He took the letters and froze when a memory struck him. Austin had a few affairs in Paris, yes, but so did his father in the past. He remembered his mother’s tears when he was just a boy, and she had received letters from one of his father’s mistresses. Austin was too young to read them, but he would never forget how that paper felt between his thumbs the day he snuck into her chamber and looked for the reason behind her tears.
Was my father merely taking revenge on her?
“Are you all right?” Deena peered up at him through her lashes.
Austin let out a breath. “Yes, Deena. I’ll just have my solicitor investigate this.” He spoke more calmly than before.
“Austin,” she said softly, “you claim that you’ll lose everything if you’re truly an illegitimate child, but what is everything to you?”
The question struck him.
“Like I always say. It’s my title, estates, and my seat in Parliament. The name. The legacy. All of it, is everything to me.” His voice was steady, but the words tasted like ash. “I will become nothing without my title. And I simply cannot become useless.” He could hardly believe all that he was admitting to her.
Deena swallowed and whispered. “And marriage? How does marriage help?”
Her breath smelled temptingly sweet, and the tension between them slowly melted into something more as he gazed into her eyes.
He leaned in until his lips were a breath from hers. “You really need me to spell it out for you, Dee?”
“Yes, go on, spell it out.” She teased him defiantly, and he enjoyed it.
Austin’s hands settled at his side.
“Even after marriage,” he said steadily, “I can still lose everything. If I’m illegitimate, I will lose my credibility and my place in society. I will never be respected, and that will result in my wife not being respected either. But I know my father, and he would never have accepted a bastard as his rightful heir.”
He took a deep breath before he continued.. “My plan was simple: I’ll behave like a proper gentleman from now on. No more rakish scandals, no more fuel for gossip. If I’m boring enough, the lords will lose interest. They’ll stop snooping, and the whispers will fade.”
“And if the worst happens?” she whispered.
“If proof surfaces and the title is stripped…” He jaw tightened as he thought about the consequences. “I’d transfer everything I can, money, investments, personal property, into a trust for my wife and children. Set it up through her family or trustees. The dukedom and entailed estates would go, yes, but we’d still be secure.”
His voice dropped even lower. “That’s why I need a wife I can trust. Completely.”
Deena stared up at him, eyes wide, lips parted. “And how would you find her if you’re here with me in my chamber?”
The question hung between them, fragile yet razor-sharp.
“I think you already know what’s happening here, Deena.”
She dropped her gaze, refusing to look at him. “I pointed you to the best ladies.”
“I’m not interested in them.” Austin cupped her jaw, and tilted her face up. “I shared a lot today, Deena. How about I get the whole truth from you too?”
Deena trembled beneath his touch. “I cannot tell you everything.”
“But you will.” His thumb brushed her lower lip. Austin felt betrayed by her obvious lack of trust, but he could not break free from her.
She shook her head. “You don’t know that.”
“I know you.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I know you’d burn the world down for those you care for.”
Deena’s eyes glistened. “Austin?—”
He pressed her against the wall.
“Dee, tell me the truth. Are you planning to trap me?”
She froze and shivered against the length of his body. “If that was my goal I would’ve done it days ago,” she said breathlessly.
