Confessions of a Royal Bridegroom(23)

Miss Brightmore stared at him, then shook her head as she closed her eyes for a few seconds. When she opened them, they conveyed the clear message she found him deficient in both intellect and character. “Of course I don’t object to one of your women nursing the child. It was most kind of her to take on the burden on such short notice, particularly since she is in the process of weaning her own child.”


Griffin scowled at her. “Then what is your objection, Miss Brightmore?”

“I understood that this child is in danger. Surely you should be keeping him here, close to you,” she said, sounding indignant. “Not next door, where any sort of person can come and go without notice.”

Griffin’s irritation spiked. Of course he’d kept the baby close at hand, but he could hardly defend himself against her charge since he’d just suggested otherwise. He’d wanted to get a rise out of Miss Prim and Proper, poke through her starched-up fa?ade. Well, he’d done it, but not in the way he’d expected.

“I’m sure the baby is safe,” Dominic said. “There’s no need to worry, is there, Griffin? And I rather suspect the baby spent the night in this very house, and not next door.” He finished with a bland smile that wouldn’t fool anyone.

“I don’t need you defending me,” Griffin snapped. “And I can assure you, Miss Brightmore, nothing goes on in any of my establishments without my full awareness. Once the child crossed my threshold, he ceased to be in any danger.”

She crossed her arms under her breasts, plumping them up. If Griffin hadn’t been so bloody annoyed, he would have taken a few moments to enjoy the sight of them straining against her bodice. As it was, he was too busy feeding his anger at her thinly veiled accusation that he didn’t know his own business, or how to keep his people safe.

“You must permit me to have my doubts, Mr. Steele,” she said in a haughty voice that made him itch to pull her across his knee and paddle her round bottom. Unfortunately, once that image planted itself in his brain, he had to admit that subjecting Miss Brightmore to a little discipline might be an exceedingly pleasurable experience for the both of them.

She carried on with her disapproving lecture, completely unaware of the salacious turn of his thoughts. “A brothel hardly seems the appropriate place to hide a child at risk of discovery.” She pointed her index finger straight up in the air like some bloody schoolmaster. “And you surely put your girls in danger, too. I’m surprised, Mr. Steele. Uncle Dominic led me to believe that, despite all appearances, you are a most careful man, but I have yet to see evidence of that.”

Fury warred with disbelief, pulling Griffin to his feet. Almost without thinking, he let the contours of his face slide into his deadliest glare, the one that had caused more than one man to piss himself. Miss Brightmore, however, simply curled her full upper lip, staring up at him with disdain.

Despite his outrage, something deep inside him registered a reluctant admiration at her fearless attitude. Although it was likely that Miss Brightmore did not realize what he was truly capable of, she knew enough. Yet she still had the courage to stand up to him.

“Now, children,” Dominic said in a dry voice, “there’s no need to fight. Justine, I’m sure everything is under control. Griffin, I take it you’ve made all the necessary precautions?”

“Christ,” Griffin replied in disbelieving tones. “Do you really need to ask?”

“Mr. Steele, I’ll thank you to watch your language in my presence,” Miss Brightmore said with offended dignity.

She rendered him speechless. Fortunately, he was spared the need of a reply—which she would surely dislike—by the hurried entrance of Rose with the baby. The fact that he was happy to see them illustrated how far Miss Brightmore had pushed him.