Beauty Tempts the Beast (Sins for All Seasons #6) - Lorraine Heath Page 0,119

arrogant lady who had appeared in the dressmaker’s shop and confronted Lady Jocelyn what seemed eons ago.

“You are a lord. Your first order of business is to provide an heir to inherit the titles and properties you will inherit. Your parents will expect it of you. The Crown will expect it of you. Society will expect it of you. I will expect it of you. Not having children is not a choice you have.”

Bloody damned hell. Bollocks. Through his mind, he ran a few other choice words he’d learned from men working the docks. “We’ll figure something out.”

“We already have,” she said as though she were a queen laying down an edict. “I will not marry you.”

He thought he actually heard his heart crack. He knew he felt it. “When did you make this decision?”

Some of the haughtiness left her. “Last night, while I watched you sleeping.”

He swung his arm out to encompass the entirety of the room. “And all this?”

“Was goodbye.”

Chapter 28

Standing by the fire burning brightly in his mum’s small house, as he waited for his siblings to greet each other, hug their mum, pour themselves a drink, and settle into their favorite spots around the room, Beast reflected on the irony of his life.

For a good long while, as the Beast of Whitechapel, he’d not thought himself deserving of a woman’s love, of a wife and children. He’d worried about the shame he’d bring them because he knew nothing at all about from whence he’d come, a bit self-conscious regarding what he viewed as an imperfection. Because he never expected to marry, it had never bothered him to own a brothel. Through it, he was able to help some attain better lives. Although he’d also known it wouldn’t give a wife cause to boast about her husband’s undertakings. But again, it hadn’t mattered, because he’d envisioned himself with no wife.

Then Thea had come into his life with the strength of a storm that could so easily leave destruction in its wake, and she’d managed to blow away all the reasons he’d thought he wasn’t worthy of her until he’d finally realized that he was. He’d asked for her hand, she’d said yes. He’d never known such satisfaction, such joy.

Now he was heir to a dukedom. He had obtained the power to grant her dream. Marriage to him would return her to Society, first as a countess, in time as a duchess. But now she wouldn’t marry him because of the shame she thought she’d bring him—and more important, their children. That her presence in their life would make it more difficult for him and them to be accepted.

Bollocks.

How could he ask his parents not to publicly recognize him as their son? How could he break their hearts when they’d already been broken once before because of him? How could he turn aside the inheritance they were proud and overjoyed to pass on to him? He wasn’t even certain the law would allow it.

He felt the way he’d assumed he would have if he’d stayed on the ship heading out to sea—untethered, unmoored, desperately searching for a safe harbor. He didn’t seem to know who he was any longer. The path he was on was full of brambles, and he didn’t know how to navigate his way around them without first encountering the bite of their thorns.

The ache in his heart was nearly unbearable. And he knew of no way to keep others from tumbling into the brambles with him.

It was the clearing of Mick’s throat that stirred him from the uneasy musings. His family was gathered around him, the ladies sitting in cushioned chairs, their husbands perched on the arms. Except for his mum, who had never remarried, had no interest in doing so, had devoted her life to raising the children of others.

His heart squeezed so tightly that it caused an ache to spread through his chest. He loved these people with every fiber of his being. For thirty-three years, until Thea, they had been the best part of his life. Shoving, arguing, taking a switch to his backside. Sharing confidences, protecting his back, standing firm at his side. Giving him a difficult time on occasion—especially Aiden—but always ensuring he knew they’d never let him down, they were all on this journey together. They would never leave him behind.

His siblings’ faces were a combination of anxiousness in their eyes or smiles they were fighting to hold back. All day he’d practiced what he was going to