Felicity smoothed her skirts and took a step forward as her older brother came down the stairs the next morning. Stenfax’s brow wrinkled when he met her at the bottom, and leaned in to brush a distracted kiss against her cheek.
“You’re up early,” he said.
She folded her arms. “That’s because I knowyou’realways up early. If I was going to talk to you privately, this was a good option.”
“I see.” He glanced down the hallway toward his office and then motioned at the parlor. “Why don’t we go in here and talk?”
She followed him into the chamber, shutting the door behind them. He arched a brow. “Should I have breakfast readied early?”
She shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”
He frowned at that statement, but didn’t challenge her on it. Instead, he offered her a seat and took a place across from her once she had taken it.
“You are obviously serious in whatever you have to say. So what is it?” Stenfax asked.
Felicity hesitated. She had been practicing these words all morning and yet they still didn’t seem right. But she had no choice so she plowed forward. “I know that Asher arrived last night.”
Stenfax arched a brow. “He did,” he admitted. “Very late. News gets around fast, it seems.”
Felicity ignored that statement and refused to share that she had bumped into the man outside her door. That felt very personal and she didn’t feel like making it common knowledge.
“I know you brought him here out of the best impulses,” she continued. “And I appreciate how seriously you are taking my…tenuous position. But Stenfax, I must tell you, I don’t want him here.”
Her brother blinked and there was no denying the surprise on his face as he stared at her. “You don’t?”
“No,” she insisted, leaning forward. “It is bad enough that our entire family and even a few people who are little more than strangers know of my…history. Of what I did. I cannot take one more person knowing the truth. Especially Asher.”
Stenfax cleared his throat and reached out to take her hand. He met her eyes with his dark stare and whispered, “And this has nothing to do with the fact that you once carried atendrefor Asher?”
Felicity caught her breath. As children, Asher had been a sometime playmate to Gray and Stenfax, as well as to her and Elise. When he was allowed to play with them, she knew her brothers had considered him a friend. She had been careful that they never guessed her feelings for the man. Only Elise had known. She pursed her lips as the pieces fell into place.
“So because you are now married, Elise and you share a mind?” she asked, unable to keep the annoyance from her voice.
Stenfax shifted and a flash of pleasure crossed his face. Felicity couldn’t begrudge him that. After all, Elise and Stenfax had been separated when Elise was blackmailed thanks to Felicity’s secret. Another point of deep guilt that Felicity now had to carry with her.
“Not a mind,” he said. “A heart. It wasn’t a betrayal, Felicity. Elise and I have vowed not to ever keep secrets from each other again. She told me because the fact that you once cared for Asher became important.”
Felicity set her jaw. It was impossible to be angry at what had been done, knowing her brother and Elise’s past. But she still wished Stenfax didn’t know her feelings.
“Whatever you think you know, it doesn’t matter,” Felicity said with a frown. “And it changes nothing about what I’ve said. I don’t want him here.”
Stenfax let out a long sigh. “But heishere, dearest. He is here and he can help us, so as much as I hate to hurt you, the fact is that Iwilldo it in order to save you.”
Felicity pulled her hand from his and folded her arms. “That isn’t fair, Lucien. This ismylife, shouldn’t I get some say in it?”
“Of course. But I know from personal experience that sometimes feelings cloud judgment. Right now you are letting whatever was in the past between you and Asher do just that. It’s my job to protect you from hurting yourself if you can’t do it.”
She got to her feet and walked away. “I’m not hurting myself,” she murmured.
He got up too and followed her. “If you won’t do it for yourself, then I have something else for you to consider. Something I hate to bring up at all, but I think it must be addressed.”
Her lips parted, for his face looked suddenly grave. “What is it?”
“Sometime in the not too distant future, I’m certain Gray and Rosalinde will want to have children. As will Elise and I. If your past is revealed thanks to this book, it won’tonlyhurt you, Felicity.”
She recoiled as his meaning became clear. Her hand lifted to her throat and it felt like it was closing as tears rushed to her eyes. “I’ve thought of this, you know. That my stubbornness, my past, my actions, could hurt our family.Yourfamilies. Children who aren’t even born yet.”
Stenfax’s expression held no pleasure as he watched her blink at those unwanted tears. “I know you wouldn’t want that.”
