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of my clubs.”
    Her mouth fell open. “You intend to escort me to a gambling club?”
    Thoroughly enjoying her shock, Dimitri shrugged. “I intend to escort you to several gambling clubs.”
    â€œYou must be jesting.”
    â€œTell me, Emma, when you came to St. Petersburg did you expect to discover your sister being kept hostage in a church?” he taunted. “Or perhaps awaiting you in the throne room of the Winter Palace?”
    The ready color crawled beneath her cheeks. “Of course not.”
    â€œThen why the maidenly outrage?”
    There was a tiny pause before she was jutting her chin in a stubborn angle, her magnificent hazel eyes hardening with determination.
    â€œI was merely caught off guard.”
    With a silent curse, Dimitri spun away, disturbed by Emma’s combination of vulnerability and determination.
    â€œIf you wish to capture the dregs of society you must hunt them in the gutters,” he said, his voice unnaturally harsh. “Are you prepared to do what is necessary?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWe shall see.” Sucking in a deep breath he turned back to meet her guarded gaze. “Where are you staying?”
    â€œVanya Petrova was kind enough to offer her hospitality.”
    Dimitri nodded, already having suspected that Herrick would turn to his dear friend to provide Emma a home.
    â€œThen I will collect you at nine this evening.”
    â€œVery well.” With a stiff nod, the woman headed for the door.
    â€œEmma,” he called softly.
    She froze, her hands clenching before she forced herself to turn and meet his brooding gaze.
    â€œYes?”
    â€œStaid spinsters do not visit gambling clubs. If you wish to avoid unwanted attention you might consider a gown that does not smother you in wool.”
    Her eyes flashed with the sort of fury that made Dimitri relieved that there was no knife at hand.
    â€œI am not the one who needs to fear being smothered.”
    Â 
    E MMA PEERED OUT THE window of the carriage, allowing her maid’s incessant lecture on what happens to females who spend an entire afternoon in the company of known criminals to flow past her. She did not need to be remindedshe had been a fool to meet with Dimitri Tipova. Or that she was an even greater fool to have agreed to his outrageous suggestion that she allow him to escort her to his gambling clubs.
    For goodness’ sake, if she were recognized she would never overcome the scandal.
    Whatever the dangers she fully intended to travel from one den of iniquity to another until she located the men who had abducted her sister. There was no point in dwelling on the insanity of her behavior.
    Instead, she studied the overwhelming beauty of the city around her.
    Over the past two days she had been too occupied with her troubles to truly notice its magnificence. Now she allowed herself to appreciate the stunning palaces that lined the narrow canals.
    How odd to realize that such glory could rise from such brutality.
    Her lips twisted as she recalled her history lessons. The cold-hearted Ivan and his private army, the oprichniki, who had terrorized the boyars until the Tatars attacked Moscow. Ivan had ordered any number of bloodbaths to maintain his ruthless rule until he had tumbled into utter madness and he was at last murdered by his own heir.
    As much a monster as Ivan had been, however, the period of chaos that followed his death had proven the need for a strong leader to rule the vast empire. It had been the desperate Cossacks and outspoken Streltsi, and even a group of more prosperous peasants, that had demanded the zemsky sobor be called to name a new czar.
    Eventually, Peter had come to the throne, his life already scarred by being forced to witness his closest family butchered when he was just ten years of age. Not that his years of being condemned to the remote hunting lodge onthe Yauza River had been wasted. Indeed, they had offered him a rare opportunity for