Bart spat out an uncouth curse while Thomas muttered under his breath, both scolding him for his rudeness. Disgust suddenly flooded Justin’s body and the heart he’d assumed was frozen in his chest clenched, hard. Despite being forced into unseemly money-making ventures, the three of them had vowed to remain, at heart at least, gentlemen. They all needed to take their places in society, which was why Justin never usually entertained this sort of female at his house. Too many watching neighbors and too many wagging tongues in this respectable neighborhood.
Had he now passed the point of no return? Had the indecent acts he’d committed, all to either survive or earn his some of the ready, tainted his thinking to this extent? It terrified him that his morals were as lost as those idiots who assumed a title and riches gave a man leeway to be rude, arrogant, and even to inflict pain on those they considered inferior.
He’d picked out this woman and had intended on using her as an example, encouraging her to pass along his message to the long line of societal whores who would continue to plague him. He wanted to stand in the street and scream and yell, “The Virile Viscount is finished!”
Behavior such as his here showed the arrogance he’d always deplored. Rude attacks on a woman were despicable, and it was especially ill-bred of him to tease and taunt what he now suspected was a well-bred lady. But he’d underestimated the woman’s pluck, or perhaps her determination to make herself heard.
“Be warned, my lord, I shall return. Tomorrow. Early. Very early. And if you refuse to speak with me, I’ll haunt your house until you are prepared to listen to me.”
Her ferocious expression made him burst out laughing again. Bart wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner and held out his hand to encourage the woman to take a seat on the thigh of the woman he still held.
“I like her, Justin. Can I have her?”
“Feel free, Bart. If you dare! Though I suspect Thomas is correct. I’ve come to the unwilling, and unfortunate, conclusion that she’s not here to audition for the Harem.”
“Certainly not.” Her tone was icy. “I’m offering you an exchange. Your skill in tutoring my friends in return for information.”
“Regrettably, my services are no longer for hire.”
She inhaled so sharply he swore her ribs vibrated. Then she made her announcement. “If I leave this room, I’ll take with me what may be your last chance to see your mother. Alive, at any rate.”
Justin felt the air suck out of the room. Movements ceased, breaths held, no one spoke. Every person in the room, including the courtesans, was aware of the reason he’d spent four years debasing himself before the wealthiest members of the ton. The reason he forced himself to get out of bed each day, to place one foot in front of the other and go through the rituals, the pretense of living a normal life. Why he arranged wild bedroom antics for women and men that he barely knew and certainly didn’t like or respect.
His guilt festered like an open wound and the pain never lessened. His obsession was to locate his mother and two sisters, to bring them home, and try to make amends for his absence at the time his deranged father had evicted them.
Unable to reply, he shook his head, robbed of coherent thought, unable to believe her declaration. Unable to convince himself it wasn’t another misery-causing lie. Unable to gather the energy to conclude his night’s business. Nothing mattered above the bait she dangled before his nose, the thing he yearned for more than any other — to bring his family back to him.
This tiny despot had forced him into negotiating with her.
“Bart, Thomas. I ask you to leave me to my visitor. Then I’m off to find my bed.”
The busty redhead jumped to her feet, leaned her lush body down his side, and rubbed the enormous mounds of her breasts against his shirt. “Oh no, my handsome one. I made you a promise.” She grinned, exposing wide gaps in her teeth. “To please you all night, remember?”
He pulled some coins from his pocket and pressed them into her hand, calling Perkins as he did so. With a wet kiss to her pouty lips, he tugged together her gaping bodice.
“Perkins, please see my guests out. Also, call the carriages to drive the girls to their lodgings. We’ll conclude our transactions tomorrow, when I’m more awake.”
Amid good-natured ribbing and backslapping, his friends departed.
The girls complained, disappointed not to have confirmation of their positions in his harem. Several made brazen offers, with lurid descriptions of their favored activities, if allowed to spend the night. With a husky laugh, a pat on a bottom, or a caress of a breast, he dispatched them, one by one.
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Suzi Love Page 35
