Page 15

Felix

Felix made his way down the cavernous stone hall in the direction of the Devonford billiard’s room.

Most of the guests had departed for a trip to the village since it was a rare rainless day, Mother and Felicity included.

With most guests absent, it allowed for the perfect opportunity to discuss particulars with Kozington about the new Harborage case.

Keeping company with the Kozington brothers was exactly the kind of distraction Felix needed.

He rolled his shoulders, trying to ease some of the tension bunching his muscles.

After his and Thorne’s altercation—after Thorne’s accusation —Felix had been on edge.

He’d almost, almost, gathered up his family and left.

He knew most men would go directly to the servant’s master, demanding retribution.

But the last thing Felix wanted to do was arouse any suspicions.

Felix remembered, just shy of a decade ago, when The Morning Harold published the rumor that Lord Leicester had separated from his wife because he was a sodomite. The man had gone after the paper, suing for libel, and a very public trial had followed.

The man had brought so much attention on himself with that trial—even if the man did win in the end—that he’d fled to Paris with his male ‘servant’ where the two remained, cut out of wills and settlements, but happy.

And free. But if Leicester had just let it be swept under the rug?

He would’ve never had to flee in the first place, even with the accusations.

It would have been juicy gossip, promptly buried by the next wave of scandal.

Granted, Felix’s situation was much different.

Leicester was notorious and not discreet in the least. It wasn’t as though Felix was parading around in pink dresses and demanding people call him Miss Bentley like Leicester had.

There was no damning evidence, just Thorne’s word against his.

But the last thing Felix needed was a newspaper getting wind of the accusations.

Christ, the gossips would have a gluttonous feast.

So, Felix hadn’t said anything to the Duke. Instead, he’d taken matters of retribution into his own hands. The man thought to challenge Felix? To make Felix feel small and vulnerable? Felix ensured Thorne understood just who had been at whose command last night.

Even if, deep down, all Felix wanted was to truly be at Thorne’s command.

And after that look…

God, it made no sense. The man had seemed moments from murdering Felix with his bare hands. The accusations, the animosity, had hung heavy around them, swirling, dangerous, like firedamp in a mine, just waiting for a spark. And all of a sudden, it’d changed. From hostility to heat. Desire.

It couldn’t be.

Yet, here Felix was. Not creating a safe distance between himself and the damning claims the man had made. No, instead Felix had spent the night instigating the man. And all morning avoiding him. What the fuck are you doing, Felix? He honestly had no idea.

A muffled, deep baritone reached Felix’s ears, one that sounded all too familiar.

He slowed to a stop in front of a closed door.

The voice drifted through the door, the voice that definitely belonged to Thorne.

Felix glanced up and down the empty hall.

Most guests were gone for the day. The Earl of Bentley most definitely did not eavesdrop…

He pressed his ear to the door.

“I want to apologize for yesterday, Robbie. When I entered that room…I assumed the worst.”

Robbie’s muffled reassurance followed. Then a long pause. Felix was just about to pull away when Thorne spoke again.

“I’m really happy for you two, Robbie.” A teasing lilt entered Thorne’s tone. “‘Spose I’m going to be the only one of our kind left here then. Who am I going to brag about my conquests to…”

Felix took a step back, blinking dumbly at the door as the rest of Thorne’s response faded into the background.

He hurried for the billiard’s room, the words echoing in his mind.

The only one of our kind… Felix slipped into the room and murmured a distracted greeting to Lord Kozington and his brothers.

So much was baked into that one sentence.

That admission, paired with the look Thorne had given him yesterday…

Felix reached for a cue stick. The meaning was clear, wasn’t it? Thorne liked men. Liked men.

“I tupped Felicity last night.”

Felix nearly dropped his cue stick as he spun around, his jaw practically on the floor. He jabbed it in the direction of the culprit—Xavier, one of Kozington’s younger brothers. “You. What?” he growled, valiantly resisting the urge to crack his cue stick over Zavi’s dirty-blond head.

Zavi and his twin brother, Timothy, promptly doubled over laughing.

A hand clapped down on Felix’s shoulder. “Apologies, Bentley,” Kozington said. “Ignore them. Zavi did not bed your sister.”

“But”—Zavi gasped—“Your. Face.” He devolved into more laughter.

“Aren’t you both three-and-twenty?” Felix asked pointedly, shaking his head at the twins. Zavi and Tim were… Well, they were never going to grow up. Clearly. Which was precisely why Felix didn’t want Felicity plotting with them against her fiancé.

“Your point?” Tim asked. “At least we have your attention now.”

Felix’s lips twitched now that his initial wave of blind rage had subsided.

This. This is what he needed. Granted, he could have done without the jest about his sister.

But these men were so lighthearted and jovial.

It was refreshing compared to Felix’s typical day-to-day.

He didn’t often allow the formidable Bentley facade to fall away.

But with his family and with the Kozington brothers… he could.

Felix caught Kozington’s dancing hazel gaze. “How do you put up with these two?”

“I’d take them over Felicity any day.”

Felix groaned. “Touche.” Felix wouldn’t, of course. He’d always take Felicity and Fitz. But he couldn’t deny Felicity made him much more nervous than Zavi or Tim ever could. “Is there anything more terrifying than an unmarried sister?”

Koz sniggered and took his position before his cue ball.

“Fortunately, not something I will ever have to worry over.” He glanced at the twins.

“One of you shut the door. I don’t want to be responsible for the next thing that comes out of your mouth.

Nor if Bentley murders either of you. That and Bentley mentioned a Harborage discussion is needed. ”

Kozington was the first person Felix had broached the idea of The Harborage to back when the idea had first come to him.

