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But the other two men visibly relaxed.
And the duke chuckled. “She is as sweet as she is kind, but she could use a bit of help.”
Boxby grimaced. “Not that much. She’s pretty too. Don’t forget that. She just needs a bit of a push in the right direction is all. And she needs more confidence. If there is one thing she lacks, it’s that.”
Smith relaxed, hearing the other man’s brotherly concern. He knew all about that. “I’m sure you’re right.” The baron gave him a long look and Ace knew it would be best to steer the conversation away from Emily all together. Clearing his throat, he started again. “The reason I came tonight, the only reason, was to speak with the two of you—”
“Us?” the Duke of Upton asked, his brows rising.
“You,” he repeated. “I have a gaming hell…”
“The Den of Sins?” Upton said as he straightened. “I heard you were in league with those lords. Quite the reputation that place has.”
Ace’s teeth ground together. “Well, I am a partial owner in that venture, as well, but the club I’m here to discuss is Hell’s Corner.”
“Hell’s Corner?” Boxby asked his brow furrowing. “Never heard of it.”
Ace held in a growl of frustration. “And that’s why I’m here. After taking part in the Den of Sins, I have a very good idea of how to turn Hell’s Corner—”
“Into another Den of Sins?” Upton asked.
“Something like that.” He knew he was glowering. But this entire conversation was a reminder of how his legitimate brother had the successful club and the successful life while he was close to drowning in money troubles. And his siblings would go down with him.
“What do you want from us?” Boxby asked, leaning forward as a ring of smoke wreathed his head.
“We’re looking for partners.”
“We?” Upton asked. “Who else has agreed to this venture?”
Ace ignored the question for the moment. “Men who can get in on the cheap and then make twice the fortune that the lords in the Den of Sins have made.”
Thanks first to thieves and then his legitimate brother, Ace had hardly seen any of those assets but he knew they existed. What he didn’t know was how hard he could press to actually receive his share from the Den of Sins. He’d paid in just like the other men, but it was another way in which he’d yet to win.
Another issue with being a fraud. It didn’t give much sway to push for his actual rights.
Boxby gave him a calculating look as he drew the cheroot from his mouth, holding it between two fingers. “What kind of money did they make in the Den of Sins? Have you made? And what about Hell’s Corner? Can you get us statements?”
Ace scrubbed his chin, his eyes briefly closed, knowing that it was unlikely he’d be able to get any paperwork from the Den of Sins. But then he snapped them open again. No point in giving up before he’d tried. He was nothing, if not persistent. “If I can, would you be interested?”
Upton pushed off the mantel. “I would.”
Ace drew in a fortifying breath. At least he hadn’t gotten a hard no. And now…he’d need to see his legitimate brother who hated his guts and convince Easton to give his bastard brother financial statements on the club for which he’d yet to pay Ace a single penny of the money owed.
Easy.
He thought about Emily in his arms during their dance. How he’d like to hold her again. She’d been a welcome reprieve from the rest of his life.
