Second Time's a Charm (MxM)✔

Chapter 11 - Setback

Cain shot upright in his bed, sweating heavily as his eyes darted around, remembering the flames that had once consumed him. His heart pounded, and his body remained on alert until he realized what he'd just had was a nightmare.

Putting a hand on his chest, he took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves, then wiped the tears away that had been forming. Swinging his legs over the side, he noticed a tray set up beside his bed with his breakfast. Gideon must have left it, and he groaned in total embarrassment.

Last night was effectively the second worst night of his life...

He stayed in his room and didn't touch his food until he heard a knock at his door.

"Come in." He expected Gideon, only for one of the other maids to enter instead.

She bowed, bashfully, causing her dull blond hair to flip over her eyes. She looked young and had a rounded face, so he assumed she must have been new.

"Where's Gideon?" He asked.

"I'm sorry sir." She kept her eyes on the floor. "Master Gideon is currently speaking with the Duke, so I've been tasked to check on you."

"And...?"

She blinked, uncertain what more Cain wanted to hear, so he stood at his full height. "Does my father not want to speak to me?"

She fidgeted in place. "N..No sir. Young Master Andrew said that you'd be...Um...Incapacitated till noon. So I am only to check on you for now."

In other words, his brother expected Cain to still be under the effects of that drug. No doubt he had a million questions on how he got home safely, so Cain might as well give the man some answers.

"Draw me a bath." He ordered, and she quickly scurried off to prepare the hot water.

A while later, feeling much cleaner, he made his way towards his father's wing of the mansion and found the Duke in his study. Unfortunately his brother, Andrew, was there as well sitting in the guest chair and offering tidbits of advice here and there.

"Ah, if it isn't my dear brother." Andrew greeted him. "We missed you at breakfast. I thought you'd be occupied until this afternoon. What with your heavy drinking last night."

Cain wanted to snap back but knew if he caused a scene then his father would surely get rid of him. He just had to hang on a little longer.

"I...Apologize for my behavior last night." He began, causing his brother's grin to fade as he immediately began calculating what the man was up to. "It seems I did have too much to drink. I had gotten bored staying home alone, so I thought I'd finally show myself in society again. But it seems I've been wrong about some facts I grew up knowing all my life." He gave his father the side eye.

William folded his hands and pinned Cain with an accusatory stare. "Yes. How unfortunate that you found out in that manner, but it's high time we have an open discussion about that."

Cain waited for the man to come up with some sort of excuse on why he was lying about his children's ages. Or why he was going along with the story of Cain beating Norton. Andrew meanwhile folded his arms and grinned.

"Firstly, Lena came to me with some concerns about keeping a thief in the house." William started. "She wanted to get rid of the man, but since you insisted on caring for him, I had to come up with something acceptable for the public."

"So you mean I painted us in a bad light by taking pity on him?"

"Yes and no." Duke William Duclair tilted his head. "So long as a common criminal is in our home, it will be difficult to make guests feel safe. You threatened our reputation with that stunt, so I told them you had taken your anger out on the vagabond instead. That's far more understandable than cavorting with them. As for treating his injuries, I told them it was your punishment. If you wish for the thief to stay, you will keep with this story yourself, and make sure he doesn't spout any other nonsense, understand?"