Why had he not realized it before now? Why had he ever believed that seducing her would be enough?
“Levering was furious with you?” Tierney pressed. “What did he say? Did he threaten you in any way?”
“He challenged me to a duel.” Nando’s right arse cheek was falling asleep now too. He squirmed on the seat. “Fortunately, we were able to avoid one.”
“How?”
There was no polite way to phrase it that Nando could find. Not in English anyway.
“My brother bribed him with a massive sum,” he admitted wryly. “Levering accepted the funds, and I was under the impression that the entire affair had been forgotten, if not forgiven.”
“It would appear otherwise.”
Nando took a sip of his whisky, needing distraction. “Indeed, it would.”
“You have not been bedding her during this visit?” Tierney demanded.
Nando’s ears went hot—he felt like a lad who had been caught with his first wench. “No. Not that it is any concern of yours where I put my prick, Tierney.”
“I am conducting an investigation,” Tierney said coolly. “Trust me, the last thing I wish for is to fret over the women you’ve been indiscriminately fucking.”
Nando clenched his jaw. “You go too far, Tierney.”
He inclined his head, looking decidedly unrepentant. “I am a man of plain speech, Highness.”
“I do not bed every woman I meet,” he felt the need to point out.
As he’d said, it was no business of Tierney’s. However, the mantle of rakehell he’d always worn felt far too heavy suddenly. No longer a good fit.
Tierney shrugged. “As you say. Our primary concern is proving Levering tried to murder you. I had heard whisperings that there was an enemy of Varros and Boritania in London who perhaps wished to do you harm. However, I’ve discovered no evidence of that. I learned this morning that the man I suspected is, in fact, a Varrosian spy, sent by your brother to watch over you in secret.”
How like Maxim to spy on him from afar. Nando was not surprised to learn that someone other than Bruno had been sent to London.
“Thank you for your efforts on my behalf,” he offered grudgingly.
Tierney raised a brow. “Reserve your gratitude for my wife. I’ve expended these efforts on her behalf far more than yours. She considers you a trusted member of her inner circle, given your connection to the queen.”
Tierney was making it more than clear that he harbored no love for Nando. Fair enough. Nando didn’t particularly like the Englishman either. He couldn’t begin to imagine why Princess Stasia had thrown over his brother Maxim to be this rugged, raffish rogue’s wife.
“I will throw myself at her feet,” he said.
Tierney’s eyes narrowed. “If you venture anywhere near to my wife’s feet, I’ll kill you myself.”
Unconcerned, Nando took a small puff of his cheroot, contemplating the information Tierney had just imparted. “Levering is an earl. I don’t imagine that having him arrested for trying to murder me would prove easy.”
“Nearly impossible,” Tierney confirmed. “We have no proof to suggest he was responsible for shooting you, aside from the witnesses, and as a murder has not truly been committed…”
Nando wasn’t familiar with the vagaries of English law, but the other man’s countenance as his words trailed off suggested there was no hope at seeing the earl jailed for shooting him.
“Understood. Perhaps Levering’s desire to kill me has been satisfied by my wounding,” he suggested. “He’s had his bit of vengeance and flesh now, along with a small fortune. One can only hope he is finally willing to move past any ill will he harbors against me for my association with his wife.”
“I don’t prefer to operate on hopes, Highness.”
“And I don’t like to be an unwilling guest at the town house of a cantankerous Englishman,” he countered, feeling absurdly freed by the news. “I would prefer to return to my own home at the earliest convenience.”
That would mean leaving Eleanora behind. Nando loathed the thought. Realization dawned on him suddenly with utter, perfect clarity. There was an option far preferable to abandoning Eleanora.
And that was taking her with him.
