Ace’s brows drew together. “Of course not. Why would you think that?” He straightened in his chair.
“Because…” East’s mouth twitched. “At least one man we know of still eludes us.”
“I thought you found the thieves and killed them?”
East tentatively shook his head. “We’ve not.”
And then he reached down, lifting a satchel and setting it on the table with a heavy thump, the contents clinking inside.
“What’s that?”
East ran a hand through his short, cropped hair. “It’s your original buy-in plus the royalties owed to you.”
The money was a welcome sight, but he knew what it meant. “I’m no longer a partner at the Den of Sins.”
“You’re not.”
He didn’t care exactly. He’d never meant to be a long-term partner. But this dismissal was tied in with his personal relationship with East. He’d been rejected in every way possible by his legitimate brother and that hurt him deeply. “You are my blood. I’d never steal from you.”
East showed his teeth. “You’ve taken from me my entire life.”
Ace glared across the desk, his hand slapping down onto the arm of his chair. “Look at where you sit. You have everything. How can you say that I took anything from you?” But he did understand. And his shoulders slumped as he remembered his thoughts from earlier. Besides, they’d get nowhere with that kind of talk. “I’m sorry. I don’t begrudge you for disliking me.”
“Did you just apologize?”
Ace nodded and pressed his lips together, giving East a direct look. “The truth is, our father did a disservice to both of us.”
“How so?”
Ace stared at his hands as he thought about what to say next. “Neither of us got all of him. And I’m guessing none of us got what we needed.”
East was silent as Ace lifted his head to study the other man. “That’s what my wife says as well.”
His wife.
Marriage.
He’d heard of East’s nuptials at the club. But the details had been vague at best, an oddity in and of itself that Ace had puzzled over at the time. A lord’s marriage was usually an event of much conversation. “Congratulations.”
East gave him an odd look. “I suppose you are one of the few people who could celebrate the nuptials without judgment.”
His brows drew together in confusion. “I’m sorry?”
East shook his head. “My wife is the bastard sister of the Duke of Devonshire.”
Surprise rocked through him. His brother had had nothing to do with any of his siblings but he married a bastard? Did that even make sense? “You’re not jesting?”
East gave him a level stare. “I fell in love.”
Love. Sounded simple enough. Was it that easy?
East pushed the money across the table. Surely it was enough to sustain them for some time. But it wasn’t close to enough to transform the club the way he wished. The place needed new floors, new furnishings, more staff. And he still needed to support his family. “This terminates your partnership at the Den of Sins.”
Ace cleared his throat. He still hadn’t asked for what he came for in the first place. “I understand. But I hoped to ask for something else.”
East grimaced. “What?”
His mouth twitched. Asking for financial statements didn’t exactly make him look innocent if East thought him in league with thieves. “I want to build up Hell’s Corner, but I need partners for that.”