Page 116 of A Troublesome Circumstance

A server passed by, placing another drink in front of Jude. Without hesitation, Luca plucked it away before Jude could reach for it.

“I daresay you’ve had enough,” Luca said firmly.

Jude didn’t bother arguing. His brother was right. But the only thing he wanted was to drink until the entire day dissolved into nothing.

Luca leaned in, lowering his voice. “I remember being where you are now. I thought I was too late. Thought I’d ruined my chance with Charlotte for good.”

Jude lifted his gaze, weary. “What happened?”

“Fate intervened,” Luca said with a faint, reminiscent smile. “But that didn’t mean I stopped fighting. If anything, I fought harder.”

Jude scoffed. “Josie wants to leave London to avoid the scandal.”

“That is… not the worst idea.”

“Perhaps,” Jude conceded, his voice rough. “But I cannot imagine not seeing her every day. Her smile buoys me up when everything else feels as if it’s falling apart.”

Luca rose and clapped a hand onto Jude’s shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get you home and maybe into a bath before you start smelling like the bottom of a brandy barrel.”

Jude pushed to his feet, swaying only slightly. “This is what I get,” he muttered, “for falling in love.”

They made it only a few steps before a voice sliced through the din of White’s.

“Pendryn.”

The single word hit Jude like a spark to powder.

His blood ignited.

He turned sharply, every muscle tightening. Mr. Broderick lounged at a table near the entrance, a smug smile lifting one corner of his mouth as he swirled the drink in his hand.

Jude didn’t remember deciding to move, but he took a step forward, ready to smash that smugness right off his face.

Luca immediately stepped in front of him, planting a firm hand on his chest. “He is not worth it,” his brother warned under his breath.

Mr. Broderick rose leisurely, brushing imaginary lint from his sleeve. “Listen to your brother, my lord,” he mocked.

Jude’s vision tunneled. His pulse roared. “I should challenge you to a duel,” he growled.

Broderick didn’t so much as flinch. “Name the time and place.”

“Tomorrow morning,” Jude snapped. “Dawn. St. James’s Park.”

Luca interrupted. “No! There will be no duel.” Then, even lower, only for Jude’s ears, “Are you completely mad?”

“I want to shoot him,” Jude said, his gaze locked on Broderick.

The man had the audacity to chuckle. “The feeling is quite mutual.”

Luca gestured sharply towards the door. “It is time to leave, Jude. Now.”

Jude stiffened. His brother wasn’t wrong, but he had one more thing he wanted to say. He leveled Broderick with a cold, unblinking stare. “Go back to whatever miserable hovel you crawled out of. And leave me—and Lady Josephine—alone.”

Broderick clicked his tongue, amusement flickering in his eyes. “She will be my wife. Make no mistake about that.”

The words struck Jude like a blow. Something sharp and violent surged through him. “Not as long as I am alive.”

Broderick’s lips twitched into a taunting almost-smile, but he said nothing. Coward. He didn’t even have the nerve to repeat his claim.