Nile pulled off his glasses and let them dangle from his fingers. “We neither expect you to accept nor to champion our choice. However, as you are in our family’s employ, and we have cared for you longer than our own mother, we will disregard this outburst for what it is. Concern for the young men you’ve raised. However, Governess, we are no longer young men you can easily control with your disapproval. We have made a choice that suits our desires and needs. It is your responsibility as our governess and as the matriarch of our family to support that decision.”
My brother was a right bastard but absolutely correct. I’d never have the balls to spout off to Eudora Bancroft. Very few would. Nile was the exception.
“Nile, my boy, you know I only speak from a place of love.” She reached out and patted his hand briefly.
“I do understand that. Our minds have been made up. Tomorrow you will train Ms. Dawson. Starting with dining etiquette. Please take that opportunity to also find what it is she would like at our wedding.” Nile’s gaze flashed to mine.
“Or my wedding to the young gem.” I glared. Leave it to Nile to take any and all advantage. He would attempt to secure the governess’s vote for Ruby to choose him as her husband, and he’d make it seem like it was Ms. Bancroft’s idea. The manipulative prick.
“I must say one more thing.” She spoke in that haughty tone that made me smile.
“Whatever happens, you both need to remember you are brothers by blood and birthright. Do not allow this competition to put a wedge between you. As it is, you are playing with fire. The only thing I know to be true about playing with fire is that you will get burned. Two brothers, one woman. That means trouble any way you look at it.”
“Frankly, Governess, I’m not worried. Ruby would never pick a stuck-up suit when she could have a playful partner who intends to worship her.” I grinned wildly and bit into the leafy tip of my steaming asparagus. The butter and roasted charcoal notes burst across my tongue, and I hummed with contentment.
“Shall we add an additional brotherly wager to the pot?” Nile suggested.
I shrugged. “I’m game. Terms?”
Nile rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb. “You win Ruby’s hand, you not only secure the 2 percent governing interest, but I will gift you my beloved as a wedding present.”
I jolted to attention, sitting up straighter in my seat. “In exchange for what if I lose?” My heart raced behind my chest and sweat misted the edges of my hairline. I loved his prized Aston Martin One-77 almost as much as I adored my Ferrari FXX-K.
“The Ferrari, of course,” he challenged.
My race car was the one thing I’d bought myself that I truly loved. That car represented not only my success, as it was the first thing I purchased when I’d finally turned an enormous profit from my nightclubs, but it also filled that need I’d had for incredibly pretty, unattainable things as a boy. I even had a toy model of the same car sitting on my desk at the Pennington Entertainment headquarters in downtown London.
Could I wager the one thing that could make me weep if I lost it?
“It’s only a car, brother. Why so glum? Afraid you’ll lose?” Nile taunted, a jaunty brow cocked high up his forehead.
I hated his ability to do that. I’d tried a thousand times as a kid to cock my eyebrow the way he and our father could, but I’d never mastered it. I shook my head. My ego blistered white-hot as the familiar sibling rivalry reared its ugly head between us .
“Not concerned at all. I agree to your wager and terms.” I prodded another asparagus so hard the tines clanked off the fine bone china that had been in my family for generations.
“Noah,” the governess snapped at my crude behavior.
“My apologies.” I changed the subject wanting out of any further discussion about Ruby, the wedding, or my lovely Ferrari and the ridiculous wager I’d just made.
The next day, I entered the wing of our manor that contained a series of guest suites. Unfortunately, I was a smidge too late.
Ms. Bancroft was standing next to Ruby’s door with a house attendant who was knocking loudly on the door.
Before I could inject myself into the already tense approach Ms. Bancroft was about to take with Ruby, the door opened, and the woman herself appeared. She wore a long, elegant, blood-red robe that I recognized instantly. It was the same one she’d worn on stage when she revealed her assets underneath to the greedy gazes of the rich and famous only a few days ago.
Ruby’s hair was a knotted mess of spun gold as she rubbed at her eyes, clutching the satin precariously with one hand between her breasts. I could tell she wasn’t wearing knickers as there were no lines at her hips and her nipples were beading against the fabric delectably. If it had been just me at the door, I’d have leered openly and made a dastardly inappropriate comment to make her blush and laugh. The woman was magnificent when she laughed and let her inner light shine freely.