Lucien clenched his right hand into a fist and winced as if the words his father had uttered were a knife in his back. How had he known?

Reluctantly, Lucien turned. “Yes,” he replied softly. “I need to buy out an investor in the club.”

The duke’s eyes narrowed. “It isn’t that simple, and I think you know that. If you don’t, you aren’t as smart as I’ve given you credit for.”

Lucien nearly laughed. “You’ve never given me credit for anything.”

“You can’t force the Foreign Office out, Lucien. Not with money and not with anything else.”

Shock jolted through Lucien, along with a frigid fury. The scheme behind the Phoenix Club, that it was primarily a place for the Foreign Office to conduct necessary business, was known only to a handful of people. “How the hell do you know about that?”

Lifting his shoulders in a gentle shrug, the duke simply said, “I’m a meddler.” His eyes, so much like Lucien’s own, darkened. “Like you.”

The anger pulsing in Lucien grew white hot. First the business with Evie’s father, now this? “We are nothing alike.” Lucien’s voice and hands shook.

The duke slammed his fist on his desk and vaulted to his feet. “Dammit, Lucien, stop being such a sullen brat. You knew what you were getting into when you agreed to this deal. You can’t change the arrangement now.”

The arrangement had been a club that Lucien would style as a haven for all manner of people. This allowed for a variety of characters to frequent the club—individuals doing work for or with the Foreign Office whose presence wouldn’t draw notice. “They are changing the arrangement.” Lucien curled his lip. “They don’t get to dictate whom I employ.”

The Foreign Office had given Lucien free rein when it came to the club’s management, but Lucien had always been aware it wasn’t really his club. And dammit, he wanted it to be.

“They get to dictate everything.”

The fact that his father knew this much meant he had to know more. “You’ve always been so disappointed that I was wounded in Spain and had to come home. How long have you known I work for them?”

“That hardly signifies.”

He was right. Because regardless of when he’d found out, he hadn’t changed his opinion or treatment of his middle child. “Nothing I do will ever matter to you, will it?”

Lucien didn’t actually want to hear the answer. He swiftly raised his hand. “Never mind. I haven’t needed your support in a long time, and I don’t need it now. I don’t need it ever.” He turned and stalked toward the door.

“You can’t buy them out,” the duke called after him.