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“Now you’re getting it.”
He barked out a laugh, but then his face sobered. “I know you’ve seen the remnants of the horrors that come at the hands of men.” His attention trailed over her shelves of herbs and tinctures. “But there are some who are genuinely kind.”
“That is quite the amount of trust I’d have to have in another person.” She lifted a finger. “He’d have to allow me to continue on as steward.” She lifted another. “He’d have to allow me to keep all my earnings as my own.” She lifted another. “He’d have to respect my body and understand he does not get access whenever he may please.” She lifted a fourth finger. “He’d have to be all right with all of this.” She waved a hand at her shelves, arching a brow.
Leo winced. She knew he was fully aware of how rare that would be, and what the consequences could be if the wrong person were to find out.
She lifted her last finger and wiggled all five. “And lastly, he’d have to never change his mind about granting me those allowances. My fate would forever be in his hands. He could take everything I hold dear away from me”—she snapped—“just like that.”
And that was if she was starting off with a man of good character. No one could truly know if another person was good or evil, could they? Some wore their evil like a badge, but others drew you in with false smiles and false sentiments only to reveal the snake beneath once it was too late to escape.
“You are the only man I’d ever trust with that,” she said, then let out a dramatic sigh. “But alas. It was never your large heart I was after.”
“Miss Theodora Dawson.” Leo gasped, then a devilish grin spread across his face. “Are you saying you were only ever interested in me for my…other large parts?”
She snorted as they made their way back over to Bash and Sarah. “I will neither confirm nor deny.”
“You don’t need to. We both know the truth.” He shot her a wink. “And you know they’re at your disposal whenever you're available again.”
“What a gracious man you are, Leopold Turner.”
“I aim to please.”
Sarah and Leo said their farewells, but after Theo shut the door, Bash didn’t make any attempt at getting ready to leave.
“Soooo…” he said.
Theo sighed. She already knew she wasn’t going to like wherever this was going to go.
“Leo looked interested tonight. But, hmm…” He tapped his lips. “He just left…”
She shot Bash a look. “What is your point?”
“I believe I heard you say you’re not available. You’re otherwise occupied.”
Theo glared at Bash. “Eavesdropping, Bash? Truly? You are a master at the annoying little brother charade.”
He grinned. “Are you otherwise occupied with a certain cantankerous Duke?”
Theo pointed toward the door. “Go home, Bash.”
“You signed the contract,” Bash sang.
Theo picked up his boots and grabbed his greatcoat, then walked over to Bash and thrust them at him. “Isn’t it past your bedtime?”
Bash just threw her his charming, boyish grin as he slipped on his boots. “You know. If you married the Duke, we’d actually be brother and sister.”
Her eyes stretched wide. “I beg your finest bloody pardon? How in heaven’s name did we go from a casual shag to marriage?”
“So you are shagging him!”
Theo dropped her head in her hands and groaned. “You are impossible.”
When she looked up, Bash was shrugging into his greatcoat. He walked up to her and clapped a hand on her shoulder. It was a very gentlemanly thing to do. And Theo appreciated that, appreciated that Bash didn’t treat her as less than because she was a woman.
“The fanciful boy in me won’t be able to let that dream go. I know it’s beyond silly and as likely to happen as me finding a woman I’m interested in. But…” He lifted a shoulder. “You’re family. It’d be amazing to make it true in every sense of the word. So, call me daft all you want. I’m going to pretend my half-brother is some secret kind-hearted, tender, loving man behind all those scowls, and you’re going to fall madly in love with him and become my sister.”
Theo patted him on the chest. “So very daft. But at least you’re pretty.”
