It was all Tom could do to sit still and wait for the opera’s first act to finish. Judging by the way Burke kept drumming his fingers on his knee, he felt the same way. But they agreed James would have this time alone with her. They needed it. Burke and Tom could wait.
As soon as the last notes were sung, and the crowd began to clap, Burke launched to his feet. “Finally.” He slapped his program down on his chair.
With a chuckle, Tom got to his feet, stretching his arms just to be an arse.
Burke gave him a shove, impatient to get behind the curtain. Tom let himself be pushed, laughing as he stepped behind the curtain. His smile immediately fell.
James was gone and Rosalie—
“Oh, Christ.” Tom darted forward.
Rosalie was curled in a ball on her side on the settee, her hands holding to the front of her dress, as she silently wept. Her face was wet with her tears.
She sat up as he approached. “I cou-couldn’t get it back on,” she sobbed, holding it to her chest. The back of it was still open.
Tom scooped her into his arms and sat, cradling her across his lap. He brushed her hair back from her face, kissing her brow. “Oh, my sweet girl. What happened?”
“Where is he?” Burke muttered.
Tom glanced up to see his eyes, dark as two stormy seas.
“He-he left,” she cried. “And I couldn’t get my dress back on—”
Tom shushed her, gently rubbing her open back. She’d replaced her stays, her gloves, she’d even tried to fix her hair. He gave Burke a pleading look. He knew Burke was at war with himself—comfort Rosalie…or thrash James.
“I ruined everything,” Rosalie mumbled. “I can’t do this. I ca-can’t make him love me. And if he can’t love me…if he won’t have me…I can’t have either of you.”
His decision made, Burke swept forward and dropped down next to Tom on the settee, his hands immediately reaching for their girl. “What can you be saying?” he muttered, threading his fingers in with hers, pressing kisses to her exposed shoulder.
She looked between them. “I will not come between you,” she declared. “I will not break what the three of you share. You were fine before you met me—”
“We were nothing before you,” Tom pressed, cupping her face, and turning it towards him. “Rose, my darling love, look at me.”
She blinked up at him, her long, dark lashes wet with her tears.
“We were nothing at all,” he repeated. “Three second sons, utterly adrift. God, I was so lost to my own selfish misery, I was seriously considering marriage to Blanche Oswald.”
“Hell on earth,” Burke grunted.
“I was utterly alone,” he went on. “Sailing the far sides of the world, dreaming of a love I couldn’t speak of with mere mortal words. Drowning in a sea of broken hopes, desperate for someone to see me and love me for all that I am.”
She sniffled, raising a gloved hand to cup his face. “Tom…”
He tipped his chin to kiss her palm. “I won’t lie to you and say it was our first look in the billiards room that sealed my fate.”
“I know,” she murmured. “Sometimes love takes time to take root and grow.”
He shook his head with a smile. “It was the second. The next morning by the stairs. Do you remember?”
She nodded, eyes wide.
“You turned around, and the air was sucked from my lungs. That blue dress…your face framed in beautiful dark curls…” He brushed his finger along her jaw. “I’m pretty sure I would have carved out my heart then and there had you asked for it.”
She sniffed, leaning forward to rest her brow against his jaw.
“For me it was watching you punch that lout in the alley,” Burke murmured. “I watched you swing that left hook, and I was gone.”
Rosalie made a strangled sound of laughter and sob.
“I have never felt hope like this before,” Tom went on, placing his hand over their entwined fingers. “I will not let either of you despair. Whatever happened with James, we can fix it.”
“I told him I loved him…and he left,” she whispered. “He left me naked on the floor, my love unrequited.”
Behind her, Burke tensed.
“James is lost and confused,” Tom soothed. “He carries a weight none of us can truly understand. If he gives in to this…to us…he will feel responsible for all of us every day for the rest of his life. Our reputations, our futures, our very lives, they will be his burden to shoulder. It is a lot to ask of any man. What we seek to have together is…”
“Uncommon,” Burke finished for him.
“It’s more than that,” Tom replied, glancing over Rosalie to meet Burke’s eye. “To live together, the four of us in one house, sharing one woman…not to mention what we share—”
“Don’t even say it.” Burke dropped Rosalie’s hand to touch Tom’s face. “This is not a sin.”
Tom closed his eyes at the touch. “I know,” he whispered, opening his eyes again. “It’s so much more than a sin, Burke. It’s illegal. We could be pilloried before all of Mayfair. Stripped of our titles and positions, our families ruined, our lives haunted by the shame evermore. Hell, Burke we could be hanged for it.”
“Please don’t say such things,” Rosalie cried, wrapping her arms around him. “I can’t bear it. Why is this world so unspeakably cruel?”
“It needs to be said,” Tom replied, still looking at Burke. “We all need to understand the risks…as well as the rewards. James will be taking the greatest risk of all of us. He is the highest in rank; he has the farthest to fall.”
“We would be discreet,” Burke muttered. “No one need know.”
Tom raised a brow. “Like kissing me in front of Hart was discreet?”
A muscle twitched in Burke’s jaw. “He won’t talk.” He said it as a statement, but Tom heard the silent question.
“No…he won’t,” Tom admitted. “But slips like that cannot happen again, even in front of those we trust. This is not merely about protecting our own reputations. The ton will drag James down faster than we can blink if he is linked to us in any way other than friendship.”
Burke gave a curt nod.
“None of this matters,” Rosalie murmured. “If he will not have me…if I cannot win his trust…if I cannot earn his love—”
Burke cupped her face. “He loves you, Rosalie. Do not doubt that fact. He is lost in love with you; it eats at him night and day. He grows weak with loving you.”
She placed her gloved hand over his. “You can’t keep being the one who says it for him,” she replied.
With a growl, Burke got to his feet. “Enough. This ends tonight.” He stalked off towards the door.
Tom slipped Rosalie off his lap and stood. “Burke—”
Burke spun around, one hand on the door. “He is ours. It ends now. Tom, get her home.”
“What will you do?” Rosalie called from the settee.
Burke flashed them both a furious scowl. “I warned him that the next time he runs, I’ll break his goddamn legs.”
Tom closed the space between them, grabbing for his arm. “Burke—”
Burke stiffened, eyes swirling with storms. “If you’re about to spew your drivel about leading horses to water, I swear to Christ, I’ll knock you out flat. The time for gentleness is over. I will have my way in this, or he will crawl away from me on broken legs.”
Heart racing, Tom jerked Burke closer and kissed him. Burke only hesitated for a moment, lost in his anger, but then he was returning the kiss, his mouth opening to overpower Tom with his tongue. They broke apart, both of them panting. Senses swimming, Tom gave him a little nod. “Go get him.”
