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Zach, who had been uncomfortable with the unfamiliar company, excused himself. Nora bobbed a curtsy and straggled behind, stopping at the door to clarify, “I am wily and fast.”

Oliver’s face split with a grin, his eyes sparkling with mirth. “I have no doubt you are fierce, especially with my sister as your teacher.” He winked at Sofi. “I think I will retire for the night as well. All this food makes me sleepy.” He yawned.

Sofi looked at Christopher, who wore an expression of disappointment that matched her own. Neither was prepared for an unexpectedly premature end to the evening.

Oliver smirked. “Don’t worry, Christopher. I have no intention of leaving you at the mercy of my sister, alone and defenceless. You’re coming with me. I’m feeling the sudden desire for a glass of scotch that can only be thwarted with your unique brand of attention.”

He felt no such thing, the interfering rat. Sofia glared her indignation at her brother’s high-handedness but Christopher stood, capitulating too easily, which only caused Sofia’s spine to straighten further. Christopher glanced at Sofia, then back to Oliver. “I think my virtue can tolerate seeing your sister to her door.”

“This side of the door, amico. Not the opposing side. Lady Nora isn’t the only wily one, and I fear my sister may ‘accidentally’ mistake your prick for the doorknob.”

Before this conversation could escalate further, Sofia grabbed Christopher’s hand and all but dragged him from the room.

“He should be more respectful.” Christopher’s expression had gone tense.

“I am just happy to see my brother again, crass as that person may be.” She looped her arm through Christopher’s as they made their way up the stairs.

“Uncouth jests aside, Oliver is right.” He stopped in the hallway and turned to Sofia. “I want more of you than just a quick interlude in the billiards room.” The tips of his ears began to tinge pink. “And it wouldn’t be fair to place complicated decisions on your shoulders while you still worry for Oliver. The more time I spend alone with you, the harder it is to keep my head on straight.” He stepped closer, a shy smile playing at his lips. “I want you in every room, in every way, on every day, Sofia. Laughing at my absurdity, sharing your concerns, coming apart in my arms. I want all of you, love. And I’m afraid I cannot help but spend every second we’re alone campaigning for that place in your life. My brain would have me act honourably, but the rest of me has less-than-gentlemanly notions of how to convince you to be mine.”

Sofia shook her head and inched away, but every part of her wanted to sink into his arms, absorbing his words like sunshine on her skin.

“Don’t.” He filled the space she had vacated in her retreat. “Don’t answer a question that hasn’t been asked. You haven’t allowed me time to enact the whole of my wicked plan.”

She relaxed at the return of his humour. “You’re about as wicked as a fluffy rabbit.”

“No one ever suspects the fluffy rabbit,” he growled, then leaned in and took her mouth with his. More predator than prey, but still laced with restraint and care. “Do you want to hear the steps of my wicked plan?” he murmured against her lips.

Sofia sunk her fingers into his hair, breathing in the scent of him. Revelling in his closeness and the way her body had come to anticipate his touch. “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of a wicked plan?”

“I don’t keep secrets from you.” He nipped at her lower lip as if to punish her for even considering the notion. What had begun months ago as guilt felt increasingly more like despair. It gathered in her stomach like a boulder.

“Besides, prior knowledge of my wicked plan won’t protect you from falling helplessly into place.”

She slid her hands beneath his coat only to find her arms trapped in place between his body and surprisingly strong triceps.

“None of that now, love.”

She trailed one tantalising finger down his back and felt his muscles quiver in response. She leaned closer. “But you want me to touch you. And I want to touch you.”

“Nonsense. I’m only ticklish.” He grinned through his lie.

“All right. Let’s hear this plan, Christopher.” She tipped her voice low and seductive, her fingers continuing their path across the starched material of his shirt.

“My plan …” His throat worked with a swallow as he visibly struggled to unscramble his thoughts. Shaking his head, he retrieved her busy fingers from his back and trapped them flat against his chest beneath his palms. He drew in a breath and pinned her with a serious gaze. “My plan is to remain beside you, Sofia. To follow you wherever you go because being apart from you doesn’t feel like an option anymore. And because it’s the one thing that you need—have always needed—but never asked for. I will be present. Attentive. Breathing the same air that fills your lungs. Listening quietly to your worries. Laughing at the same quips that coax your smile. Until one day the empty space you maintain around your heart feels like it was waiting all those years to be filled by me.”

Sofia’s heart squeezed in her chest, desperate for her to accept the extraordinary fairytale he was weaving. Countless times in her childhood games, she had imagined the pirate who would steal her away from isolation. But never had she expected that fantasy to come to life, nor dreamed that she might hide from her pirate when he came.

Christopher’s hand was warm where he pressed her palm to his heart, and the affection in his eyes was more than she could bear. Her gaze dropped to the floor to hide the deception that she knew would be present in her own.

And he was wrong. She had asked people to stay, people who had every reason to comply. But familial loyalty was not enough. She was not enough, and she knew better than to hope that Christopher would be any different if the truth were revealed. She wanted to believe in him. Wanted to believe that what he felt for her would outweigh her deception. That he would understand her heart well enough to know, without question, that she’d resisted Oliver’s plan from the start. But Sofia was no good at lying to herself, and she was exceedingly good at basic mathematics. What she offered would never add up to enough.

“That’s a terrible plan.” She pushed the insult through her too-tight throat and looked into his eyes as she waited for her words to wound. Instead, he smiled that carefree, boyish grin that made her want to crush her mouth against his.

“See? We’re right on track for my plan.” There was no forced joviality; he was entirely unperturbed by her ruthlessness.

She quirked an eyebrow. “The first step of your wicked plan was to watch me spit upon it?” she asked, incredulity thick in her voice.

Christopher’s nose wrinkled. “I admit, the projection of bodily fluids was not part of my plan, but the basic sentiment is accurate.” His thumb stroked small circles along the back of her hand. “If I thought that a simple heartfelt declaration was enough to sway you, why would I have bothered with a multistep plan? Really Sofia, you are supposed to be a governess. Where is your sense of logic?”