Page 24 of A Bride for the Duke of Sin (Ton’s Wolves #3)

CHAPTER 24

I need a drink.

When Ethan stumbled into his study in need of a good, stiff drink—one strong enough to either knock some sense back into him or knock him unconscious—he had not been counting on Hudson to join him.

But now that his most elusive friend had decided to show up in his study, he was not going to turn the company away.

Hudson raised a dark eyebrow with some amusement when Ethan handed him a glass of his finest brandy. “It is rather unusual for you to be indulging in spirits at this hour,” he drawled. “I thought you have developed a preference for tea and crumpets around this time of day.”

In response, Ethan threw back his head and downed the rest of his glass before pouring himself another one.

“Are you trying to drink yourself to an early grave?” Hudson growled. “If you are, then I will not be party to your lunacy. It is much too early in the day for this.”

“Pray tell, is there actually an ideal time of the day for that sort of business?” Ethan grimaced, feeling the burn of alcohol in his throat and chest.

“None.”

“I was afraid you would say that.”

Hudson regarded him with a piercing stare—one that Miss Banbury likened to a demon looking into one’s soul.

“I was not expecting to find you in your townhouse at this time,” he said softly.

Ethan hung his head with a self-deprecating smile. Even he wanted to crawl back to Sinclair Estate, to Phoebe.

Even if he had to sit through tea and crumpets or hell itself, he would.

“I had to stay home,” he replied through gritted teeth. “Business.”

“Ah.”

Hudson gave him a knowing look.

For a man who kept mostly to himself in that musty estate of his, Hudson was surprisingly far more keen about such matters than even Ethan, who prided himself on his extensive knowledge of women.

Except none of that is working for you right now, is it?

“I have an agreement with my lady wife,” Ethan admitted grudgingly.

“Ah.”

“I am to spend one hour every day with her,” he continued. “In return, she will… consider making this marriage a real one.”

Hudson let out a snort that seemed oddly like a laugh.

Great. Now even the Duke of Wolves was laughing at him. Could he sink any deeper?

“You did not think to… simply convince her otherwise?” Hudson asked him, his eyes gleaming with amusement at his predicament.

“She was very firm in her beliefs. She wants a grand romance. Love ,” Ethan spat out. “And I am not about to force an unwilling woman to my bed.”

“Distasteful business, forcing women.” Hudson shook his head. “Or maybe you did not try enough?” He regarded him with a smirk. “I do not see why you would not. Your Duchess is a very pleasing woman to look at…”

“Say one more word about Phoebe, and I just might forget our years of friendship,” Ethan growled.

Hudson gave him a pitying look. “You want her,” he said softly. “You want her so badly that you can hardly keep your hands off of her, and instead of facing it, facing her , you hide away like a bloody coward in your townhouse and invite rumors and speculation upon both your heads.”

Ethan knew he had messed up when his friend did not even bother to take the edge off his scathing remarks.

It was also a testament to their long-standing friendship that Hudson did not stand up and leave him to wallow in his drivel. Ethan was only too aware that the man had no patience for empty talk.

Or conversations that went around in fruitless circles.

“Does your wife know that you do not intend to show up for tea this afternoon?” Hudson asked.

Ethan nodded and hung his head again. “I have already sent my apologies to Sinclair Estate.”

And I pray she will receive them and think of me kindly.

“Apologies?” his friend snorted. “What kind of apologies? Jewels? Gowns? A new phaeton like the one you gave that opera singer of yours?”

Ethan scoffed. “I never gave anyone a phaeton.”

Besides, he had long lost any desire for any woman who was not Phoebe. Any woman—even one showered with gifts—would find his lack of attention insulting.

“So gowns and jewels, then.” Hudson smirked. “I never thought you could be so unoriginal, old friend. And they call you the most charming of the Wolves.”

Ethan could only smile weakly at him.

The truth was that the gowns he had ordered from Madame Delacroix were only the beginning.

He had also commissioned entire sets of jewelry exclusively for Phoebe. Oh, he certainly intended to drape her in rubies and sapphires. Emeralds. Diamonds.

After all, what was his massive wealth for if not to lavish it on his Duchess?

