Bringing her hand down, she cradled his jaw. “But know this: I did love you once, with all my heart. And that night, I fully intended to leave with you.”
The Cerberus Club never closed its doors, so Finn knew he’d find his brother somewhere within the walls of his gaming hell. If not in his office, then in the room where he slept. Aiden lived and breathed his club. The only time he wasn’t about was when he stopped by Gillie’s tavern for a pint.
As he walked through the varied rooms, he noted that business was brisk tonight, but then it always was. The club drew commoners and the less influential of the nobility—second sons, third, fourth, as well as those who were no longer given credit at the more respectable gambling hells or had lost their memberships completely. Even a few women were about, matching their skills against the men surrounding them. As far as Aiden was concerned, coins were neutral. He cared nothing at all about the hand that surrendered them. He cared only that they were surrendered.
He finally caught sight of his brother standing on the upper landing, looking out over his domain, exuding the same amount of confidence and power that Zeus might have as he observed the world from Mount Olympus. Everyone knew he was not a man to be crossed. Something about him had always said he was one to be reckoned with, even when he’d been a boy, playing the pea game on the street, taking money from people who thought they could determine under which of three cups he’d placed the pea. But his hands were always too quick—not in moving the cups, but in removing the pea without his actions being spotted.
Finn made his way up some hidden stairs that only those who worked for Aiden knew about and had access to. When he reached the landing, he wandered over to where his brother stood. “Good crowd tonight, even for the wee hours of the morning.”
“Tonight’s take will see me bathing in whisky. How was your night?”
“Enlightening. I wondered if I might have a word.”
“Certainly.”
Finn glanced around. “I was thinking someplace more private.”
Aiden chuckled low. “No one can hear us here.”
“No, but they can see us, and you’re not the best at holding on to your temper.”
“I don’t like the sound of that. We’re not going to tussle, are we?”
More than once they’d settled their differences with their fists. “I hope not, but it depends on how reasonable you are.”
Aiden grinned. “Where’s the fun in being reasonable?”
Still, he led the way down a corridor to his office and took the chair behind his desk, while Finn took the one in front. It was leather, thickly padded, extremely comfortable. Aiden did like his creature comforts.
“You’ve never answered before when I asked, but tonight I have a need to know. What bargain did you make with our father to ensure I wasn’t transported?”
His brother’s brow knitted even as he waved his hand over his desk as though shooing away a pesky fly. “Don’t worry yourself over it. I’ve told you before I paid it gladly.”
“Aiden, some information has come to light about the night I was arrested, and I feel a sudden need to know everything about that time. I didn’t press on a lot of it because it was unpleasant to face—or I thought it would be. I’ve discovered that letting things lie has proven to be a great disservice to a good many. Please. What was the bargain you struck?”
Aiden leaned back in his chair, dropped his head back, and stared at the ceiling. Finally, he released a great gust of air, lowered his head, and met Finn’s gaze head-on. “Sixty percent share of my profits from the Cerberus Club.”
“You’re not serious. You can’t have been daft enough—”
Aiden shot out of the chair. “He wasn’t going to do a bloody thing to help you, not lift so much as a goddamned finger. You’re his son! I don’t give a fig that we were born on the wrong side of the blanket. He shouldn’t care that we’re not legitimate. He fucked our mothers, and then thought to be done with us by placing a few quid in Ettie Trewlove’s hand? It doesn’t work like that. His blood is in our veins.” He was breathing heavily, harshly. This was one area where they’d never agreed—Aiden resented their father with every bone in his body while Finn couldn’t have cared less about the scapegrace. “The authorities were going to send you to the far side of the world. I couldn’t let them do that.” He dropped back into the chair. “I knew his finances were in dire straits, so I used his difficulties to get what I wanted, what I needed.”
“But sixty percent—”
He shrugged. “I offered fifty. He’s a hard bargainer, our damned sire, more of a bastard than either of us. But it was worth it, Finn. I’d have gone as high as ninety.”
“And you call me a fool.”
“I love you, brother.”
Seemingly embarrassed by his last declaration, Aiden busied himself pouring whisky into two glasses. “You’re all I have.”
“You have Mick and Beast and—”
“It’s not the same.” He shoved a glass across the desk to Finn. “Their blood is not my blood. Don’t misunderstand. I love them, I’d die for them. But you and I have a bond that goes far deeper than anything I share with them.”
After swallowing some whisky, Aiden set down the glass, ran his finger along the rim. Finn could fairly see the wheels turning in his mind. “Why the curiosity tonight?” he finally asked. “You asked when you got out of prison, were content with me not saying. Why insist tonight? What’s this information that came to light?”
“She didn’t betray me, Aiden.”
