AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Good.” Then he cocked his head. “Why?”
She shrugged. “I just don’t feel any affection for him beyond what I feel for any of your friends.”
Her brother nodded. “Trust your instincts then.”
She would. And she was glad to have helped Ace like this. What came next for her, she had no idea. But as she left, she hurried down the hall to write to Mirabelle and tell her that her plan had been successful.
Which meant she’d be having dinner with Ace in two days’ time. She inwardly sighed. Every time she saw him, she fell a bit more in love.
Would this dinner be an opportunity to convince him that he ought to consider a future with her? Her breath caught as she slowed her steps. That was what she wished for more than anything.
Emily had done it. She’d secured a second meeting with the baron. What was more, the note he’d received from Baron Boxby indicated he was going to support Hell’s Corner.
Gratitude swelled in Ace’s chest.
Not only did the woman fill him with warmth but now she’d made his life that much easier.
This feeling was such a rarity, he swiped a hand down his face. She had melted his resistance before. Now…
Ace stood outside Baron Boxby’s townhouse and waited for the butler to open the door.
He had to find a way to place some sort of barrier between them. Her future depended on it.
Much as he’d tried to think of a way for the two of them to be together, he’d not come up with an answer.
He lived a lie. One that might land him in prison at any moment. Especially with the number of people who knew the truth mounting.
It was enough that he got the business established before the truth was discovered by the crown. There would be no future for him once he was tossed in the Tower.
He couldn’t embroil Emily in his mess. It wasn’t fair to her. But damn, did he want to hold her close and never let her go.
The door opened and he shook off his thoughts, stepping inside. Those worries were for later. Right now, he needed to finish what he’d set out to do.
The butler led him to the sitting room where both Emily and Baron Boxby waited. The sight of her made his gut twist, a lump rising in his throat.
She appeared the picture of serenity tonight. Her pale blue silk dress, conservative in its neckline, still highlighted her delicate frame. And that smile… There was no outward sign of the insecurity she’d expressed the first time he’d met her. It was like watching a flower bloom before his very eyes.
He swallowed the lump down, bowing to the baron as they said their hellos.
“Good of you to have me,” he said looking from Emily to her brother.
The baron gave a slight smile. “My sister insisted.”
His gaze swung back to Emily, her gaze soft and understanding. “My brother exaggerates.”
Boxby surely hadn’t.
They sat and Boxby gave him a long, appraising stare. “Forgive me for asking, but I’m unfamiliar with your family tree.”
Ace had all the answers to the questions Boxby was about to ask, but why the baron was asking was another matter entirely. He knew Ace was a bastard and a liar. Did he hope to protect his sister by digging into Ace? Figure out more about Ace as a business partner? Expose his lies to Emily so she ceased to be interested? “Not surprising. Both my father and eldest brother suffer from terrible gout and don’t travel much.”
“You have an older brother, of course. The heir.”
He didn’t. Well, that is to say that the Marquess of Highgrove did have an heir who suffered from gout. They were his father’s cousins. And neither man had been to London in well over twenty years. Between their decrepit finances and their sickly conditions, they’d be unlikely to make the journey anytime soon.
It was a perfect cover for his fake title. Until they both died and the marquessate fell to East. Then everyone would know that Ace was a fraud and a liar.
“I do.” He gave Boxby a level stare.
