Page 83 of If the Slipper Fits
He shook his head. “The previous year, I scrimped and saved my quarterly allowance, sometimes going without food. I ventured into the hells, father’s stomping grounds. I watched. I learned. I played. I won. I doubled down. Then tripled. I couldn’t lose. Neither Zeke nor the earl had a clue.”
Anna stayed silent, riveted by Caden’s tale.
“I was more than lucky, I had—have—a knack for reading people at the tables. I know when to fold, I know when to ante up. I know when to walk away. I don’tneedthe game…I’m good at it, if that makes sense? Even now, especially now—since then—I only dabble for fun.”
“Since then. What happened?”
“A school mate of mine came to me, in financial straights. He’d heard of my skills and asked for my help. Said he knew of a tourney. Very secret, very high stakes. He convinced me to combine our fundsto raise the sum necessary to enter. Every penny we had went into the pot.”
“And you lost.”
Caden scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Not only did I lose, but it turned out my friend’s contribution came from borrowed funds. His creditors beat him to within an inch of his life when they learned he couldn’t pay. They threatened to kill him if he didn’t come up with the scratch. The money he needed was….exorbitant. I could have killed him myself when I realized what he’d done—and that I would have to go to Zeke.”
“Your brother bailed you out?”
Caden laughed without mirth. “He did. And discovered, in the process, the game was rigged. He got most of my money back. But by then, his suspicions were aroused. He set up a meeting with me, the dean, and the minister of finance. Needless to say, everything came out. That there was no benefactor, that I had been gambling to cover my tuition, my expenses, that I was the biggest disappointment of his life since father.”
“Caden, that’s not fair. However misguided, he had to know you were trying to help—both him and your friend.”
“I nearly got my friend killed.”
“Your friendnearly gothimselfkilled. Correct me if my suspicions prove incorrect, but you had paid all your bills. Your share came from what was left.”
“That’s not the point.” He glared at her, clearly irritated over her refusal to see him as a debauched, irresponsible, lout.
She threw her hands in the air. “So whatisthe point? That you made a mistake when you were young enough to not know any better?”
“The point is, Zeke had a strong basis for the recent assumptions he made, and his observations were spot on.”
“Oh, now I see. Your perfect, paragon of a brother catalogued your sins and, now you’ve had a moment to stew on it, you’ve bought his judgement hook, line, and sinker.” She paused. “We are referring to the man who left the country for long stretches, pursuing his own dreams over a period of years, thereby leaving you and the earl to fend for yourselves in his absence?”
Caden’s tawny brows furrowed. “Someone’s been keeping up with the happenings in my family.”
She lifted her chin. “It’s common knowledge.”
He gazed at her sidelong. “I see. In any case, Zeke traveled because he had a responsibility to replenish the family coffers which our father had depleted.”
“Which your father depleted, which you grandfather permitted. Lots and lots of mistakes to go around, Caden—as in every family. Maybe your brother did sacrifice himself. So did you—scrimping and saving and doing everything in your powernotto ask him for anything. Except for when you tried to help a friend.”
His scowl deepened. He opened his mouth to reply.
She held up a hand, palm out. “I wonder. Did your brother never consider that something might happen to the earl during his long absences?”
“Of course. He knew I would look after our grandfather should the need arise.”
She sniffed meaningfully.
“When I wasn’t away at some party or other,” he added in a sullen tone.
A fond smile pulled at the corners of her lips. She crept forward and grasped the lapels of his robe, needing to be near him, the stubborn fool.
“Caden, it seems to me you’re guilty of nothing more than growing up slowly, perhaps due to a lack of supervision. Your heart has always been in the right place, and immaturity is not a crime. It’s a far cry from the sins perpetrated by your poor, weak, father, who, by the way, you are nothing alike.”
He stared into her eyes, then covered her hands with his. Heat from his palms seared her skin. “I don’t know why you’re defending me. Especially after the things I said to you. The assumptions I made. The liberties I took.”
She lowered her gaze, her heart thudding painfully in her chest.
“Anna, what happened between us was entirely my fault. I saw the signs, I should have known you were an innocent—”
