“I can absolutely blame you.” Jacob grinned evilly. “And I am blaming you, so I’m rectifying the situation immediately. You’re fired, and I’ll be giving your post to my brother-in-law.”
Kit’s fever was muddling his thought processes, so it took him a moment to deduce to whom Jacob referred. When he realized the truth, he bristled with offense. “You’re giving my job to Sandy? Tell me you’re not.”
“He’s always run the property anyway, so we’re merely making it official. He’s been the stable influence behind the scenes who plastered over your mistakes.”
“I can’t believe you’d treat me this way,” Kit muttered. “After everything I’ve done for you! After everything we’ve meant to each other! As my reward, you’ll toss my position to that insolent braggart?”
“I’m giving him your house too. Margaret is supposedly barren, but I’m an optimist. I pray they have a dozen children, so they’ll be needing more space.”
“But . . . but . . . where am I to live? Am I moving into the manor? I guess I could be happy with a suite in the east wing.”
“You won’t be moving into the manor.”
Jacob’s tone was so icy that a shiver slid down Kit’s spine. “What are you intending for me then?”
The door opened, and Kit glanced around to see a tall blond man enter the room. He looked rich and important, and Kit figured he’d finally met the notorious Caleb Ralston.
“Is she settled?” Jacob asked him.
“Yes,” his half-brother said. “She spat and complained and cursed all my unborn sons, but she’s ready to go.”
“Who is ready?” Kit asked, but they ignored him.
Instead, Jacob said, “Kit, this is my brother, Caleb.”
Kit nodded his head. “A pleasure, Caleb.”
The bastard snidely retorted, “You and I will never be on a first-name basis. You can call me Mr. Ralston.”
Prick!
The Ralston men could be the most arrogant asses in the world, so there was no point in hurling a scathing response. Especially when he was feeling so poorly. He’d never start a fight he couldn’t win.
To soothe over the awkward introduction, he said, “I apologize that I didn’t rise to greet you, but I’ve injured myself.”
Jacob smirked. “You told me you cut yourself on a fence post. I’d like to see your wound.”
“It’s quite ghastly,” Kit replied, “and I’d rather not display my bodily parts in front of your half-brother.”
“Show me,” Jacob commanded. “I’m afraid I must insist.”
The brothers stared him down, demanding he obey—as if he were the lowest pot boy in the kitchen. If he’d been more hale, he’d have jumped up and stomped out, but he simply didn’t have the energy to make a scene.
He blew out a heavy breath, then lifted his trouser leg and unwrapped the bandage.
“Stand up and turn around,” Jacob said.
Kit tried to push himself to his feet, but he was faint and off-balance. Caleb Ralston marched over, grabbed his arm, and hefted him up. He was taller and broader than Kit, and with Kit’s health so reduced, he seemed impossibly large and imposing.
He bent down for a closer view, then he scoffed. “It doesn’t look like any cut from a fence post I’ve ever seen. It looks to me like a dog bite.”
Kit blanched before he could conceal his reaction. “Don’t be absurd. Where would I have gotten a dog bite?”
“Where indeed?” Caleb Ralston mused.
He shoved Kit onto the chair, and Kit reapplied his bandage. The brothers continued to glower, and Kit’s pulse raced with alarm. Why had Caleb Ralston arrived? Clearly, he’d spread rumors that had upset Jacob, but he was a stranger to Kit. Why would he possess any information that might be detrimental?
Jacob switched topics without warning. “Tell me about you and Roxanne.”
“Me and . . . Roxanne?” Kit’s sense of being off-balance increased. “Why would you ask about her? I can’t abide her, and if you wed her, you’ll be sorry forever.”
“After she gave birth to Clara—”
Kit gasped; he couldn’t help it. “What was that?”
“After she birthed your daughter, what did you think happened to Clara? Obviously, Roxanne didn’t retain custody. Did you imagine she was sent to an orphanage? Were you told she was put out for adoption? What?”
“I have no idea who or what you mean.”
“It’s too late to lie,” Jacob said. “Your secrets have been exposed. I realize you assume you chased Miss James away in a panic, and I have to admit, you were adept at terrorizing her, but she’s safe and fine, so you must explain yourself to me.”
“As with your London accountants,” Kit blustered, “if Miss James has spewed falsehoods about me, you should produce her at once. Let me question her. We’ll find out how brave she is when she’s staring me in the eye.”
“I wouldn’t force her to endure your awful company ever again.”
Jacob’s expression was incredibly condemning, and it was gradually dawning on Kit that he was in a great deal of trouble. He’d merely planned to scare Joanna James, to be sure she’d leave, but apparently, he should have been a little more violent with her. If she was dead, she wouldn’t be sitting in a hidden location and tattling.
“Jacob”—Kit’s tone was soothing and conspiratorial—“you can’t believe her over me, can you? I don’t carry the surname of Ralston, but I’m a member of the family. Your mother adored me.”
Caleb Ralston snickered. “Don’t drag that shrew into this mess. Not if you hope to make any headway with your groveling.”
Kit kept his gaze locked on Jacob. “We were raised together, Jacob. We grew up like brothers! You always said so.”
“No, you always said so.” Jacob gestured to Mr. Ralston. “I have two brothers: Caleb and Blake Ralston. You were never included in that group.”
“What a perfectly horrid remark.” Kit started to tremble and sweat copiously. He pulled out a kerchief and mopped his fevered brow. “You’ve yanked away my job and my home, and now, you’re glaring as if I’m some sort of . . . of . . . felon.”
Caleb Ralston said, “It’s a good label for you.”
Kit turned his furious attention to Mr. Ralston. “Sir, I
