Page 3 of Gabriela and His Grace

Sebastian snorted as he slid on his spectacles. Brodie had worked for him for nigh on a decade, and he was used to his easy manners and glib tongue. He continued to employ the man despite his propensity for bringing Sebastian down a peg because, frankly, no one dressed Sebastian quite like the burly Scotsman. He should have foreseen Brodie’s delight at Miss Luna’s fiery disdain for him.

Three weeks, he reminded himself. Just three weeks, and he would be in Mexico with his old friend Sirius Dawson, touring the silver mine that had single-handedly brought the Whitfield dukedom out of arrears.

Brodie whistled through his teeth. “She truly dislikes you, doesn’t she?”

“I assure you the feeling is mutual,” Sebastian said, tugging on his cuff links.

“Sure it is.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” he growled, glowering down at his valet.

Unmoved by Sebastian’s annoyance, Brodie lifted a shoulder. “It means that I don’t believe you, Your Grace.”

Sebastian leaned on his onyx-and-gold-tipped cane as he lifted a brow. “My opinion of Miss Luna does not require your approval, Brodie.”

“Of course not,” the valet replied, unimpressed. “But I do so look forward to watching that lovely lass tie you up in knots these next few weeks, especially as you’ll have nowhere to go to escape her.”

Clenching his eyes closed, Sebastian exhaled a long breath. Between the sharp-tongued Miss Luna and his shrewd valet, he was bound for purgatory.

Pushing his spectacles up the bridge of his nose, Sebastian pulled his gaze from Miss Luna’s scowling face to where Fox stood with his infant daughter in his arms. Looking amused. The damn man was almost smiling. Something about the scene made him think of James and David.

“Do you think they’ll be okay while I’m gone?”

His valet didn’t need Sebastian to explain whom he was speaking of, for the older man nodded. “They know you’re coming back. That you wouldn’t have left in the first place if the trip hadn’t already been planned. Old Mrs. Evers and the staff will take good care of them.”

Sebastian knew that, of course, but unease still turned his stomach. “I’m going to tell Mrs. Evers you call her old.”

“Now you’re stalling, Your Grace. You’re gonna have to speak with Miss Luna eventually,” Brodie offered, most unhelpfully.

“Yes, I am aware. But after this moment, it will be almost impossible to be away from her, so I am reveling in my freedom while I can.”

With a long exhale, Sebastian set off toward the group waiting at the edge of the gangplank, their expressions ranging from polite regard to open hostility. Doing his best to avoid Miss Luna, Sebastian exchanged greetings with Lady Yardley, then Mrs. Fox, and then Mr. Valdés. When he finally stretched out a hand to his friend, Sebastian couldn’t keep himself from squeezing Fox’s hand tightly.

“It would seem she did not take the news well,” he murmured quietly, careful not to be overheard.

Fox shook his head, amusement still evident in his expression. “I’d say her reaction was very much in character.”

Sebastian couldn’t argue with that. He’d known Miss Luna would be upset when she learned he would also be on the voyage to Mexico, and he also knew she was not a young woman who hid her emotions behind a veneer of placidity. Sebastian had never doubted where he stood with Gabriela Luna, and try as he might, he couldn’t help but respect her for it. The majority of people he met acquiesced to him and his desires simply because he was a duke, and Sebastian had come to value those friends who were not swayed by his title. Gideon Fox was one such friend; Sirius Dawson another. And while Sebastian would never call Miss Luna a friend, her fierce resistance to treating him as anything other than a bug beneath her fashionable shoe was a trait he found both vexing and charming.

Fox took a step closer to him then, his voice dropping an octave. “I’m sure the voyage will have its trying moments, but I am much relieved that you will be there should Gabby require your assistance.”

“But who will protect me from her?” Sebastian volleyed, affecting an affronted look.

Fox didn’t have a chance to respond because Sebastian felt a tap on his arm. Clenching his jaw, he looked down, not at all surprised to see Miss Luna’s hazel eyes glaring up at him.

“What, exactly, are you doing here, Your Grace?”

Her tone was clipped. Commanding. Sebastian stifled an inner sigh. “I was invited to attend the board of directors meeting for the Camino Rojo mine.”

Miss Luna’s nose crinkled. “Isn’t that the same mine Captain Dawson has invested in?”

Sebastian nodded. “He is the one who courted my involvement in the venture. I’ve been hoping to visit the operations since I first threw my support behind it.”

“Oh.” She blinked for several seconds. “Does that mean you will also be a guest of my sister and Captain Dawson?”

Now it was Sebastian’s turn to blink. “I had assumed you would be staying with your parents. Surely you’re anxious to be reunited with them.”

Her face darkened. “Of course I am eager to see them, but I would much rather stay with Isa.”