Sophia pressed her lips together as she pondered the answer. Then she raised her glass with a new little twinkle in her eye. “Habits are meant to be broken.”

Vic wasn’t at all sure she understood the full impact of the statement, but as she clinked her glass against Sophia’s, she had to admit she liked the way it sounded.

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

The gin was so much smoother than anything Sophia remembered drinking in her youth. Then again, the gin warming her throat right now was likely infinitely higher quality than anything she’d stolen in her teenage years. The thought annoyed her, but she hid it by glancing at the seal on the bottle. “So, does your dad have his own gin distillery?”

“What?” Vic asked, her eyes still a little far off and dreamy.

“The stamp on the bottle has his mark on it. I’ve seen the lion crest all over the castle and the contracts.”

“Well caught. But no, he doesn’t own the plant, only the land it’s built on.”

“How does that work?”

“Those contracts are actually part of my office. Land, conservation and development, both divisions technically fall under my purview, but I mostly have my fingerprints on the development side.”

“I have no idea what that means.” Sophia didn’t have any real interest in the details, but Vic seemed more at ease with the topic, and getting her to talk comfortably constituted a good step.

“The duke owns over 150,000 acres of land that has to be managed or developed in some way, farms, businesses, nature preserves. I oversee all of those operations though I lean heavily toward the real estate market.”

“And by ‘the duke,’ you mean your father?”

“Yes and no. It’s complicated. The land and the title have always been in conjunction, which has never allowed for any real test of ownership, but maybe it belongs to my father, and maybe it belongs to the dukedom.”

“I’m confused. You mean, if your dad just decided to up and abdicate his dukeship or whatever, he wouldn’t get to keep the land?”

“Traditionally the land would pass to whoever became the next duke, as he would take over the associated responsibilities.”

“And that’s hereditary?”

Vic sipped her gin calmly. “Also complicated.”

“What’s the short version?”

“My father doesn’t have a male heir or even a close male relative. When he dies, which is still hopefully a very long time in the future, no one is quite sure what happens.”

“Well, that’s some Downton Abbey bullshit.”

Vic laughed harder than the comment warranted. “You’re not the first person to ever draw the connection, but I do believe you might be the first person to put it so succinctly.”

“Why do I get the idea not many people call bullshit around you?”