acquainted,” he corrected with a wink.
Though his tone and manner were teasing, Katherine couldn’t help but be reminded of his confession from the previous night. “Yes, but you’ve taken steps to change that,” she noted.
A shadow passed through his gaze, and she got the sense he was regretting what he’d told her over the plate of cold food. She didn’t want him to regret it. For some reason, she wanted him to feel like he could trust her as much as she was coming to trust him.
“Was it very difficult?” she asked, “Your childhood?”
He reclined farther in his seat, tossing her a sardonic look. “No more difficult than it is for any runt of the rookery.”
“A runt?” The term surprised her and she tried to picture him as a small young boy but couldn’t manage it. His strength and virility were simply too undeniable. “That’s impossible.”
He gave a rough chuckle. “I assure you it’s not. I’ve been the weakest and I’ve been the strongest.” His tone was flat when he added, “Trust me when I say stronger is better.”
The thought of Hale ever feeling small and defenseless made her stomach drop as a protectiveness similar to what she felt for Frederick rushed through her. It was ridiculous to feel such a thing for the indestructible man before her, but it didn’t go away.
“Do you have any siblings?” she asked.
His expression was resistant, but surprisingly, he answered her question. “I’ve an older half-sister.”
“Did you grow up together?”
Hale released a heavy sigh and shifted in his seat to face her more squarely, spreading his feet and resting his hands on his thighs. The look he gave was half-annoyed, half-indulgent. “Why so curious?”
Katherine arched a brow and answered honestly. “I’d like to know more about you. You’ve thoroughly investigated my family. Am I allowed to know nothing of yours?”
He narrowed his gaze for a moment before giving a short grunt. “Lissy’s twelve years older than me. Her ma took off years before I was born; mine wasn’t much to speak of. With our father a raging drunk, Lissy did her best by me, but she had other worries.”
He paused to hold her gaze for a moment, as though assessing just how much she wanted to know. Katherine stared back with open interest.
With a low grunt, he continued, “When Lissy was fourteen, Da sold her to a bloke who wanted her for his own. She ran off instead. If that was the only way she’d get out of the rookery, she was going to do it on her terms.”
Katherine pondered what he said. And what he didn’t say.
“It must have been difficult...after she left.” The thought of him being left in the hands of a violent father while still so young and vulnerable made her chest ache. But the child had grown into a man who could create fear in an opponent with nothing more than a hard stare. A man who also spoke softly to a shy little girl and held her with infinite care.
He shrugged. “She came by when she could—when she knew Da was away. She forced me to learn my letters and sums and later helped me get work at a bawdy house.” He glanced away, scanning the park around them. “My sister is focused. She puts herself first because no one else ever has. She’s built a grand life for herself by doing so.”
“It’s very commendable.”
His jaw was hard as he looked back to her. “For a prostitute?”
“For anyone,” she clarified.
There was a pause as he stared at her. Then he noted roughly. “Not many would see it that way. Least likely a duke’s daughter.”
The slight sneer in his voice had Katherine tilting her head thoughtfully. “Another reason I’m grateful for an unusual upbringing with an eccentric father. Of course I’m aware of how society often judges people for things they’ve no control over, but I’ve little experience with that.” She glanced down at her hands as she smoothed a crease in her day gown before lifting her gaze again to his. “I prefer to allow a person’s actions and attitudes tell me who they are.”
She couldn’t read his expression then. It was too stern. Too heavy and still. Then he issued that low humming sound that always managed to resonate through the deepest parts of her. Leaning forward, he braced his elbows on his knees to ask in a roughened voice, “And what do my actions and attitudes tell you, dove?”
In an instant, she felt several things; heat—always