Page 92 of How to Tempt an Earl

She had the power to do good. To continue to use the Raven as Ian had to better lives. Whether or not he could love her was a completely separate issue, she realized. She had given him an ultimatum. He may not love her, but she didn’t need to force him to sell the club.

As for his feelings for her? Now that she knew of his past—all of his past—was there more there? Could he love her?

If he could not, could she stay?

Chapter Twenty-Six

Brooks found Ian roaming the gaming floor in a foul mood. He noticed that employees and patrons alike gave Ian a wide berth as he walked by. His friend hadn’t shaved, and his day’s growth of whiskers only added to his menacing appearance.

Brooks approached him warily. “You need to sober up.”

“Why?” Ian’s voice was curt.

“I went to your home to check on your wife and Baron Newbury.”

“I take it Grace is pleased to be alone,” Ian scoffed.

“Your wife’s trunks are in the vestibule. She plans on leaving you.”

That got Ian’s attention. He shot Brooks a sharp glare. “Bloody hell.”

She was leaving him. He should have expected it. A bastard like him didn’t deserve her, did he?

“I told her everything. She has a right to know,” Brooks said.

Ian shrugged. “I don’t think it will matter. She made her position clear.”

“Her position may change. But what is most important is that she makes you happy.”

“She’s just a woman.”

Even as the words left his lips, he knew it was a lie. She wasn’t just any woman; she was his Grace.

His.

An ache centered in his chest. She was leaving him. Was he willing to give her up, go back to the way things had been before?

The answer was a resounding no. With pulse-pounding certainty, he realized the truth.

He loved her. Totally. Completely.

He loved her.

He’d buried his true feelings, distanced himself from her, because he’d been a coward—too frightened to admit the truth to himself. He’d thought putting space between them would protect him, but it had only served to make his need for her grow stronger each day.

His father’s rejection had taught him to never fully trust, to never need. Love was an emotion that could be cruelly wielded and used against you. He had associated any such reliance with weakness, and after surviving on his own for so long, he had sworn never to be weak again.

Grace showing up in his life had turned his beliefs upside down. She’d been brave and true, and he’d fallen helplessly in love with her. Initially, it may have been her beauty that drew him, but her intelligence and spirit had enthralled him. She’d nearly bowled him over with her understanding of business. With little more than a few hours studying his books, she’d made observations he’d missed or been too close to see. She was everything he’d ever need and everything he’d thought he was unworthy of.

And how had he treated her?

He’d deceived her to get her to marry him. His desperation not to lose her and to wed her, had little to do with salvaging his family’s reputation, but everything to do with the fact that he couldn’t bear to part from her.

She was right not to want him, to leave him. He’d lied about selling the Raven Club. He’d wanted her and his casino. What a selfish bastard he’d been.

She had every reason to hate the Raven Club, every reason to want no part of it. Her feelings were valid, and he’d never addressed them. Rather, he’d lied to her.

She was his hope, his salvation, the love of his life.