Page 24 of Enemies with an Earl
The man had brought so much attention on himself with that trial—even if the man did win in the end—that he’d fled to Paris with his male ‘servant’ where the two remained, cut out of wills and settlements, but happy. And free. But if Leicester had just let it be swept under the rug? He would’ve never had to flee in the first place, even with the accusations. It would have been juicy gossip, promptly buried by the next wave of scandal.
Granted, Felix’s situation was much different. Leicester was notorious and not discreet in the least. It wasn’t as though Felix was parading around in pink dresses and demanding people call him Miss Bentley like Leicester had. There was no damning evidence, just Thorne’s word against his. But the last thing Felix needed was a newspaper getting wind of the accusations. Christ, the gossips would have a gluttonous feast.
So, Felix hadn’t said anything to the Duke. Instead, he’d taken matters of retribution into his own hands. The man thought to challenge Felix? To make Felix feel small and vulnerable? Felix ensured Thorne understood just who had been at whose command last night.
Even if, deep down, all Felix wanted was to truly be at Thorne’s command.
And after that look…
God, it made no sense. The man had seemed moments from murdering Felix with his bare hands. The accusations, the animosity, had hung heavy around them, swirling, dangerous, like firedamp in a mine, just waiting for a spark. And all of a sudden, it’d changed. From hostility to heat. Desire.
It couldn’t be.
Yet, here Felix was. Not creating a safe distance between himself and the damning claims the man had made. No, instead Felix had spent the night instigating the man. And all morning avoiding him.What the fuck are you doing, Felix?He honestly had no idea.
A muffled, deep baritone reached Felix’s ears, one that sounded all too familiar. He slowed to a stop in front of a closed door. The voice drifted through the door, the voice that definitely belonged to Thorne. Felix glanced up and down the empty hall. Most guests were gone for the day. The Earl of Bentley most definitelydid noteavesdrop…
He pressed his ear to the door.
“I want to apologize for yesterday, Robbie. When I entered that room…I assumed the worst.”
Robbie’s muffled reassurance followed. Then a long pause. Felix was just about to pull away when Thorne spoke again.
“I’m really happy for you two, Robbie.” A teasing lilt entered Thorne’s tone. “‘Spose I’m going to be the only one of our kind left here then. Who am I going to brag about my conquests to…”
Felix took a step back, blinking dumbly at the door as the rest of Thorne’s response faded into the background. He hurried for the billiard’s room, the words echoing in his mind.The only one of our kind…Felix slipped into the room and murmured a distracted greeting to Lord Kozington and his brothers. So much was baked into that one sentence. That admission, paired with the look Thorne had given him yesterday…
Felix reached for a cue stick. The meaning was clear, wasn’t it? Thorne liked men.Likedmen.
“I tupped Felicity last night.”
Felix nearly dropped his cue stick as he spun around, his jaw practically on the floor. He jabbed it in the direction of the culprit—Xavier, one of Kozington’s younger brothers. “You.What?”he growled, valiantly resisting the urge to crack his cue stick over Zavi’s dirty-blond head.
Zavi and his twin brother, Timothy, promptly doubled over laughing.
A hand clapped down on Felix’s shoulder. “Apologies, Bentley,” Kozington said. “Ignore them. Zavi didnotbed your sister.”
“But”—Zavi gasped—“Your. Face.” He devolved into more laughter.
“Aren’t you both three-and-twenty?” Felix asked pointedly, shaking his head at the twins. Zavi and Tim were… Well, they were never going to grow up. Clearly. Which was precisely why Felix didn’t want Felicity plotting with them against her fiancé.
“Your point?” Tim asked. “At least we have your attention now.”
Felix’s lips twitched now that his initial wave of blind rage had subsided. This. This is what he needed. Granted, he could have done without the jest about his sister. But these men were so lighthearted and jovial. It was refreshing compared to Felix’s typical day-to-day. He didn’t often allow the formidable Bentley facade to fall away. But with his family and with the Kozington brothers…he could.
Felix caught Kozington’s dancing hazel gaze. “How do you put up with these two?”
“I’d take them over Felicity any day.”
Felix groaned. “Touche.” Felix wouldn’t, of course. He’d always take Felicity and Fitz. But he couldn’t deny Felicity made him much more nervous than Zavi or Tim ever could. “Is there anything more terrifying than an unmarried sister?”
Koz sniggered and took his position before his cue ball. “Fortunately, not something I will ever have to worry over.” He glanced at the twins. “One of you shut the door. I don’t want to be responsible for the next thing that comes out of your mouth. Nor if Bentley murders either of you. That and Bentley mentioned aHarboragediscussion is needed.”
Kozington was the first person Felix had broached the idea ofThe Harborageto back when the idea had first come to him. Felix knew it was a cause his friend would be passionate about, given what Felix had discovered when they were both sixteen. Kozington hadn’t always been the bright-eyed, jovial man he was now. No, that hadn’t occurred until after he’d spent a brief period of time living with the Jennings, and Felix’s father’d had adiscussionwith Kozington’s father. Felix’s stomach rolled over, a sharp wave of nausea hitting him at the memory of what Koz’s father had put him through after Koz had been found with a groom.
The sharp snap of the door shutting brought Felix back to present, and he met Kozington’s expectant hazel gaze.
“So, you mentioned we have a new caseat breakfast. I take it the footman finally came to you, then?” Kozington asked, lifting a pair of dirty-blond eyebrows a shade darker than his neatly styled dirty-blond hair.
