Helene sat at her desk biting the end of her pen. A week had passed since Philip had agreed to her bargain, and she had not succeeded in scaring him away. In truth, he had become as familiar to her as the rest of her staff and just as efficient. At the moment, he was in the kitchen discussing the quality of the wine deliveries with Judd and Madame Dubois.
His sexual appetite knew no boundaries either. Despite his age, he was as eager to fuck as any of the young lords who had shared her bed in the past. The difference was that he liked to be the master in bed, whereas the young sprigs of nobility had allowed her to dictate every sexual move.
Helene realized she was smiling. She liked his roughness, his eagerness, and the way he tried to dominate her. It certainly made a change from all the tutoring. If she was not careful, she was going to miss him when the thirty days were up….
A commotion in the hallway interrupted her thoughts, and she glanced at the door. Mon Dieu, the twins must have returned. How on earth was she going to keep them away from Philip? It wasn’t as if she could expect to dump them on George for another three weeks. She stood up as the noise grew louder. Would Philip even recognize his own children? Like most men, he certainly wouldn’t be looking to acknowledge his old bastards.
The door opened, and George and the twins entered the room. George looked unusually harried, his hat askew, his immaculate linen crumpled. Christian looked his usual disdainful self, but Lisette had picked up some color in her cheeks.
“Your children insisted on leaving at some ungodly hour this morning and traveling at speed to get here. So here they are.” George bowed in Helene’s direction. “I’m off to sleep for a week. I’ll see you when I wake up.”
Helene blew him a kiss as he backed hastily out of the room. The twins didn’t bother to say good-bye. Helene summoned a bright smile.
“Bonjour, Christian, bonjour, Lisette. How did you enjoy your visit to Brighton?”
Lisette actually smiled at her. “I enjoyed it, Maman. The scenery was beautiful, and we got to see all the fashionable people strolling on the promenade in the afternoons. Lord George was an excellent host.”
“No, he wasn’t,” Christian interrupted.
“He was. You were just angry because he wouldn’t let you gamble or join the wilder young men at their scandalous parties.”
“And what would you know about it, Miss Prissy-face?”
Helene hastened to interrupt. Even during her short acquaintance with the twins, she’d realized they could snipe at each other for hours if not distracted.
“I am glad you enjoyed your stay. What would you like to do now?”
Christian frowned. “We’re not ready to go back to France, if that’s what you mean. We haven’t seen hardly anything of London yet.”
“That is true. I’ve arranged for a new companion to take you both around next week.” She forestalled Christian with a decisive wave of her hand. “You can stay in the guest suites here as long as you keep out of the pleasure house. I won’t insist you return to the hotel if you promise to behave.”
Lisette’s smile faded. “You cannot spare a few hours to take us out yourself?”
Helene stared at her. “I…assumed you wouldn’t welcome my company.” Had she misread the signals? Were her children trying to reach out to her?
“We don’t want her with us, Lisette. She’d spoil it.”
Helene turned back to Christian. “How would I do that?”
“Because you are a notorious whore. I don’t want Lisette being ogled by the kind of men you deal with.”
Helene sighed and sat back down. “I’m not a whore. I’m not considered completely respectable, but unless you have aspirations to be accepted by the ton, being seen in my company would hardly ruin you.”
Christian shrugged, his color high. “Everyone knows who you are. You run a notorious brothel, for God’s sake.”
“I don’t run a brothel. My clients pay a great deal of money to indulge in the sexual liaisons of their choice in the privacy of this club. I employ no professional whores, and no money changes hands.” She fixed Christian with her hardest stare. “I would still like to know who told you I am a whore.”
“I’d like to know why you lied to us for all these years.”
Helene took a deep breath. The twins were almost adults. Perhaps they would finally understand her motives. Despite her concern over Marguerite, at least once she had to try and explain what she’d done.
“I lied because I didn’t want you to be ashamed of me.”
Christian raised his eyebrows, reminding her forcibly of his father at his most haughty. “Ashamed?”
“I was unmarried and about to embark on a new business venture. I had no idea if it would succeed or not. I thought it would be better if you were both cared for in a safe place.” She risked a glance at the twins and found them both listening intently. “In the early years, it also became increasingly difficult to visit France because of the continuing chaos of the revolution and the rise of Napoléon. I contemplated trying to bring you out with me, but in the end, I truly believed the nuns had the best chance of protecting you.”
“Did you ever visit the nunnery, Maman?” Lisette said.
“You know I did. I tried to come at least once a year.”
“But you never really saw it. You only saw the pieces the nuns allowed you to see.”
“Are you suggesting you were mistreated?”
Lisette stirred in her seat. “Not mistreated, non, but the nuns cared for a lot of children, and we were but two of many. We were separated as well.”
Helene swallowed hard. Was that true? “I did what I thought was best for you at the time. I was working twenty hours a day to get the pleasure house on its feet. Even if you’d stayed with me, I would never have seen you nor had time to care for you.”
Christian took his sister’s hand. “Non, maman, you did what was best for yourself. That’s what you’ve always done. You abandoned us and Marguerite for your own selfish gain.”
She met his hard gaze and remembered how convinced she’d been that her choices were right. She recognized that same determined light in her son’s hazel eyes.
“I was eighteen, when I made that choice Christian. The same age as you are now. Do you truly believe every decision you make is correct?”
“Of course I do or I wouldn’t make them.”
She smiled haltingly. “That is the advantage of growing older. I’m no longer sure I made the right choices when I was your age.”
“But you made them.”
“And I have to live with them.” She held his gaze, trying to show him the love in her eyes, but he looked away. “As you will have to live with the choices you make now.” She took a deep breath. “And before you ask, I’ve had no news of Marguerite yet.”
