harper told me.
    "No?" I lowered my head so that I could peer in under the brim of Harper's cap. His brown eyes were almost closed.
    "I paid you and I made you give me your word. You're in my hire, not his."
    "So that's how it is," I said.
    "Yes, that's how it is." He sighed, then closed his eyes. For a moment I thought he might pass out, but he pulled himself back upright. "We're going to have to look into some filthy places, and I don't want Edward getting mixed up in it."
    "It's your money," I said.
    "What are you doing with my hat?" Captain Harper demanded as he felt my fingers slide up and grab hold of it.
    "Trying it on," I replied. Then I whipped it off him and slapped it crookedly onto my own head.
    "So, do I look like a captain in the Inquisition?"
    "Not by half." Captain Harper smiled. His hair was a little longer than I had expected, and lighter in color. "Those black claws of yours would give you away in a breath."
    "Not if I had a pair of gloves." I glanced down at Captain Harper's gloved hands.
    He laughed at that and then finished his ale in one long drink. I poured myself another shot of gin but didn't drink. I held the shot glass up and watched the way the liquid distorted the image of Captain Harper's face. There was something fascinating about the way it flawed his features. It only took a tiny shift, just a curve of glass, to ruin him.
    "So," I said, still watching Captain Harper through the shot glass, "you think your sister just got out of the carriage herself?"
    "I thought so, but..." Captain Harper broke off and stared at his gloved hands. "But finding Roffcale like that...I don't know, now."
    "Why were you holding Roffcale if you didn't think he abducted your sister?"
    "I thought she had run off with him." Captain Harper picked up my gin bottle and turned it slowly in his hands. "They were lovers when they were in Good Commons. Edward never knew about that. I wanted to save him from finding out." Captain Harper shook his head. "I figured that if I took Roffcale in, Joan would show up on her own."
    "That doesn't seem to have been the case." I held my full shot glass out to Captain Harper.
    Captain Harper stared at the glass in my hand, then took it. They say that blue gin can strip paint. He swallowed it like medicine. Then he poured out another shot and pushed the glass over to me. Briefly, the memory of Roffcale's delicate features and the filthy chasm of his belly came to my mind. I took my shot of gin and shoved the glass back to Captain Harper. He filled it slowly, with deliberate care.
    "What was done to him was exactly what he'd written about to Joan. I think he really was trying to warn her." He closed his eyes. "God only knows what's happened to her."
    "Drink up," I said.
    Captain Harper frowned at the glass. "I don't usually drink the hard stuff, you know."
    "It gets easier as you go," I assured him.
    "I know," Captain Harper replied. "That's why I don't do it often. It gets too easy."
    "I'd be the last man to criticize." I warmed to Captain Harper slightly at the thought that he had spent nights swilling drunk on blue gin.
      "I suppose so," he replied.
    Captain Harper tossed the shot back. Then he rolled the empty shot glass across the table to me.
    "I think I might have gotten the wrong impression of you when we first met." I filled the shot glass.
    "Oh?" Captain Harper asked.
    "I expected that you'd be stiffer," I said.
    Captain Harper smirked at my choice of words.
    "Mr. Sykes." Captain Harper leaned in closer to me. I could smell the thick scent of ale on his lips.