Bronwyn Scott's Sexy Regency Bundle (161 page)

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the office, prepared to reconcile with Peyton for the first time in twelve years.

Peyton looked up from the papers on his desk at the sound of footsteps. 'Paine, you're back. Did you have a good time?' he asked as if he hadn't known they'd arrived twenty minutes before.

'Yes. Julia is upstairs, resting. I thought we could talk. There are things that should be said,' Paine said, taking charge of the conversation.

Peyton nodded. 'Would you like a drink?' He motioned to the polished cabinet that displayed a series of cut-crystal decanters.

'No, thank you,' Paine declined, taking a chair across from the expansive desk, marvelling at Peyton's nervousness-Peyton, who had always been decisive and in control.

'You've changed so much, Paine. I can hardly take it in when I look at you,' Peyton began. 'You're a man now. It's hard to countenance that my baby brother is two and thirty.' He shook his head. 'I still think of you as much younger. But you're a man full grown.. . '

He foundered there and Paine knew Peyton was thinking of the long years in exile when there'd been no letters from India assuring him of his brother's safety and well-being; of the long months Paine had been home in London, but sent no word.

They stared at each other, lost in awkward silence.

Paine shook his head and shrugged. 'I should have written, but I didn't know how. I'd been so foolish, so stupid. I didn't know even where to start. I was a

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complete disgrace.' Or even if his brother would want to hear anything. Peyton had been so angry, Paine was sure his older brother would be glad to simply have him out of the way, no longer a blight on the family name.

'My sentiments, exactly, only about me. I have regretted my behaviour, my choices, every day since you left. I was so stupid, so foolish, a complete disgrace.'

Peyton used Paine's words and gave a sad smile, one that showed the deep brackets at the corners of his mouth. For the first time, Paine was struck by the amount of time that had passed and how close he'd come when they'd been attacked on the road to not having this moment with his brother at all. Perhaps he was still foolish.

'I want to hear what you've been doing, how you've spent your years,' Peyton said.

'I'm sure you can guess most of it,' Paine said, reluctant to roll out his accomplishments like a litany and even more reluctant to share his sins. The East was a different world, half a globe away. He wasn't sure Peyton would understand what it meant to move in that world.

'Please tell me,' Peyton asked softly. 'Ridiculous pride has kept us from communicating too long.'

It was all he needed to let the stories come. Once he started

Paine was surprised how easily the telling came. The wanderings into strange countries when he had no sense of direction, setting up the shipping business when he found he needed a purpose, selling the shipping firm when he'd made his fortune and decided it was time to come home. There were

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other stories, too, that tumbled out. Stories of the people he'd met, the cultures and lifestyles he had encountered, the beliefs that had challenged him in his own thinking. Long shadows were falling outside on the lawn when he finished.

Peyton looked impressed. 'It seems you've come full circle then, Paine. Home again with a fortune at your disposal and years of hard-won wisdom. What are your plans now?'

'I own a gambling hell, which I am sure Aunt Lily told you.' He saw Peyton trying not to wince at the mention. He moved on. 'I recently bought a house in Brook Street that I want to turn into a hotel.' Paine held Peyton's gaze. 'There are things to do, however. Oswalt is still a menace. That comes first. Then we'll see.'

Peyton raised his dark brows and steepled his hands.

'And Julia Prentiss? How does she fit into all this? Is she a pawn or something more?'

Paine heard the challenge in his brother's voice and he clenched his jaw to hold back his rising temper. Peyton was trying to see him as a new man.

But he couldn't expect Peyton to change over night.

To him, he would probably always remain the little brother in some capacity. 'She came to me, if that's what you're

I didn't go looking for a chance

to get at Oswalt.'

'But you certainly didn't turn her away once you heard she was connected to Oswalt.' Peyton's challenge was no longer veiled.

'How could I? I of all people know what Oswalt is

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capable of. I could not turn my back on her, especially when I have the means to stop him.'

'Do you? Have the means to stop him? You thought you could handle him the last time, too. You were lucky you weren't

In his temper, Peyton had risen

behind the desk to his full height.

'I'm not a

stripling about town these days,'

Paine warned, gaining his feet to match his brother. 'I know how to handle men of his

'No. You have come here for my help. If you want it, you'll let me handle everything,' Peyton insisted, eyes flaring over being gainsaid.

'I didn't come home to let others fight my battles,'

Paine growled in a near shout.

'For once, can't you do what you're told?' Peyton barely refrained from yelling.

'Why? I won't hide behind you or anyone else.'

'Because I can't stand to lose you again. Because I need to make it up to you.' The admission tumbled out of its own accord, bringing the brothers' argument to a halt. The tension dissipated.

'I should never have let you go the

time,' Peyton

said quietly, years of remorse clear in his eyes. 'I thought taking on Oswalt would teach you sense. I never dreamed it would lead to a duel, that it would come to a head over a woman. But you and your misplaced chivalry wouldn't hear otherwise. By the time I realised what was really happening, it was too late to protect you.

It won't happen again. I didn't mean to fight with you, Paine. I only meant to say I was sorry.'