Hux leaned back in his chair and watched Zara and Richard talking. She was leaning forward, entirely engaged in the subject…he thought it was some book they had both read. Hux hadn’t. He had only come to reading late in life, taught by Zara, in fact. While he enjoyed the endeavor, he much preferred when she read something to him, her face animated by the story.
But now she had found an equal in that pursuit and she was animated as they dissected the piece. They looked…easy together. Just as they did when Richard was touching her…kissing her. A twinge of something like jealousy tingled through Hux’s body.
He hated himself for it. After all, he’d never thought he could have Zara forever. She’d turned to him during a terrible point in her life, but one day she might find someone who could offer her more than stealing from balls or dancing in the rain behind gaming halls. A man like the one who was pouring her more wine, laughing at something clever she had said. Someone cultured and safe and able to offer a future that was steady.
Hux had always planned on letting her go eventually, which was part of why he never allowed himself to get too close. Why he cut off his feelings and any misguided attempt she made to express her own. Saying them would only make it harder in the long run.
As for the other part of why he kept her at arm’s length? It was simple, after all. He didn’t trust emotions like love. He didn’t trust much of anything at all. He’d seen too much in his life that proved people would only disappoint. He didn’t want to be disappointed. And more so, he didn’t want to disappoint her.
He looked at Richard. As for him…well, Hux might ache deliciously from the man’s attention, but that didn’t mean he knew him. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep a solid eye on him. And that he wouldn’t forget him when this was over. He had to forget him.
He shifted and shook his head. Being lost in thought was no good for anyone. He pushed his shoulders back and said, “So, Fitzroy, I have a question.”
Richard turned away from Zara and faced Hux, his brows lifted. “Back to Fitzroy, are we?”
Hux shifted. Calling the man by his first name when they were tangled in each other’s arms was one thing. Somehow it felt too intimate when they weren’t fucking. “You do not wish to know the question?”
Now Zara set her fork down and stared at Hux with wide eyes. But if Richard took offense to the attitude, he didn’t show it. “Ask away. I think we’ve all earned a little transparency.”
Hux fought not to flinch at the very vulnerability he’d been pondering. The same vulnerability he was incapable of sharing. The way Richard stared, it was as if he could read Hux’s mind. That was a troubling thought after such a short, if passionate, acquaintance.
“You said that you assumed at some point Zara and I would try to steal something from you. Did you make sure I would discover and attempt to pilfer your late wife’s brooch?”
Richard held his stare for a long moment, then looked at Zara. “You two think me quite the Machiavelli.”
Zara’s brow lowered. “Did you?” she pressed.
Richard took a sip of his wine before he answered. “After I realized what you two were doing at the party last week, after I realized what I wanted and invited you here, I certainly don’t deny that I wanted what has happened to happen. That I wanted to make an offer to you both to share in some pleasure.”
“That’s avoiding the question. Us stealing the emerald and you asking us for this affair are separate things. You said so yourself, that you weren’t coercing either one of us through threats.”
“True.” Richard sipped his wine. He held himself stiffly and Hux narrowed his gaze. Richard was uncomfortable. It didn’t bode well.
“You acted strangely when we arrived,” Zara said, glancing at Hux briefly. “Both of us noted it. And you left us quite suddenly, but caught us immediately upon our taking the item. Almost as if you had laid a trap.”
“Is this his interrogation or yours, my dear?” Richard asked.
“We’re a matched set,” Hux said softly. “It is a valid observation. I am only curious.”
“I didn’t hide the emerald,” Richard said after a hesitation that felt like it lasted a lifetime. “I knew it would be a temptation if you went snooping.”
“You wanted us to attempt to steal it,” Zara said slowly. “Why? How does that play into it.”
To his surprise, some of the life bled from Richard’s expression. He shifted slightly and tapped his fingers along the table for a moment before he said, “I suppose the simplest answer is that I wanted to feel alive again. Because I…I lost my wife several years ago. She and my son died in childbirth. And I was lost. I almost ended it all.”
Zara jolted a little, but Hux managed to keep his visceral reaction to that statement from his face. He still felt the ricochet of pain, though.
“Oh,” Zara whispered.
Richard’s jaw tightened. “Yes. It was a dark time.”
He stared off past them, out the dining room window, though Hux didn’t think for a moment that he was seeing anything except his memories. His grief. His fingers flexed against the table because he wanted so badly to reach across the space between them and touch this man. Comfort him. Instead, he fisted his hand against the tabletop.
“How did you recover?” Zara asked, her tone so gentle.
“I’ve learned time is the only friend to those in mourning,” Richard said with a sad smile. “The pain returns, of course. It is a constant that will probably be in my life for the rest of my days. But it isn’t as sharp now. Ultimately, I felt ready to enter the world again.”
“And we were your entrée?” Hux asked, eyes going wide.
