“You...” Renard cleared his own throat of emotion. “You don’t hate me after all I’ve done? Even after learning the truth?”
Charlotte huffed—a bad habit she’d acquired as a girl when he’d said something she deemed too asinine to deserve a response—but then she took both his hands in hers and looked up at him with a sister’s love, grown and matured over years of learning to accept her own flaws and that in others. Eyes that saw past what a person was and saw who they truly were. “The truth remains: You are my brother and you’ve carried this secret too long. I do not hate you, Ren. I love you, for always.”
Renard didn’t wipe the emotion blurring his vision; he refused to look away from the compassion and understanding in his sister’s eyes. She had grown strong and loyal and he’d tear Hamish in two if he ever said one word that suggested otherwise in her presence. Amidst his bluster of despising heroes, he’d secretly longed for redemption for ten long years. And in one simple conversation, Charlotte had given it to him, as if forgiveness were the very essence of her nature.
He put his head to her hands, fighting back more insufferable tears. “I don’t deserve you as my sister.”
“Bullocks!” She lifted his face, her expression turning thoughtful. “You never meant to hand me off to some man for your own need, did you?”
He dropped her hands and fell to his knees before her, begging for her forgiveness or praying she would hear the truth in his words, he didn’t know. “I meant only to see you cared for before someone found out about the fire, and my involvement, and scandal ruined your chances at happiness. Making you hate me, pushing you away, it was so you would stay innocent.”
Her gaze darted around them, to the home of his closest friend, nowherhome. “Seems I can manage my own trouble without your help.” Her expression softened further. “And White’s betting book? I saw the wager.”
His eyes widened. “You saw it?”
She smiled. “Hamish.”
He ran a hand through his hair, refusing to imagine when and how Hamish had snuck her into the club. If it weren’t glaringly apparent they loved each other completely, he’d take his friend out back and beat him for taking his sister’s safety too lightly. “The marquess—Nic—convinced me more funds would keep you safer, in greater comfort. Now that I know he was aware of my secret, he knew the exact words to manipulate me. He knew I feared for your safety and reputation. With his obsession over Camille, I can only think he meant to flee after the wedding, his winnings in his pocket.”
The more he thought about it, the more he realized he’d been an easier mark than a gilded peacock walking the streets of the rookeries. What a right fool he’d been.
“I vow, I’ll make it up to you,” he said. Whatever it took. “I’ll spend the rest of our lives giving you unsolicited advice and digging for bugs in the garden, hiring tutors and housekeepers you can terrorize.”
“That’s a start.”
She pulled him to his feet while her mouth curled into a grin Renard knew was trouble.
“However, if you are set on punishing yourself, I may have a way for you to spend your days repenting.”
He chuckled. “Now I’m afraid.”And overjoyed. “Don’t tell me it involves living with insects in my tea?”
Her grin grew. “I have been told they tend to invest the house with raucousness.” She placed his hand on her stomach. “But perhaps the newest Hurstfield will also share the Louis family’s fascination with exploring the outdoors, if Uncle Ren shows them the joy of it.”
Renard’s weighted heart lifted to unbearable heights. “You are with child?”
“It isn’t official yet,” she said.
“Woman’s intuition again?”
She smiled. “It’s rarely wrong.”
He felt the strangest stirring in his sister’s stomach—or perhaps that fluttering was in his own chest—and closed his eyes in awe. “I am to be an uncle.”
For so long, the world around him had lain in shadowed despair. The light flooding in with the presence of his wife and the reclaiming and growing family now was blinding.
He opened his eyes and put conviction in his vow. “I will be there for your children, and you, Lotte, for as long as you’ll allow me.”
Charlotte shook her head, but her eyes were shining. “What a handful you are, Ren.”
Epilogue
Two Years Later: Lux Country Estate
“Hello, husband,” Camillesaid from the doorway.
Renard, in full suit, let his book fall to his lap and propped his head on his arm from the bed. His gaze raked over her, his voice low when he said, “You’re late, wife.”
Her thighs squeezed when that sizzling gaze flicked up to her face. She smiled, knowing how she’d make up for her tardiness. “My business in London couldn’t be helped.” She closed the door behind her and walked to the edge of the bed. “Now that Charlotte has taken an interest in the Home, I’ll have more time for another project.”
