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“Now, now, darling. You know that I hate when you talk like this.” Gloria directs her nervous glance at an old couple who keeps pausing mid-meal to gawk in our direction. “I know that you and Alexander have your… differences—”
“Differencesdoesn’t even begin to describe it. I wouldn’t give a damn about what your son is up to if he wasn’t such a cock up, draggingourfamily name through the mud.”
Like with that damn club.
In fact, I choose to remind her, “You do remember when he went out and purchased a rumored brothel, do you?”
“Graeme!” She presses a hand over her mouth.
“Then,” I snarl, “he had the nerve to saddle me with the debt and threatened to drown Atelier Noir—your family’s bread and butter—under a wave of scandal. Do you remember that?”
I sure as hell do. The anger that thought alone brings up is too much to even be directed at Gloria. Today, at least.
“I know how protective you can be, darling,” Gloria remarks with a sigh. “But Alexander is your blood. Family. It means more than any old fortune.”
“You can keep your damn money,” I tell her before pushing back from the table. “For now.”
“You always were a good lad, darling.” Her hand finally leaves her throat and settles atop a cream-colored menu. “I could always send myownmoney to Alexander,” she says. “Whatever I can scrounge up out of the measly bit of severance money I get from your father, that is. I’m sure he’d love to have me grovel before him like a pauper.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll make do out of the ten thousand pounds a month,” I retort. “You might have to give up the early morning brandy, however.”
She winces, but doesn’t counter now that she’s gotten her way. Instead, she waits until I start to stand before launching into another unwelcome topic. “So… dear Evie. Were you as dreadful to her as you were to me when you found out?”
I force myself to sit back down. “I told you that I was already aware of it.”So don’t go running to her for sympathy,is the part I hold back. The last thing I need is for Evelyn King to start second-guessing my finances.
“It’s because you know she’d be on my side, and you can’t stand not being the center of her attention,” Mother suspects with a smug grin. “You always were the jealous sort, so protective of your favorite toys.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mother.”
“She’s a good girl, that Evie,” my mother adds, and something in her voice catches my attention. It isn’t like her to sound so bloody… genuine. “And… I know that she may not be a countess or distantly related to a duchess like that Persephone girl you dated last—”
“Penelope,” I interject.
“But she is a sweet girl. Perhaps if you weren’t so picky when it comes to your women…”
“Then what, Mother?” Before I can help it, I picture her, Evelyn King. Blond hair that when pulled back, exposes her slender throat. Blue eyes that could get a man’s dick hard with a single searching glance. Round face with a pert button nose. The body of a goddess hidden beneath her polished attire. Any bloody fool with eyes would find her ideal.
But sex is temporary, and a competent employee is hard to find. Evelyn more than fulfills her position, despite her inability to cook anything remotely edible. I can’t lose her over an instance of mindless lust. Business before pleasure is a motto that hasn’t failed me yet.
“I see the way you look at her sometimes,” Gloria remarks with a sly grin. “When you think no one’s watching, and it isn’t lost on me that you insistshealone accompanies you to all your meetings. Oh, I remember when you were a child, and you used to drag around that horrid little stuffed animal. What was it? A cat—”
“A lion, though I don’t see why this is relevant.”
“You wouldn’t go anywhere without it,” Gloria continues with a smirk. “On the outside, you seemed so serious and surly, especially for a child, but I remember when your sister ripped the poor thing’s head off, you nearly strangled her—”
“Mother.”
“Then, rather than fix the toy, you locked it away in a chest somewhere. In fact, I’m sure it’s still there on the family estate, gathering dust.” She sighs wistfully. “Darling, you were the only child I’d ever seen who would rather deny himself what he loves than lose it to someone else.”
“Frankly, I’m surprised you can recall anything about my childhood,” I snap. “Given how often you had to retire early after one too many breakfast brandies.”
“You treat Evelyn the same way,” she says over me. “Like a toy you can stuff in your trousers when no one is watching—but she isn’t. If you aren’t careful, she might walk away on her own, and then where would you be?”
Fuck.My brain takes her words literally—Evelyn King in my trousers—and I have to grit my teeth as an image of such flits through my skull. I shake off the thought and bite out, “Frankly, she’s the only person I trust to keep her damn wits about her, and not be swayed by likes of youorAlexander.”
Or Riley. He’ll expect me to hide her away in some proverbial chest, out of his reach. He wants me to panic in response to his obvious interest in her.
I won’t. If he intends to make Evelyn King my weakness, I’ll turn her into myweapon.
