Ravenscroft’s nostrils flared, his jaw tense. “Why the hell would I ever allow my sister to bind herself to the likes of you, Mr. Decker?”
Right. Fair enough question, sir.
He supposedbecause I almost touched her cunny earlierwould not prove an appropriate response. So close to paradise. Only to be denied. Decker nearly laughed aloud at the bitter irony. But then, the Earl of Ravenscroft’s fist connected with his jaw, obliterating all humor.
Damnation, the blighter had a deuced unforgiving right hook. Decker cradled his aching jaw. That blow was deserved. If he were to encounter a man dashing about with his own sister in the midst of the night when she was old enough for such nonsense, he would be similarly tempted to do the man grievous bodily harm.
Actually, he would slit the bastard’s throat.
Decker opened his mouth, testing his jaw’s ability to properly function, staring at the earl. “I have compromised her, have I not? That is the way such matters ordinarily proceed, I gather. The gentleman offers to marry the lady he has compromised to keep her reputation from being sullied.”
“Yes, you have, you despicable bastard,” the earl growled. “She has only recently come out. She is naïve and innocent, and you managed to corrupt her. I want better for her than a scoundrel who would insult her by luring her around London.”
Decker could not argue with Ravenscroft. Hewasdespicable. And hewasa bastard. However, Jo was not as naïve and innocent as the earl believed.
Thanks, in part, to you.
He banished the reminder. The list had come from her saucy mind, had it not?
“If you do not want Lady Josephine to marry me, then what do you intend?” he asked.
“Marriage to someone else.” Ravenscroft sneered. “A suitable gentleman. But I demand your silence and discretion, Mr. Decker. And I also command you to stay the hell away from my sister from this moment forward. You will never see her again. You will not send her notes. You will never so much as speak her name.”
“Out of the question,” he snapped before he could think better of the words.
What are you doing, you fool? You do not have to marry her. Carry on with your life.
“You dare to defy me?” the earl asked, his fist clenched anew at his side.
Decker stood his ground. “I owed you the first blow, but consider this a warning, Ravenscroft. If you throw your fists at me again, I shan’t calmly allow you to abuse me. I will hit you back.”
And hard.
He would slam his fist into the earl’s pretty nose.
“You owe me a hell of a lot more than one blow, you cur,” the earl ground out. “I caught my sister in your lap in the midst of the night. And this was not the first occasion upon which you spirited her about London to God knows where. I ought to beat you to death for the lack of respect you have shown her.”
“She was always safe with me,” he told Ravenscroft. “Despite what you think of me, I would never have allowed any harm to come to her.”
“Youwere the harm.” Ravenscroft took another menacing step toward him once more. “Being in your presence was the harm. You debauched her, you villain. Do not suppose, for one moment, that I do not know all about you and your collections of filth and your Black Souls club. I would sooner hang myself than allow my sister to become poisoned by you any further.”
Decker had never gone to any lengths to hide the manner in which he lived his life. He collected erotic art and literature. He ran his club as he saw fit. He indulged in the pleasures of the flesh as he liked, when he liked, and with whom he liked.
But it was not lost upon him that the earl’s past was anything but pristine. It had long been rumored that Ravenscroft whored himself out to the ladies of society in exchange for funds. At least, that had been the case until he had married a hideously wealthy American heiress.
“You are shockingly prudish for a man who has bedded half the women of London in exchange for coin,” he observed coolly, though he knew he was prodding an angry bear. He could not help himself. Ravenscroft’s words stung, as did his outright refusal to consider Decker a worthy candidate for Jo’s hand.
He wanted to marry her off to someone else—anyone else—save Decker.
The notion filled him with impotent rage.
“And you are shockingly stupid for a man who was just caught cavorting with my innocent lady sister,” Ravenscroft bit out, threat dripping from his voice.
“She is hardly innocent, Ravenscroft,” Decker said, giving the earl a smug grin. “Would you truly have her go to another man, possibly carrying my child?”
The earl’s face went pale. He snarled. And then he struck again, landing another blow to Decker’s jaw. But this time, Decker was not going to stand there and accept a drubbing. He was bloody well going to fight back.
And he was going to fight for Jo, too.
