Page 69 of Trapped with the Forbidden Duke
Lucien just gave his friend a long stare.
“I shall simply listen,” Jasper said. “And keep my mouth shut. Unless prompted, that is.”
“Nothing has changed since Cambridge, has it?”
“Are you referring to the time I told our Latin professor that you had cheated to come top of the class when you had sworn me to secrecy?”
“More so the time you almost told our Greek professor that I had not done the assignment and that I bribed you to let me submit it as a collaborative essay.”
Jasper frowned, deep in thought for a moment, before he laughed. “Ah, yes. Oh, wonderful times. Your bribe was excellent. I wore a new cravat every day of the month back then.”
“May we actually discuss proper business, Jas?”
“Absolutely. I am all ears, Your Grace.”
Lucien rolled his eyes. “I spent the past week gathering information about the remainder of Nicholas’s debts—the ones I wrote to you about. He has indeed come out of the shadows, and it is… well, it is rather bad.”
At first, he thought it was best to keep Nicholas’s addiction to himself, but the three of them had been friends, and he had felt the betrayal of not knowing.
He took a deep breath before continuing, “Nicholas has been struggling with an addiction to laudanum. When I investigated, I found out that he owed money to many, many creditors.”
“Laudanum?” Jasper’s face paled. “Nicholas is addicted to opiates?”
“Because of his war injury, yes.” Lucien sighed as he dragged a hand through his hair. “That is why you were not invited to my wedding. I did it to protect Nicholas and help him recover. And to ensure Edwina was not left unsupported.”
“That isallit was for?” Jasper raised an eyebrow.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.” Jasper shrugged, pouring himself a glass of whisky from Lucien’s cabinet. “Only that I saw how you reacted upon me complimenting her. Men who do not marry out of attraction would not have a reason to be jealous.”
“I was not jealous,” Lucien scoffed before striding to his desk and pulling out a sheaf of papers. “Regardless, these are all the documents I could find regarding Nicholas’s debts.”
“Goodness.” Jasper’s eyes widened.
“And these are the only official ones. At the moment, I cannot tell who else he owes money to. Back street dealers, shady men, crime lords. Who knows? I have set him up for rehabilitation, but who is to say whether he will remain clean or not? It worries me that he likely still owes money to dangerous people. People who might one day come after Edwina. Nicholas is heavily guarded, but I cannot keep my wife a prisoner.”
“You cannot.”
Lucien exhaled, taking back the papers. “For now, I have put thirty percent of the shares of three of my most lucrative businesses in Nicholas’s name. He does not know, of course.”
“You do not trust him with the knowledge?”
Feeling somewhat guilty, Lucien shook his head. “No, I do not. Rehabilitation is not linear, and he could very well relapse. If he hears of the income he now has from those businesses, he could access more laudanum than ever. If I restrict his knowledge, then he might have no choice but to flush opium out of his system simply for thinking he cannot afford it.”
“He could turn to desperate measures.”
“He could,” Lucien acknowledged. “But I have to hope he will not. He has seen how affected Edwina has been by his addiction. I am hoping that is enough.”
“It is not always.”
“I know. But for now, I have to have a small amount of trust in him.”
Jasper nodded. “What businesses is he a partner in?”
“The business I set up just outside Stormhold. He is the co-owner of the breeding farm, although I am taking over his responsibilities until he is back on his feet. I also have several trade agreements with some merchants and have appointed Nicholas as a silent partner for the import of whisky and wine.”
“I see. And you have used that income to pay off his debts?”