There was also that matter of the printing press he had purchased. He had bought it at a considerably much higher price than it was worth, but now, it was earning quite significantly as interest in that scandalous book of hers spread like wildfire across the ton.

He planned to give that to her, too. Encourage her to write more of those scandalous books of hers.

His mother-in-law probably would not approve of her daughter’s hobbies, but he would support her wholeheartedly. Give her everything she wanted and needed.

Except for his heart.

“If you like your Duchess so much, why do you not simply open up to her like she wants?” Hudson asked him softly.

Ethan smiled bitterly. “We all know how that will end up.”

“No, we truly do not. Everyone used to think the worst of the late Duke of Blackthorn. Colin himself was afraid of becoming the man his father was.” Hudson smirked at that. “Now, I think that he is proud to be following in that man’s footsteps. In fact, I think he may just well surpass the man, seeing as how he hovers over that wife of his.”

Ethan chuckled at that. Indeed, Colin was truly becoming more like his father in more ways than one—in a good way.

But while the late Duke of Blackthorn had inherently been a good man, if misunderstood, the late Duke of Sinclair was truly a despicable one.

Ethan would rather throw himself off a cliff than become the sort of husband his father had been.

Unfortunately, the more he lingered around Phoebe, the more he was drawn to her. Attached to her.

Sometimes, it was impossible to see through the haze of desire that would seize him whenever he was in her presence, and that had never happened to him before.

Not even in his wildest, most erotic encounters.

“Things are different, Hudson,” he finally managed to speak. “My father was a monster who terrorized his wife and his son. He considered us his possessions, mere extensions of himself. I do not want that for Phoebe.”

“Then do not be like that for her,” his friend told him firmly. “Do better. Be better than he was. You can be more than your father ever was.”

Phoebe had said the same thing, and what scared Ethan the most was that she might actually believe it—that he could be a better man.

“That bastard’s blood runs through my veins,” he groaned. “I wish to heaven more than ever that that was not the case, but that is the damned truth. I am becoming my father in more ways than one.”

Even now, in his townhouse, there was nothing he wanted more than to possess her entirely, to drag her body to his and thrust into her so hard until they did not know where one began and the other ended.

No, he was exactly like his father, using his family for his own ends, and if he was not careful, then Phoebe was going to end up exactly like his mother.

Miserable and dead.

Ethan sucked in a sharp breath. His mother, who had lost all her will to live, sapped dry by her husband. She could not even find it in herself to survive for the son she would leave behind with her monster of a husband.

Better for her to live hating me . At least then, she would still be alive.

As long as Phoebe was alive, he could be content with the knowledge that he had not destroyed her the way his father had destroyed his mother.

Hudson looked at him, his finger idly tracing the rim of his glass as he let out a soft snort. “You want her to accept you, but not all of you,” he scoffed. “Maybe one of these days, you can see past the lies you are trying to sell yourself.”

He stood up and straightened his jacket, glowering at Ethan. “Just hope that your Duchess will still forgive you for your stubbornness when you do finally come around and see sense, old friend .” When Ethan stood up, he held his hand out in front of him. “No need to see me out the door,” he said coldly. “I can walk there myself.”

“All right, then. Old friend .”

Hudson flashed him a cold smile. A Wolf baring his teeth.

The door closed behind him, and he left as quietly as he arrived. Moments later, Ethan could hear the clatter of hooves moving away from his townhouse.

He had wanted a stiff drink, and the heavens decided to mock him by sending Hudson.

Stiff drinks and even stiffer friends.

Ethan laughed to himself humorlessly. For a man who avoided contact with most other members of Society, Hudson seemed to have a lot of words to say to him about his marriage.

Would he have just as many things to say about his own marriage when the time comes?

Ethan somehow doubted that his cold and aloof friend could ever consider that path.

Or what kind of woman would?

Then again, he had not seen himself getting married a few months ago.

All it had taken was for one impertinent young lady to decide in a split second that she would rather risk her reputation to save his sorry behind.

And in return, he had dragged her into a marriage that she did not want but was still trying to make the best of.

Ethan’s face darkened as his estimation of himself sank to a new low.