Page 48 of A Duke for Stealing
“Of course I do,” Everett retorted, “I am smart enough to understand my own accounts.”
Tristan shot Hugo a wild look.
“No one said you were not so,” Hugo replied, his tone careful, as if he were talking to an irritated child. It only served to annoy Everett further.
“We have all taken a step back,” Alistair added. “Even as persistent as some of us are to return. Just give it another month or so, so that things may calm down again.”
“Well, I hate to disappoint you lot,” Everett barked, “but I have not been to the Masquerade since Rose and I were married.”
All his friends looked on at him in surprise.
“You have not?” Hugo asked.
“I have been far too busy handling my brother’s estate. Not to mention trying to run my own businesses and be a father figure to my niblings,” Everett replied.
His friends all leaned back, as if just now remembering that the least fatherly-like man among them had become the paternal figure of not one, but two children in the span of a single night.
Then, as if he needed to justify himself even more, he added, “Not that it isany ofyour business, but Rose and I do spend time together. When we can. She has taken her new duties as Duchess of Stapleton quite seriously, and I shall have you know she is excelling quite beautifully at that. When she is not attending to them, she spends much-needed time with my nieces. They-”
He paused, sadness cooling down his anger.
“They miss their Mother,” he said softly, looking to the floor. “Terribly. And Rose is trying to make up for that as much as she can.”
Everett looked up after a collective silence following his words, and he caught the confused glance his four friends gave one another.
“What?” He demanded.
“Well,” Dominic began, “We were just wondering why you were still coordinating the Masquerade parties if you were not attending them.”
Everett let out a weary sigh. It had been a running joke between the four- now five of them. As their tastes of depravity ran so deep, they jested that one of them must surely be the conductorof such a scintillating orchestra. The last time they’d talked was when Alistair had just arrived in town to inherit his Dukedom. With his power stretching from London to Scotland, they had all been sure that he was the secret mastermind. Alistair, though, was quite adamant that he was not.
“How many times do I have to tell you?” Everett asked them. “I am not responsible for theDevil’s Masquerade.I attend the parties. I supply their whiskey. But that is all. I do not coordinate them. I do not even know the true identity of the man I do business with. I receive a shipment order without a return address, and then the money lands in the business account. My accountant has tried to track down the account it comes from, but has not been able to do so.”
A moment of silence followed him.
“You were serious?” Dominic asked, raising an amused brow.
Everett forced his annoyance to cool a little more, and he let out a laugh.
“I swear. However, I have kicked myself a time or two for not thinking of it first. The man who orchestrated theDevil’s Masqueradehas to be making a fortune. Invitations used to be free, but now I hear some are willing to pay hundreds of pounds to receive one of those red envelopes. But I am as curious and as clueless as you are about the man behind the mask.”
“So it is not you,” Tristan stated, raising a brow.
“No!” Everett replied with a laugh.
“And you truly have not attended since you married Rose?” Hugo asked.
“Is that so surprising?” Everett asked.
Dominic and Hugo both chortled.
“A little bit,” Dominic laughed. “Out of all of us, you were the most intense rake.”
Everett opened his mouth to retort, but there was no defense to Dominic’s words. It was true. He’d chased women like hunting dogs chased foxes, with intensity and a ferocious appetite. Or at least he used to. Lately, all he craved was Rose. Not just her body, but her presence.
“I never would have thought you would take your wedding vows so seriously,” Tristan goaded.
Everett tsked his tongue as he forced a smirk, trying, yet again, to tame his annoyance. He could not be mad at his friends for their surprise. He’d never have guessed he’d be such a good husband, either. Being faithful was not something he’d ever suspected of himself.
