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going to tell you.”
    It took every ounce of muscle in Derek’s two arms not to grab his brother by the lapels of that coat and shake him until his brass buttons fell off. “Can I ask why I’m always the very last to know anything?”
    “You’re not the very last. Mother is. Besides, it happened months ago. It isn’t even worth talking about.”
    Derek swiped his face to maintain composure. “So you bedded her.”
    “I thought we were in love. But then I found out…we weren’t.”
    “Andrew, what the hell are you doing? Aside from the fact she is married, her husband is the Prime Minister’s left hand!”
    “I know! Don’t you think I know?! She called on me, after we met at a gathering her husband hosted and we… it happened .”
    Derek slowly shook his head. “I don’t even know how Lord Trent knows about your involvement with the duchess, but he plans to expose you if I don’t pay the investment he made into your career. And I’m not paying him. Even if I had the means to – which I don’t – I wouldn’t. Because you would learn nothing if I dig you out of this mess. It’s all I ever do for you these days. Dig, dig, dig. I might as well be walking around with a bloody shovel.”
    Andrew squinted. “He says I owe him money?”
    “Over a thousand. What in God’s name are you doing with all the money I’m sending you from the estate every month? You get more than enough to— Why are you borrowing money from titled men? Can you answer me that? Why?”
    “I already paid him. Hell, I had to borrow money from another titled man to do it.”
    Jesus. “If you paid him, then why is he saying you didn’t?”
    Andrew rolled his eyes. “Because he’s a damn Boretto man in desperate need of attention, is what.”
    “Last I knew I don’t speak Italian. What the hell is a Boretto man?”
    “You’re older than I am. How could you not know what a Boretto man is?”
    “Don’t chastise me or I’ll put your head under my arm and twist.”
    Andrew sighed. “It’s an older gent who fancies young men.”
    Derek’s lips parted. “Lord Trent is a sodomite?”
    “Has been for years.”
    “And how the devil do you know that?”
    “Aside from a few unwanted advances? Brayton told me.”
    “Brayton? Who the hell is Brayton?”
    Andrew touched his head. “Sorry. Lord Brayton and I started sharing living quarters about a week ago after Trent had asked me to take him in given there appears to be a family feud of some sort. I haven’t known this Brayton long, seeing he just got into London, but bloody hell you should see the man. He makes criminals with pistols cross the street. Apparently, he was living in various monasteries around the world and got tired of it. He hasn’t been around women in twenty years. And it shows. It’s hilarious.”
    Only in London. “So you don’t owe Lord Trent any money?”
    “No. That three-legged ingénue is merely upset that I refused his offer of becoming his mistress.” He sighed. “He gets jealous of my associations with women all the time. It results in stupid threats, but he never follows through on any of them. Leave it to me. I’ll talk to him.”
    Derek stared. “Are you and he involved?”
    His brother gave him a withering look. “I’d sooner stick my cock into a hornet’s nest. Do I look a male pillow to you?”
    “I’m getting tired of being the last to know everything . We’re not brothers. I’m your goddamn criminal lawyer.” Derek shifted from boot to boot and glared. “Who else are you associating with these days? Who else do you owe money to? Because I’d like to write this all down. For future reference.”
    Andrew searched his face. “You seem… tense . Did something happen? Are you all right?”
    It was clearly time to let this go. Because Andrew always did what Andrew wanted to do. And as long as the city wasn’t burning, who was he to care? Derek adjusted the ribbon on his queue. “I’m just tired. I’ve been putting in a lot of