Page 34 of Ironvine

“I’m sure she did. That’s been over for two years now. Why, Hugh? Why her? And for fuck’s sake, why last night?”

“When we were young lads she was always the prettiest girl. Always flirtatious in that difficult way I enjoy. But she liked Brandon then. When I first got to London, her husband and I rekindled our friendship, and Amanda and I caught each other’s scent.”

“Tell me it was only this one time.”

Hugh didn’t answer.

“How long has this been going on?”

“A fortnight, maybe more?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“She begged me not to. Said you’d be put off.”

He scoffed. “William was with us at the club last night, was he not?”

“Yes, he was. I’d invited him along.”

“As you have many times. Of course.”

“Once everyone got settled, I left to be with her.”

“Obviously you stayed with her too long because William saw you leaving his own house.”

“That was her fault. She got upset when I told her that this was the last time, that I was to marry. She wanted to know who my bride is.”

“Did you tell her?”

“No, of course not. She begged me not to leave her, not to marry. Even sucked my cock to impress upon me her deep adoration—which wasn’t half bad. I left right after.”

Charles let out a sharp laugh. “Yes, right after…”

“Oh stop it.”

“If this news gets out, if Georgina and her family hear about this, they will have every right to break the engagement. They should because it will be—”

“They will not find out, and that engagement cannot be broken! I am marrying that girl, and no one will stand in my way. I have no more time.”

“You should have thought of that last night.” Charles rubbed at his eyes. “This indulgence of yours may make marrying Miss Georgina impossible. William has borne much with his wife and has done much in the past to blot out her offenses, and her offenses have been many—debts, lovers. And these past weeks, you were his friend, his friend of old whom he trusted, which must make this wound deep and sharp.”

“You were his friend when you rutted his wife, were you not?”

“Yes, I was, and after, he swallowed it down because he was forced to by circumstances.”

“I suppose getting cuckolded by two Montclares may be too much for any man.”

“This is no time to joke, Hugh. He always loved her terribly, and he was always faithful to her.”

“He certainly hasn’t been this season.”

“My point exactly. Things have changed between them, but she is still his precious wife. And now to see you leave his house…her very bed in his house.” He let out a heavy breath. “Her note sounds quite desperate.”

“It’s a ploy, I’m sure of it. She’s desperate to hang onto me. We have no business at that house. Does she expect me to intervene between them? To take her away? Ridiculous. What a man does with his own wife is his business.”

And you bear no responsibility, do you?Charles rubbed a hand across his aching temple. “I, for one, await the worst.”

ChapterFourteen

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