There was a gentle knock on the open door, and Philip looked in. “Am I disturbing you, madame?”
She gathered her composure and managed a smile. “Not at all, my lord. We were just finished.” She turned to the twins and spoke in rapid French.
“We can continue this conversation later. After your long journey, you probably need to eat. Why don’t you go down to the kitchen and see Madame Dubois? I’m sure she can make you a delicious meal.”
Christian looked mutinous. “I’m not a child. Don’t tell me what to do.” He glanced at Philip, who waited patiently in the doorway. “Who’s that, your latest lover? He looks a little old in the tooth. I heard you like them young.”
“I will see you later, Christian, Lisette.”
The twins filed out, Lisette looking as unhappy as her brother. Helene turned to Philip and prayed his French was not as good as hers. How much had he understood of the conversation—and worse, what might he have overheard?
Philip studied Helene’s flushed face. She looked truly upset, something he hadn’t believed possible until she had started to shed her layers of absolute composure to reveal the passionate woman within. His French was excellent, but the speed of her delivery and the local dialect had kept him from understanding every word. Still, he was convinced he had the gist of it.
“So he thinks I’m too old, does he?”
To his astonishment, Helene simply stared at him, her fingers knitted together in front of her, her lips pressed into a tight line. He took a seat in front of her desk and continued to study her. Seeing her vulnerable made him feel uncomfortable in ways he refused to examine. What had the young sprig said to upset her so much? Was he a past lover? The thought made anger churn in his stomach.
“He is young.” Helene moistened her lips.
Philip shrugged, disturbed by his instant annoyance at her defense of the young man. “He is an arrogant fool. All men are at that age. Who is he, and who is the girl?”
Silence stretched between them until he was about to open his mouth to repeat his undeniably rude question.
“They are my children.”
He took his time to digest that bare statement. From the brief glimpse he’d had of the two young people, he’d seen they were blond, French, and prone to arguing, very much like Helene, in fact.
“I thought you said you couldn’t have children.”
She finally met his gaze. “I said I could no longer have children. After the twins were born, I was unable to conceive again.”
“Ah, that would explain it, then.”
She lapsed into silence again, and for once he let her. He swung his pocket watch idly between his fingers as he considered his options. Did he really want details of her love life after she’d left him? He found that he didn’t. The thought of her body being possessed by another man was too difficult to deal with. He shoved that thought away even faster. Why should he care, after all? He was only here for the next twenty-three days, and he’d had enough emotional entanglements with his late wife to last him a lifetime.
“Judd and I have decided to try a new wine supplier.”
She blinked at him. “I beg your pardon?”
“I said, Judd and I have decided to try a new wine supplier. I think you’ve stayed with the La Tour brothers for reasons of loyalty, not economics.”
“I’ve known them for years. I was one of their first clients.”
“They are one of the premier wine merchants in London now. I scarcely think they need you anymore, and, according to Judd, the quality of their products has been diminishing over the last year.”
“Perhaps they are having a difficult time getting the best wines because of the war.”
Philip was relieved to see some color creep back into Helene’s face as her interest in the conversation grew.
“Where is their loyalty to you, one of their best customers? I don’t see it. They don’t deserve your account.”
She raised her chin. “I make the final decisions about our suppliers, not you.”
“Not anymore. You will soon have a partner to consider, remember?”
She stiffened. Ah, there was the fire, the determination to best him. His smile was deliberately patronizing.
“I’ve already told the La Tours that we wish to take our business elsewhere. We’ll see how they react to that and make a decision.”
“You had no right to do that.” Helene stood up. “You should’ve consulted me first.”
“I am consulting you.” Philip got up, too, and moved in on her. He slid his arm around her waist and drew her close. “I’m just waiting for you to agree with me.”
He kissed her and drove his tongue deep, needing to possess her, to remind her of their already deep sexual bond.
She wrenched her mouth away from his. “Don’t think you can use sex to get what you want from me.”
He smiled. “Isn’t that what you do? Don’t you tolerate me in your bed because I have something you want?”
She stared into his eyes. “I do a lot more than tolerate you.”
He kissed her again, caught her lower lip between his teeth and bit slowly down. “Are you sure about that?”
“I don’t fake my pleasure. Do you?”
“I can scarcely do that. The evidence of my lust fills you up and makes you so wet that sliding into you the next time is much easier.”
He took her hand and placed it over his erection. “My desire for you can sometimes be inconvenient as well.”
She tried to step out of his arms. “Definitely inconvenient. I have to go and meet with the La Tours and reassure them that I have no intention of taking my business away.”
He kept her close, kissed the long line of her throat until she trembled in his arms. The scent of her arousal mingled with her perfume, and his cock grew harder. “Wait until tomorrow. See what their response is first. If you go running back to them now, you will look weak and indecisive.”
“And you will look foolish for intervening without being asked.”
He shrugged. “I hardly care about that. Judd agreed with my decision—go and speak to him.” He kissed her again. “At least do that.”
This time when she tried to escape him, he let her go and bowed. “Will you accompany me to the theater tonight?”
She paused, hand pressed to her breast, her eyes still wary. “Why?”
“Because I would like to take you?”
“Are you sure you wish to be seen with such a notorious whore?”
The bite behind her words could hardly escape him. Did her son disapprove of her and her lifestyle? Did that hurt? He imagined how he might feel if his son hated him.
“I believe my reputation can stand it. How about yours? Surely I am such an elderly man that you have nothing to fear from me.”
Her smile was slow in coming but breathtaking when it appeared. She sank into a low curtsey.
“Then I would be delighted, my lord.”