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“The same ones Seraphina is asked regarding me,” he explained. “Many husbands send their wives as spies to these sorts of things to report any information that may be useful. About our business practices; our success. It is nothing to worry about.”

“Our work is perfectly legal,” Dominic bit out.

“Which is why it is nothing to worry about, Dominic,” Hugo replied calmly, giving him a warning look.

Dominic grit his teeth but he made a conscious effort to damper his rising temper. He knew his friend was only trying to help, and it wasn’t his fault that Dominic was as on edge as a carving knife thrust into a butcher block.

“Have you heard anything from her father?” Hugo asked. “Any more problems?”

Dominic shook his head. He wasn’t too keen on the trades he had to sign over to the bastard, nor the rather large chunk of outright money he’d given to him; but it had finally bought the man’s silence and thus far, Felton was leaving Dominic and the young ladies alone. He knew that because of the daily reports he required from the guards he’d assigned to his house.

“The father is taken care of. The rumors are dying down,” Hugo murmured, crossing his arms on the table top, “Looks like you’ll be done in London soon if you want to be, old boy.”

“I do,” Dominic grunted, peering over at the boxing match unfolding between Tristan and Everett.

He really did, but even if his work had been accomplished, he was hesitant to leave his friends. Tristan was fraying at the seams and something he couldn’t quite figure out was going on with Everett. Even his little spies had heard nothing.

“Seraphina and I have decided to go back home and collect the children and Leah. We plan to stay in London through the fall,” Hugo informed him.

Dominic raised a brow, wondering why his friend was mentioning this.

“You’ve played big brother to our friends for quite some time, old man,” Hugo went on, “Why don’t you let me take over for a while? I can also manage your businesses. I’m a partner in most of them anyway. You should some time off, acclimate to your new life as a husband and brother-in-law slash father figure. It would do you some good.”

Dominic cast his gaze to the tale, not responding.

“You know that I know, right?” Hugo quietly stated after several tense moments.

Dominic’s brow tensed as his mental barricades rose up.

“Be specific,” he commanded.

“I know how you and Amelia truly came to be married. Not the fairy tale story you’re peddling to theton.The raw, ugly truth. It’s part of the reason why I was so willing to help with the custody situation. Though I would have preferred it if we would have had Lord Hollowcroft suffer an unfortunate,moroseaccident.”

Dominic smirked. The thought had certainly crossed his mind. Several hundred times in fact. But his brief bout of humor quickly vanished.

“How did you find out?” He asked quietly.

“Amelia told Seraphina. Seraphina told me. It will not leave us. Not even Leah will know,” Hugo answered in the same quiet tone. “You will have nothing to fear from us, old boy.”

Dominic took a deep breath in through his nostrils, but he wasn’t quite able to let it out.

“Listen I know that the circumstances might not have been…ideal.Certainly not planned. But there is something between you and Amelia. The entire reason you can play so well to the public is because there is a genuine connection between you two,” Hugo said.

“Go back to her. Figure out what that is. We all know why you’re being so awful. It’s because you miss her.”

Dominic slowly let his held breath out through his mouth. Feelings was not something he was necessarily good at. Since he’d had to take on so much responsibility at such a young age and watched other men be weakened by them; he’d told himself he wouldn’t give way to such proclivities.

But Amelia had stirred something awake in him. From the very first night at the auction, when she’d fought him so fiercely before he revealed who he was. Her strength and bravery despite her fear had done much more than impress him. It was the reason why he’d left so abruptly after their wedding.

He’d needed a wife soon anyway and it didn’t bother him much to get married. He knew it was a duty he was expected to fill. But before Amelia he never pictured himself actually growing attached to his wife.

Amelia, though…she was different from any woman he’d ever met. She was a delicate balance between fearful and fearless.

“Go home, Dominic,” Hugo commanded. “Stop torturing yourself. You know you want to see her.”

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

“Your Grace!” Miss Chiron’s startled whisper broke through the silence of Amelia’s darkened sitting room. He’d awoken her when he’d opened the door from her slumber on the couch, but Miss Gerhardt was still sleeping soundly on the one opposite of her