Valentin’s face tightened and his hand shot out. Anthony found himself flattened against the wall, Val’s fingers at his throat. Every bruise on his body screamed a protest.
“Peter didn’t tell me anything. And my relationship with him is my own business. This discussion is about you.”
“I am perfectly capable of doing this job.”
Val didn’t release his punishing grip. “Really? Well you have the rest of this month to prove that to me and Peter before we ask you to leave.”
He stepped back and rearranged the sleeve of his navy coat. “I have no wish to tell you how to live your life, but I cannot allow you to ruin my business.”
Anthony cleared his throat. “Nice to see you have your priorities in order, Valentin. Business first, family second. You sound just like our father.”
Valentin’s mouth quirked up in the corner. “For our father, family is business.” He let out his breath. “I have no right to tell you what to do. I can only offer you the benefit of my own experience.”
Anthony stepped away from the wall and resumed his position at his desk. His fingers shook so badly he didn’t dare pick up the pen knife in case he cut himself. He risked a smile at his brother.
“Please don’t, Val. I’ve already had Madame Helene to deal with this morning, and no doubt I’ll be hearing from Peter soon. I’m quite capable of resolving my own mistakes; in fact, I’d already decided to do so.”
Valentin barked a laugh and turned to the door. “That’s what I told myself, and look what a disaster that turned out to be.”
“You have Sara, and a firstborn son. Doesn’t that make you a lucky man?”
Val turned slowly around to stare at Anthony, his fine features for once softer and unguarded. “Yes it does, but I wasted many years denying my true self and what had been done to me.”
“Then if you are at peace with your past, why can’t you believe I will achieve that too?”
Anthony tensed at Valentin’s suddenly shuttered expression.
“I hope you do, brother. I truly hope you do. But allowing a man like Lord Minshom to own you, body and soul, scarcely seems the right way to achieve your aim.”
“He does not own me.”
Valentin’s eyebrows rose. “Perhaps you should tell him that. He sounded remarkably proprietorial.”
Anthony set his jaw and held his brother’s gaze. “Damn you, he does not own me.”
Val bowed and headed for the door. “Then I wish you luck with your new path and hope you do not get led astray again.”
“Thanks, Val. You have nothing to worry about, truly. I’ll be a reformed man.”
His brother’s laugh echoed down the hall as he shut the door. Anthony barely restrained himself from running after him and planting him a facer. How dare his brother have so little faith in his ability to change? How dare he laugh?
Anthony took a deep breath and let it out. He’d prove everyone wrong. He’d become a model citizen, a business man of renown and a noted ladies’ man—as soon as he’d found out what the Delornay twins wanted with him at dinner tonight. A thread of excitement wormed its way through his gloom.
2
Even at this early hour, the public rooms at the pleasure house were busy. At least forty people were gathered in the large salon, chattering and laughing, anticipating the delights Madame Helene had surely arranged for them. Anthony wondered how many of them frequented the top floor, the place where pain and pleasure blended and all pretenses were stripped away.
With a sense of wary anticipation, he spotted Christian at the buffet table and moved toward him.
“Good evening, Mr. Delornay.”
“Good evening, my lord.” Christian bowed and stepped back. “May I introduce my sister, Lisette?”
Anthony took the proffered hand and kissed it. Lisette Delornay was almost as tall as her brother, her fair hair not quite as blond, her eyes hazel. If the rumors were true, and Anthony had excellent sources, she looked more like her father, Lord Philip Knowles, than her twin did.
Despite her age, her smile was as sensual as her mother’s, and Anthony couldn’t help smiling back.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, my lord.” Lisette gestured at the buffet. “If it pleases you, we will withdraw to our suite and eat privately.”
He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and patted it. “I’m happy to oblige, Miss Delornay. Please lead the way.”
With Christian following along behind, Anthony soon found himself lost in the labyrinth of the big house as Lisette took him through to the more private areas.
“Here we are, my lord.”
Anthony stepped through a doorway into a lavish suite of rooms decorated in pale silver and cream. A table stood in front of the fire laid for three, and an elderly woman rose from the couch to curtsey.
“Good evening, my lord. I’m Mrs. Smith-Porterhouse, Lisette’s chaperone; I’ll be in my room if anyone needs me.”
Not an assignation then if Lisette’s chaperone was nearby. Anthony wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed. Despite their age, the sexual antics of the Delornay twins were already legendary. Had he hoped to find an escape from Lord Minshom with them? He doubted they’d be able to stand up to the force of his lover’s acerbic personality, but they were Helene’s children after all.
“Lord Anthony?”
He bowed, aware that he’d been staring at Mrs. Smith-Porterhouse for far too long.
“My apologies, ma’am, I was woolgathering. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you too, sir.” Mrs. Smith-Porterhouse nodded at Lisette. “I’ll be back in a while to check on you, my dear.”
Lisette looked resigned but not surprised. Anthony reckoned she still had a remarkable amount of freedom for an unmarried woman, but she wasn’t exactly a young lady of the ton. As far as he understood it, her social position was far more ambiguous.
“Please, sit.” Lisette headed for the table and Anthony moved to hold a chair out for her. “Thank you.”
He waited until Christian sat too and then took his place between them. To his surprise, he was actually hungry, so he settled down to enjoy his dinner before entertaining any thoughts about what the twins wanted from him and what he was going to do about it. The Delornays were surprisingly cultured and amusing compared to his younger siblings, and he found himself enjoying their wicked gossip and banter.
By the time the remnants of the second course were removed and he nursed a large glass of brandy in his hands, he was feeling quite benign toward them. He waited until the last servant withdrew and fixed his gaze on Christian.
“Thank you for an excellent dinner. Now what exactly did you want to discuss with me?”
Christian exchanged a quick glance with Lisette. “We wish you to give us your word that anything we talk about goes no further, regardless of the outcome.”
Anthony raised his eyebrows. “I’m not known as a tattletale. Of course, I’ll keep your secrets.”
“Good, then we wish you to help our sister, Marguerite.”
Anthony put his glass down. “Your sister? I didn’t even know you had a sister.”
Lisette smiled. “She doesn’t live with us and, in truth, she is only our half sister. She had a different father.”