The last time he’d seen Don Francisco, his grandfather had looked frail, though an indomitable will still shone from his eyes, as piercing and clear as ever. His new wife, Teresa—former wife to Lord Tynedale and Richard Avery’s mother—watched over Don Francisco with a protectiveness that Steve found irritating. He still hadn’t quite forgiven the old man for marrying, nor for keeping the weighty secret of an unmentioned son.

What would it have been like if he’d known? Nothing would have changed, but he wouldn’t feel as if he’d somehow been betrayed.

Footsteps echoed on the marble floors; he turned as the door swung open. Richard Avery, tall, lean, with pale skin and burning deep-blue eyes, entered the room and regarded Steve Morgan with a lifted brow.

“It is good of you to come.”

“Lord Tynedale, I admit that I was not told it would be you I was to meet.”

“Would you have come if you’d known?”

“Maybe.” This was the man who had taken Ginny from Cuba to Mexico to France and finally to the Ottoman Empire. Avery had loved Ginny, and she had loved him in return. He’d saved her from death twice—but Steve was damned if he could summon up a deep sense of gratitude. A lingering resentment usurped more appreciative emotions.

Richard Avery motioned to chairs in front of a small table. “Shall we be seated? What I have to say won’t take long.”

“If this is about Ginny—”

“It is and it isn’t. Please. Grant me the courtesy of a few moments of your time. There are things I’d like to ask you, things I do not feel I can ask anyone else.”

Despite himself, Steve found Avery’s manner inoffensive and disarming. He accepted the offer of a glass of dry sherry, a civilized invitation to a camaraderie neither felt.

Stretching his long legs out under the table, he sat back and regarded Avery over the rim of the small glass, observing his careful movements, the slight frown etched in his brow as he twirled the wineglass between his fingers.

Finally Avery looked up. “Do you love her?”

Steve’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I don’t see that it’s any of your business. Ginny and I have known each other a long time. How we feel about one another is no one else’s affair.”

“Yes. I am aware of that. I am also aware that you have not always chosen to remain with her, for various reasons.”

“If you asked me here to condemn me for—”

“No, no.” Avery put up a hand when Steve started to rise from his chair. “That is not my intention. I simply seek to reassure myself that she is happy, not just content. I have my own reasons for it.”