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“Heavenly.” Maggie sighed, searching for Lord Dracott. But she had lost him in the crowd.
Eden laughed but said no more. If she wasn’t mistaken, her younger sister had fallen smitten with Lord Dracott’s charm. She knew Mama’s intention was only for Maggie to become accustomed to society in her first season. Not to make a match so early. But the heart wants what the heart wants. And Maggie’s heart wanted Lord Dracott. She only hoped Lord Dracott wanted Maggie in the same regard.
~~~~~
DRACOTT TUGGED AT HIS cravat until it came undone. Then he ripped it off and tossed it across the bed. The evening had frustrated him, causing him to feel a restless energy that, if he didn’t contain it, would end in disaster. In the past, when he couldn’t control his emotions, his behavior had turned reckless, and at this moment in his life, he didn’t dare act upon his frustrations.
A simple miss set him on edge. Her penance for landing herself in trouble now involved him as a guilty party. Not to mention her delectable lips he wished to devour. At least he had come to his senses before he ravished her. Because if he had, he wouldn’t have stopped. He would have pulled one kiss after another from her lips.
“Damn,” he muttered. He must stop fantasizing about a lady out of his reach.
He lit a candle to see his way around the small room. It was a pathetic living area, but he paid for it honestly, something he hadn’t been able to do in the past. If his employers or their families saw his meager residence, it would draw forth too many questions. He couldn’t answer them without telling more lies. So to fool them, he made sure he wore the finest clothing and ate at well-known dining establishments so they couldn’t question him. Hell. It was bad enough he lied about his standing in society.
“Lord Dracott. How are you, little brother?” a voice drawled from the darkened corner.
Dracott jumped and dropped the candle. He stomped on the small flame until he snuffed it out. “Damn you!”
“Is that any way to greet your brother?”
Dracott relit the candle, holding it up to see Ravencroft lounging in his only chair. The infuriating gentleman had also confiscated his only bottle of gin. Dracott noted he had drunk half the bottle. This meeting wouldn’t go smoothly.
“Why are you here?”
Ravencroft took a drink. “I think that is my question for you.”
Dracott swiped the bottle away and set it back on the shelf. “Since I never heard from you for over a year, I struck out on my own.”
“That was because I was laying the groundwork for our plan,” Ravencroft snarled.
“Never in our plans was the agenda of engaging yourself to a Worthington chit.”
Ravencroft stretched out his legs. “She was too tempting to resist. You must understand because my eyes didn’t deceive me this evening. You have become quite smitten with my fiancée’s sister.”
Dracott growled. “Nonsense.”
Ravencroft tsked. “It never sets well when one denies something so fiercely.”
“Since you have deviated from our original plan, what are you hoping to achieve by tying yourself to Noel Worthington for an eternity?” Dracott asked.
“I am hoping for many lively evenings and a fat purse once I say I do.” Ravencroft waggled his eyebrows.
Dracott growled. “Stop with your crude behavior. It is beneath you.”
“Oh, the street urchin has turned all proper,” Ravencroft mocked him.
Dracott advanced on Ravencroft with his fist pulled back. Before Dracott took a step farther, Ravencroft shot from the chair and shoved Dracott back. His feet tangled in the rug, and he landed on the bed with Ravencroft towering over him with a scowl. He cowered at his brother’s fury. Even though he knew Ravencroft would never harm him, it didn’t stop his instinct to tremble and for fear to kick in.
“Damn,” Ravencroft muttered, backing away from the bed.
Once Dracott gathered himself under control, he accepted the hand held out to him. He grabbed the bottle off the shelf and took a long swig. The gin burned its way down to his gut, shaking off the fear.
“Sorry, mate. I didn’t realize you still suffered from the same terrors.”
Dracott set the bottle back, noticing how his hand still shook. “Only when I am stressed do they flare to life.”
Ravencroft sighed. “Why couldn’t you have waited? I am so close to finishing this last job.”
“Lady L paid a visit to your estate six months ago, adding a twist to our freedom.”
