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Rhysand almost choked on his whisky while Aaron instantly stiffened, not knowing how to take such a direct question.

“Xander, you can be a bit of a bastard at times. You must forgive him, Harper. He means well, but he never knows when to take his foot out of his mouth.”

“Bloody bastard!” Henry screeched from the adjacent room, making the situation even more awkward as all three men sat in silence.

Shutting his eyes and shaking his head, Aaron sighed. “I must apologize gentlemen; my wife’s parrot has a struggle with social etiquette.”

“So, you should understand Larsen then.” Rhysand raised his eyebrows.

Xander merely smirked and continued to sip his whisky.

Settling down a little more, Aaron realized that it was better to get the question out of the way. “I got the scars in battle saving my brother’s life,” he simply stated the facts before taking another sip of his whisky.

A moment of understanding seemed to pass between the men as Xander sobered up considerably. “My apologies, Harper. An act of valor such as yours should never be made fun of or taken for granted.” He seemed genuinely sincere in his apology.

“You are a far greater man than most scum of the ton.” Rhysand raised his glass in salute before chugging the final drops.

A strange feeling of camaraderie that Aaron had not experienced in years, suddenly enveloped his chest. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at him with respect. Perhaps Marina had not been too far off in thinking that making him rejoin society would be a good thing.

Marina’s heart raced a little when she finally went to see where Aaron had gotten to after their guest’s departure. Everything seemed to have gone well, or at least that is what she had seen when she came down to find all three deep in conversation about boxing and war.

“Aaron?” She poked her head around the door of the study and smiled nervously at him.

Looking up from his papers, he met her gaze, making her heart flutter as she entered the room and shut the door behind her.

“You disappeared so quickly after we saw them off, I was worried that something had upset you.” She gently broached the subject.

“I apologize for nor waiting. The Duke of Huxton mentioned something about a business venture, and I wanted to check something in my ledgers.” His face seemed relaxed, making her breathe a sigh of relief.

“I take it that things went well?” She walked up to the desk and allowed her eyes to wander over the papers.

Nodding, Aaron allowed the papers he had been holding to flutter to the desk as he examined her face. “I do not think that I would mind seeing them again. It is strange; neither of them seemed to view me as a monster once they knew what had happened.”

Her heart suddenly felt light as her lisp broke into a smile. “I am glad you had a good time.”

Tilting his head to the side, Aaron continued to search her face, making her slightly nervous as she fidgeted with her dress.

“What is it, Marina? You can ask me anything.”

“Do you really mean that?”

“Unless it is a favor that has to do with taking in more animals or me having to quit eating meat for life, then yes.”

“Well… I just… Were you in love with the woman you were engaged with?” Marina just blurted the words, hoping that he would not get defensive or closed up again.

He took a moment to gather his thoughts, running his tongue over his lips. “I can’t say that I was in love with her. I was certainly taken with her. I know now that it was a youthful error in judgement. But now that I am older, I can see that she never would have made a good wife. Anyone who runs away at the first sign of trouble should never be considered as a good partner. I guess what I am trying to say, is that I never loved or… desired her.”

Does this mean…? No, I cannot possibly let my hopes up.

Still, she was relieved to learn that he had never loved the woman he had almost married in the past. But could he ever love her?

The thought made her pulse race as he stood and closed the distance between them, bringing his face closer to hers as he reached for a loose strand of her hair.

“Aaron?” Her eyes searched his face, making the pit of her stomach knot deliciously with desire when he pressed his body closer to hers.

“You know, there was a moment his afternoon when I really wanted the guests to leave…”

She cocked her head to the side in confusion when the corner of his mouth titled into a smile.