Page 50 of Pride: The Rogue
Her joy faded. “Yes.”
She swallowed around a ball of emotion. “Though, I’m hoping he’s kind.”
“Hoping?” he echoed flatly.
She nodded, bracing for the same disdain he’d heaped on her.
This time, it didn’t come.
Lachlan edged back a fraction, and she stayed absolutely still under the assessing stare he passed over her. “Why?”
“You’re a self-made man,” she noted.
Since hers wasn’t a question but rather a statement, he stayed silent.
“How did you come to be an owner at your club?”
“Luck,” he automatically said.
“Come,” she scoffed. “You’re not modest or illogical. You’re practical, Lachlan. We both know luck is gold at the end of a proverbial rainbow. How did you manage to become a proprietor at one of London’s most successful clubs?”
“It’s a gaming hell, hardly a respectable venture.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s not profitable,” she quietly reminded him. “It also happens to be one that caters to London’s wealthiest and most powerful.”
Why was he so determined to diminish his accomplishments? When to her, his having built himself up from nothing accounted for her appreciation for him and what he’d done.
“How were you able to become a proprietor at Forbidden Pleasures, Lachlan?Truly.”
He considered her a moment. “You’ll be horrified by the truth.”
“Try me.”
“I stole.”
She didn’t flinch. “Anyone who hadn’t been born to a life of privilege has, at one point or another, been forced to do so.”
“Does that include you?”
“Yes,” she said, and promptly wished she’d held back her truth.
He drew back.
The sight of his shock and horror sent her insides curling up. “I take it I’ve surprised you enough that you’re rethinking you’re earlier high opinion of me.” Livian forced a smile that felt strained to her own lips.
“I’m thinking I’m even more impressed by you, darlin’,” he said quietly.
Her defenses crept up. “You’re making light of me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. I don’t make jests, and I certainly don’t lie.”
She hesitated, gauging the veracity of his claims and finding only frank honesty and…appreciation.
Livian wetted her lips. “When we were really struggling, and Verity was working, Bertha would take me out to beg in various parts of London. Begging was less lucrative.”
“Sure is,” he murmured.
Livian nodded.Yes! “You know. While I begged, Bertha scouted out lords who’d be easy marks for a little girl.”
