“How long were you in gaol?”
“Two years.”
“Two years? That seems like quite a sentence for merely stealing bread.”
“The sentence was ten years. I escaped in two.”
“Escaped!” The word came out much more emphatically than she’d meant it to. She covered her mouth with her gloved hand and then slowly lowered it. “Escaped?” she whispered.
“That’s right.”
“What did you do after that?”
His roguish grin was back. “I learned to acquire things with much more stealth.”
He wasn’t joking, she could tell. The man was entirely serious. It wasn’t that she was scandalized by his behavior. She herself had come close to being put in gaol a time or two. She was simply shocked that he was so casually telling her about it. Here in his brother’s fine carriage, in the middle of Bond Street. As if he weren’t in the least concerned. He’d meant it when he said he didn’t care what anyone thought of him.
“How did you escape?”
“That is a long story, but suffice it to say I did it with the help of my friends.” He took a deep breath. Silence rested between them, giving her time to absorb everything. After several moments ticked by, he finally asked, “What about you? Do you have many friends?”
A fortnight ago, Danielle would have answered no to this question, but today she had a different answer. A newly discovered, if bittersweet one. “Mary is my friend.”
“But you’ve only just met her.”
“That doesn’t matter, does it?” Now that he was asking her about herself, she went back to fiddling with the reticule strings. But she wasn’t about to allow him to hide from additional questions. If he was in a talking mood, she should take full advantage. But it made her feel guilty. He’d opened up to her last night. He was opening up to her more today. Betraying his confidence to Grimaldi felt… wrong. “Does Rafe know you were in gaol?”
Cade rubbed a palm across his chin. “Come to think of it, I don’t know.”
“How could that be?”
“Rafe and I have never been close.”
“You mentioned that before. Why not?”
“We’re complete opposites. We have nothing in common. Other than our age, our parents, and our devastatingly good looks.”
She couldn’t help her crack of laughter. “Ishemodest then?”
“Of course.”
“How else are you different?”
“Rafe always wanted to please everyone, follow all the rules, be a bloody hero.”
“And you?”
“Never met a rule I didn’t break and I’m the furthest thing from a hero you’ll ever meet.”
“Are you a villain then?” she ventured.
His eyes narrowed as he contemplated that question. “I wouldn’t say that precisely, but I’d warn you to stay away from me.”
“That dangerous?” Her words were flirtatious, but a chill went up her spine. He was serious.
“And more so.”
“What about wanting to please people?” she ventured.
