Page 52 of What a Courtesan Wants
“Thank God. Because I am certain you wouldn’t want to leave the task of marrying Elizabeth off tome.”
Considering that his friend was more likely to glower at and threaten any man who got too close to his niece than he was to play matchmaker, Aubrey chuckled.
“I am grateful for that, and I am sure she would be, too. Does she know what happened?”
“I sent word, but I imagine she must be worried sick. Now that you’ve awakened, I’ll go and reassure her myself. But first, you and I must talk.”
Aubrey arched an eyebrow, finding that Benedict looked even graver than usual, his features tight and drawn.
“All right.”
His friend ran a hand over his weary face and sighed. “I do not know how else to say this, but I suppose the easiest way is to simply be frank. Aubrey … I’m cutting you loose.”
Aubrey frowned, uncertain he’d heard his friend correctly. “I beg your pardon?”
“Effective immediately, you are no longer a gentleman courtesan. Your contract with Lady Bowery is terminated and I’ll pursue no new ones for you. I’m letting you go.”
Warring reactions fought for dominance in his mind. Relief that he could have done with it and Benedict wouldn’t hate him for walking away. Confusion over what had caused his friend to decide this in the first place. Worry that should the warehouse expansion fail, he’d be destitute once again. Curiosity over where he now stood with Lucinda.
Something niggled in the back of his mind, a whisper trying to emerge from the pain and fatigue. He had faded in and out of consciousness after being injured, and recalled words floating through the air above him, important words that he needed to remember.
“I don’t understand,” he said, meaning it in more ways than one.
Benedict shrugged as if resigned. “It has been clear to me for some time that the agency was in danger of losing you. Your heart wasn’t in it anymore. Then, you met Lucinda and I knew she would be the one thing that could take you away from us.”
Aubrey shook his head, wincing at the jolt of pain it sent through him. “I’d grown a bit weary, but I would have pressed on. I’d have done anything to get Elizabeth securely settled. You know that.”
Benedict nodded but gave him a pointed look. “Wouldhave. Things have changed. You love that woman, Aubrey … I heard you say it the night of the party.”
There was no use denying it, and Aubrey opened his mouth to confirm it when the very importantthinghe’d been trying to remember suddenly came back to his mind in an instant.
I love you … you have to live long enough so that I can prove to you just how much.
It took a moment for his reactions to those words to cycle through him one by one. Shock and elation tumbling over happiness and a sense of peace. Lucy loved him. Perhaps that didn’t mean everything would fall seamlessly into place or that the future wouldn’t bring its share of trials. But it did mean that he could be done wrestling with himself and his own turbulent emotions. He could let go of the pretense that had seen him through the past month and allow himself to love Lucy and enjoy all that came along with it.
“It is as I said before, of the two of us you are the one who still has a heart,” Benedict went on. “And while I am disappointed that the courtesans are losing you, as your friend I have to say I’m happy for you … that you could find someone and be happy again. I want you to have that, no matter what it costs me personally.”
Aubrey’s gaze fell to the scar slashing Benedict’s temple, a constant reminder of the pain of the past and the difficult times they’d helped one another through.
“I want the same for you, too, Ben. Maybe you don’t feel as if it could happen now, but someday …”
“No,” Benedict said, his jaw hardening to granite and his eyes freezing over into hunks of ice. “My chance for any sort of happiness ended on the day I watched the love of my life marry someone else. And I have made my peace with that. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have It, and I certainly don’t begrudge you. I am glad for you, Aubrey.”
Benedict extended a hand to him, and Aubrey reached out to clasp it. They held fast to one another, years’ worth of secrets, pain, and brotherhood passing between them.
“There is one condition to my releasing you from the courtesans free and clear,” Benedict said with a little smile.
“What’s that?”
“You’ll have to finish training Stephen as a dominant. Otherwise, where will the ladies who want to be bound and flogged go? I don’t think Lucinda will stand for them turning up on your doorstep.”
He laughed, imagining Lucy’s reaction to such a thing. As possessive as he was of her, he could hardly stand the thought of another man looking at her, let alone touching her. He wanted no one else for as long as he lived, so being able to lay aside his obligations as a courtesan brought him no end of relief.
“Stephen is doing well in his instruction, and now that I won’t have a keeper to tend to, I’ll have the time to complete his training. You have my word; he’ll be ready to perform as a master soon.”
“Very well. Then I suppose I ought to go tell Lucy you’ve awakened and then go let Lizzy and Mrs. Baines know you’re all right.”
Feeling a little less lightheaded than before, Aubrey eased his legs over the side of the bed. “Tell me where Lucy is, and I’ll go to her myself.”
