Page 2 of The Rogue's Christmas Gift

“If owning a brothel is respectable, then I am the Queen of England,” his mother spat out.

Deciding that he did not need a drink after all, Harrison turned to face her. His mother was still beautiful, with her green eyes and red hair. Though she no longer had the same figure she had in his youth, she wasn’t a large woman at all. He’d been sure she would remarry after his father’s death, but she had remained unattached despite her many suitors.

“Your majesty.” Harrison bowed to her, hiding the hint of satisfaction that ran through him at the sight of the annoyed look on her face.

“I am glad this is amusing to you. We can barely afford to pay the servants, let alone purchase new wardrobes for myself and your sister for the upcoming season.” She stood, her much shorter height still intimidating to him even to a man grown. “I have written to Lady Davenport. She is one of my closest friends; therefore, it makes perfectly good sense that our children should marry?—”

“Have you gone absolutely mad? I won’t marry Lady Selena Davenport just because you need a new wardrobe for the season,” he shouted, striding over to her.

Once he had hoped to forget Kat with Lady Selena’s serene smile and flirtatious manner, but he’d soon realized how giving Lady Selena was with her affections to multiple gentlemen. That was the real reason Lady Selena Davenport, beauty with a sizeable dowry, found herself still unwed after a fourth season.

“She was appealing to you once. I had actually hoped you would offer for her, but you did not. Then your obsession with that woman began all over again.” She shook her head as if his affection for Kat was absurd. “Your father would be furious to learn that all his hard work separating you from her meant nothing at all.” His mother slashed her hands in front of her body.

Since he’d been a child, it had always been a sign of her anger and frustration with the family. They all knew to do her bidding whenever she made that move.

Opening and closing one hand, Harrison tilted his head back, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was no longer a boy willing to follow his mother’s every command, and Harrison would be damned if he married Lady Selena Davenport. “I don’t care about a dead man’s opinion.”

She was correct, however—it was time that he married, but the only woman he wanted never wanted to marry again.

“Well, you should care about the future of this family. The Davenports are in town for the special session of Parliament. I suggest you speak to Lady Selena while I’m at your sister’s.” She gave him a pointed look. “I expect an announcement when I return. Perhaps you will even be married by then.”

Having heard enough of her delusions, Harrison turned away from her. “Good night, Mother,” he said, before he walked out of the lavish sitting room, desperately in need of sleep.

Rubbing at his chest, he tried to ignore the pain piercing his heart, or rather the nausea forming in his abdomen. Usually, he was in a joyous mood this time of year. There was something about Christmas that always made him happy.

When he was younger, his family had always celebrated the season with Kat’s family. They’d begin on Stir-up Sunday, stirring up the Christmas pudding. On St. Nichol’s Day, they’d received small gifts. Harrison had always loved when the women had gone Thomasing on St. Thomas Day. Decorating both Kat’s home and his own with evergreen boughs on Christmas Eve had been one of his favorite activities. Although Harrison hadn’t loved going to church on Christmas Day, he’d enjoyed the Christmas goose from their local baker. His second favorite day of the Christmas season had always been Boxing Day. Harrison had always loved the hearty meals their cooks had provided for the two families.

Christmas held a special place in Harrison’s heart. It was the night where all his firsts with Kat had happened. One year, it was the first time she had allowed him to hold her hand. Another, she had placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. The last Christmas they’d spent together had changed his life. For as long as he could remember, he had only loved one woman, and now he was in fear of losing her forever.

CHAPTER 2

Kitty Delcour walked through Pleasure House passing half-dressed women and men rushing to prepare for the evening event. Inhaling deeply, her gaze roamed around. Pride filled her every single time she observed all that she had built.

When she’d first arrived at Pleasure House as a girl of seventeen, it had been a dilapidated piece of property with chipped paint, broken windows, and fireplaces that smoked. For years, she had tried to repair the old mansion, but her husband, Jacques, had preferred to spend his money on gambling and women. After he died rather suddenly because of a jealous husband, Kitty had become nearly destitute with four working girls and two men.

She’d built Pleasure House out of nothing but her own two hands, and every single night as she watched the people that she protected and cared for prepare for the evening, she could not help but to feel victorious.

There were many horrors that could’ve happened to Kitty after Jacques’s death, but somehow, she had not only survived, she’d thrived. Quite a difficult accomplishment for a woman of African descent.

Stopping in the middle of the entrance hall, a smile played on her lips as she took in the décor. From the floor to ceiling embroidered drapes to the plush carpet, there wasn’t a single space at Pleasure House that was not a representative of her particular taste. Fresh flowers lined the walls in decorative French and Italian vases. Gold-framed paintings with erotic depictions of various women and men hung on the crimson walls.

Seeing the entire establishment covered in evergreen boughs and mistletoe for the Christmas season bought joy to her heart.

Kitty gazed down at her old pocket watch, a gift from Harrison, the boy she had once loved. Excitement bubbled in her veins at the thought of seeing him that evening. There were an unprecedented number of gentlemen in town for December because of a special session of Parliament. Usually, most of society retired to their country homes after the London Season, returning in April at the opening of Parliament.

As the Earl of Hendershot, Harrison would usually return to his family’s estate in Somerset, but that was not the case this year, and Kitty could not contain her joy at having him near. They had spent the last year revolving around each other like she was the sun and he the moon. She’d tried to fight the pull she had felt toward him as a girl, but in truth, she was tired of resisting him. Tired of resisting them.

Since the moment they’d found each other again, he’d still expressed feelings for her, but how could they be together after years apart? Not only did she not inform him of the one secret she’d kept from him, but being with him would mean she’d lose everything that she’d worked so hard for.

Holding her head up high, she shook off the melancholy that threatened to consume her whenever she thought about that time in her life. Marriage was not a possibility for her, but she knew that a man like Harrison would one day have to marry. Kitty was sure that the next Countess of Hendershot would not be a owner of a gentlemen’s club.

“Fifteen minutes, ladies and gentlemen,” she called out in a booming voice as Alice, one of her newer ladies, rushed down the stairs gripping a gold gown in her hands.

“Madame! I don’t know how it happened,” Alice said, holding up the gown that was torn at the skirts.

Kitty eyed the torn fabric before her eyes roamed around the room, catching the gaze of Lilias, an older woman, before she turned away from Kitty’s gaze.

Lilias' jealousy for the younger woman had grown at an alarming rate since Alice had joined Pleasure House earlier that year. In the beginning, the older and more experienced Lilias had been a mentor and a teacher to Alice, like she was with all the ladies and men that joined the establishment. That was until one of her exclusive customers, the Duke of Blackwood, switched his attention from Lilias to Alice.