Knox’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know that.”
What was this? Dare scowled. “That’s because it has nothing to do with you.”
Drake cocked his head. “Didyouknow?”
Dare tugged at his sleeves. “Why would I?”
“Yes,” Knox said. “It’s none of our business.”
Dare stared at Drake with a nasty look. Why did he get a feeling that the peaceful day he’d been having was about to come to an abrupt end? Could he go back to heaven instead? Back to the other bed he hadn’t wanted to leave this morning?
What a first.So, that was how it felt like to wake up with a woman in his arms, limbs entangled.
He could get addicted.
Could.
But wouldn’t.
“We can use the daughter.” Drake stared at him.
No. “We?” Dare snorted. “You are on your own,mate.”
Drake’s lips curled knowingly. “Why can’t we? She is the perfect leverage. We just need to acquire her name.”
Dare scowled. “There’s nowe.” He would be damned if he allowed—let alone helped—Leonora become cannon fodder between Drake and the duchess. “Don’t cross lines you cannot return from, Drake. Destroying a family so that you can get what you want is not the way to solve this.”
“My family was destroyed.”
“Your mother made a choice back then, Drake, and you shouldn’t be taking your hatred ofhimout on innocent women.”
Drake arched a brow. “Innocent, you say? What about your little bird? Is she innocent?”
Bloody everlasting hell. What the devil was wrong with his cousin? The man was looking for a damn beating. But he refused to rise to the bait. If Drake knew the entirety of the duchess’s secret, he could have leveraged it all on his own. But then, Drake also didn’t like to dirty his hands except when boxing. And his deuced cousin of his never moved in haste. Everything he did was calculated. Dare began to wonder if he himself had been no more than a chess piece from the very start. Family. A man didn’t require enemies while he had family.
He sent Drake a warning look.
“She isn’t my lady love or alittle bird.”
Both men chuckled.
Saints, these friends. “Tell me now, you are my enemies, aren’t you?”
“I suppose you are correct,” Knox said dryly. “Lady Leonora is most certainly not a little bird oryourlady love.”
Dare went on alert. The emphasis... “Why do you say that? Do you know something I do not?”
Knox shrugged. “Ran into Heart at White’s earlier. Heard he invited Calstone to the theatre.”
Dare’s brows furrowed. “So?”
Knox picked at his sleeve, responding nonchalantly, “I believe he told Leeds that he is favoring a match between his sister and the duke.”
And there it was. The rest of what was left of his good mood plummeted to the floor.
Calstone and Leonora?
He couldn’t deny it—they made an elegant pair. One could even say they were both a bit odd in their own ways. Both sparkled in their own ways. Both carried an allure entirely their own. And the duke’s title was one that could protect her from any storm. She’d want for nothing. As a duchess, no one would be able to ridicule her or shun her.
