“Hadley is a Whig and Liberal. You are a Tory and Conservative. All of Lords is split along a similar divide, and yet no other Peer commands such vitriol from yourself.”
“No other Peer is as outlandish as Hadley.”
Kendall stared at his sister. The window light raked her face, painting it in patches of light and dark.
“Your current choices are precarious for a man who aims to become Prime Minister,” Allie said. “You risk alienating many.”
“Hadley wields his ebullient bonhomie to garner public support and point the country away from time-honored ideals,” Kendall retorted. “Dismissing him will show I have the mettle tobecomePrime Minister.”
“I’m not sure that is a sound viewpoint.” She shook her head, expression baffled. “And why Hadley, specifically?”
“You weren’t here, Allie. You didn’t watch Hadley, with Sir Rafe at his side, systemically decimate the dukedom’s finances. Were it not for our mother’s salt mines, we would be destitute at the moment.”
“Hadley did that? To our sire?”
Kendall nodded, a sharp up-down motion.
“And did he continue after Old Kendall’s death?”
Silence.
Ringing, damning silence.
“I see.” Allie stepped away from the door, walking toward him. “So Hadley attacked Old Kendall’s investments as retribution for his cruelty toward Sir Rafe. And once you inherited, Hadley stopped, as you are not part of that battle. And yet, you still seek his downfall? His ruin?” She spread her arms wide. “You are going to have to clarify this for me, Tristan. You stayed at Hadley’s home two summers past when Ethan was courting me and even recuperated there for several days after your gunshot wound. You may not respect or admire the man, but you have always tolerated him and seemedcontent to leave the past in the past. What changed? Did you invest with this Jarvis fellow, too?”
“Of course not! The man is a snake and always has been.”
“So what is it?”
“I would rather not discuss it.” Kendall ground his teeth. His aversion to Hadley was personal and, quite frankly, rather humiliating.
“Tristan,” his twin said, aggravation in her tone.
“Allie.”
She mimicked his stance, folding her arms. “My twin sense is telling me there is a story here.”
“We don’t have a twin sense.”
“Hah! You are entirely wrong on that score.” She tapped a finger to her chin, gaze narrowing.
Kendall forced himself not to squirm.
“Ah.” Slowly, understanding dawned in her eyes. “Hadley has humiliated you. Publicly. Pricked your formidable pride, as it were.”
Damn his twin for knowing him so well.
“Dimmi tutto,” Allie said in Italian, beckoning with her hand. A universal sign fortell me all.
Sighing, Kendall pushed off the desk and pivoted to stare out the window.
Sometimes having a twin was a royal pain in the arse.
“You know I will get it out of you eventually,” her voice reached him from behind. “Or I can ask others, but I think you would greatly prefer to tell me yourself.”
Kendall supposed that was true, too.
Bracing his hands on the desk, he told his twin the truth. “Over the past two years, Hadley has made a point of embarrassing and degrading me at every turn.”