Felix knew it was a cause his friend would be passionate about, given what Felix had discovered when they were both sixteen.

Kozington hadn’t always been the bright-eyed, jovial man he was now.

No, that hadn’t occurred until after he’d spent a brief period of time living with the Jennings, and Felix’s father’d had a discussion with Kozington’s father.

Felix’s stomach rolled over, a sharp wave of nausea hitting him at the memory of what Koz’s father had put him through after Koz had been found with a groom.

The sharp snap of the door shutting brought Felix back to present, and he met Kozington’s expectant hazel gaze.

“So, you mentioned we have a new case at breakfast. I take it the footman finally came to you, then?” Kozington asked, lifting a pair of dirty-blond eyebrows a shade darker than his neatly styled dirty-blond hair.

Felix nodded. “Last night. He desires to flee to the Continent with his partner. We’ll need to set up arrangements.”

“I’ll write to Johnnie,” Xavier said. “Let him know we need a room. Just let me know the dates.” Johnnie ran an inn in Dover, right on the harbor, and was one of The Harborage ’ s trusted contacts.

He wasn’t one who knew the true purpose of the organization—only that it required secrecy and expediency. Very few were granted that knowledge.

“Given the Duke’s financial patronage of the organization, I wonder if he might supply one of his carriages for the journey.

” Kozington rubbed his chin between his thumb and forefinger.

“Especially considering it’s one of his servants.

From what I’ve gathered, he treats this estate like each person is a part of one overlarge family. ”

“That would definitely make coordinating much simpler,” Felix murmured. “I’ll try to have a discreet word with the footman. See if he’s comfortable involving the Duke. He seems rather…skittish.”

A grin split Tim’s face. “He needs Colette.”

Felix pointed at Tim. “Brilliant, Timothy.”

Colette was a mother hen, if there ever was one. She lived on the outskirts of Paris and had housed many couples as they found their footing abroad. A perfect first stop for nervous Englishmen stepping outside their homeland for the first time.

Tim lifted his glass of whisky, a pleased smile gracing his lips. “I’ll write to her.” His gaze turned introspective. “You know, Colette reminds me a lot of the cook here.”

“She does have a tendency to stuff you full of desserts,” Zavi added.

“That’s perfect,” Felix said. Hopefully, it would help the two young men settle more comfortably. Then, once they found their feet, they could embark on their new life together.

“Well, this worked out quite well.” Kozington leaned on his cue stick, swinging from side to side slightly. A sly smile curved his lips. “Ryker is going to be so upset he was left out. I can hardly wait to hear him whining about it.”

Felix snorted quietly. Ryker and Kozington had this odd…

rivalry. Ryker Drake—the third partner in The Harborage —offered ties to a far grittier world, as one might expect from a cut-throat gaming hell owner who owned the vowels of half the aristocracy.

It was a necessity, having contacts in all spaces for the work they did.

And Felix couldn’t deny Ryker provided…a certain skill set that was highly valuable considering their organization’s purpose.

While Ryker provided many benefits, he also held a particular talent for being a pain-in-the-arse. Hence, the rivalry and sparring between him and Kozington.

“Did you all see the servant who ironed the baize earlier?” Tim said, leaning against the sideboard.

“I know!” Zavi said, sidling back next to his twin. A pair of dirty-blond devils, those two. “Built like a bloody blacksmith. I swear when he handed me the balls, I almost told him he could handle my ballocks, too.”

A curse came from Felix’s right, and he grinned when he saw Kozington’s ball spinning in the middle of the baize—very far away from the other two balls.

“I’m with Zavi,” Tim chimed in. “I don’t even have any interest in men, but”—he closed his eyes and made a drooling face before his eyes popped back open, and he grinned—“he’s most becoming.

Anyone with eyes can see that. The man is an ox.

A big, strapping, hard-muscled ox. I’d be coming if he offered, too. ”

Felix choked, Kozington snorted, and a strangled sound came from Zavi.

Zavi turned to Kozington, but gestured toward Tim. “And we’re sure he doesn’t have any interest in men?” Both Zavi and Kozington enjoyed the company of men…and women. As far as Felix was aware, Timothy only held an interest in women.

Kozington’s lips tugged up in a half-smile, and he studied Tim. “Not our place. That’s for Tim to discern.”

Tim’s amusement faltered. “I don’t. Have any interest in men, that is.

” He glanced between his brothers. “I just…I just want to feel as though I fit in with you both. I don’t want you two to feel as though you can’t speak openly with me.

And I don’t want to feel as though there is something between us, just because I don’t share the same preferences. ”

“Dawwww,” Zavi said, a shite-eating grin spreading over his face. “Are you trying to tell us you love us?”

“I think he is, Z.” Zavi and Koz shared a glance, then dove onto their brother, swamping him in a hug.

Felix grinned at the three fools. Tim’s muffled protests filtered past where he was hidden behind his rambunctious brothers.

Rambunctious to a fault. Wild. It was why they melded so seamlessly with the Jennings.

Felix’s smile lingered as he leaned against the billiard’s table, lifting a hand to rub his jaw. The light stubble scratched at his fingertips, abrasive even through his gloves. He needed a shave. And just like that, his thoughts drifted back to a certain becoming valet.

If Felix was still actively trying to keep his distance, he wouldn’t have thought twice about shaving himself again, even despite the few nicks he’d end up giving himself.

It was a risk. Dangerous. Purposely being close to Thorne, having the man’s hands on him. Not to mention after their confrontation, putting a knife in the man’s hand probably wasn’t the wisest move.

His gaze swept over the wild brothers. The thing was…Felix was feeling pretty bloody wild today.