The Privileged and the Damned. Kimberly Lang

you’re honest about it.”

      “Honesty is important, don’t you think?”

      She paused briefly. “Usually.”

      How strange. “Only usually? Not always?”

      The briefest of shadows crossed her face. He’d have missed it entirely if he weren’t so focused on her. “Life’s too complicated to draw lines like that. Sometimes a small lie is better than the truth.”

      “I’d have to disagree with you, Lily.”

      “Really?” She tilted her head sideways. “You believe in one-hundred percent honesty all the time?”

      “Yep.”

      She scoffed. “That’s not something I expected from you.”

      He stiffened automatically, but tried to keep his voice merely curious. “And why is that?”

      “You do know your family’s in politics, right?”

      His loud bark of laughter had both horses looking at him in as much surprise as Lily. “Ergo my extreme desire for honesty above all else.”

      She laughed as well. “Then I’ll keep that in mind.”

      Brady and Spider joined them at that moment. “Well, this is certainly an improvement from earlier.”

      Ethan could hear the tease in Brady’s voice, but Lily flushed and her voice dropped anyway. “Sorry about that, Mr. Marshall.” No wonder Brady thought she was painfully shy.

      “No worries, Lily.” Brady winked at her, and the spurt of anger Ethan felt surprised him. “I’m sure it was all Ethan’s fault.”

      “Gee, thanks.”

      Brady shrugged. “Hey, the truth hurts sometimes.”

      Both he and Lily laughed, leaving Brady looking confused. Finally, he shook his head and gave up. “You ready, E?”

      “Yep.” He swung up on Tinker and adjusted the reins. “See you later, Lily.”

      “Have fun.” She waved as they left.

      Brady looked distracted as he kicked Spider into a trot.

      Tinker automatically adjusted his speed to catch up. “Everything okay?”

      Brady blew out his breath. “Just the usual messes. I’m going to have to head back tonight.”

      “Nana will be disappointed.”

      He shook his head. “Not as disappointed as she’ll be if I don’t go back to straighten this out and we lose this election.”

      “Maybe he needs to lose.”

      Brady sighed. “He’s a lousy father, and a sorry excuse for a human being most days, but amazingly enough he’s a damn good legislator. He learned that much from Granddad.”

      The contradiction didn’t sit well with him. “Still, I don’t know how you do it.”

      “I look at the bigger picture, Ethan.”

      “There’s a bigger picture?”

      “Yeah, it’s called the greater good. Dad isn’t afraid to champion the tough issues or stand up for the little guy. He’s doing good things, and I have to support that.”

      “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

      Brady smirked. “Does that mean we can count on your vote?”

      “Do you want the truth?”

      Brady answered without looking at him. “Not really.”

      “Then I’ll just keep my mouth shut.”

      “There’s a first time for everything.”

      “Wow.” Ethan put his hand on his chest in mock anguish. “Not feeling the love today.”

      “Like I said, there’s a first time for everything. And it didn’t look like it was from lack of trying, either.”

      “What’s that supposed to mean?”

      Brady’s look was steady. “Lily,” he challenged.

      “You wanted me to apologize, and I did. End of story.”

      “If you say so.” Brady’s lips twitched. “You know, I never really noticed her before. She’s quite cute. Nice legs. Shame I have to go back to the city tonight …”

      Ethan knew when he was being needled, but it didn’t counter the sudden unpleasant and completely irrational need to knock Brady off his horse. Brady’s laugh only exacerbated that need. As if Brady read his mind, he dug his heels into Spider and the stallion leapt forward. Tinker reared up on his back legs, ready to go, and Ethan let him give chase.

      It was good to be home.

      Lily watched the two men banter as they rode away, the brotherly affection and annoyance obvious in equal parts. When Tinker took off in a gallop, her breath caught in her throat. Granted, the horse was beautiful, impressive, but the man on his back was far more so. Ethan looked like he’d been born in the saddle, moving easily with the horse and looking like some kind of centaur as he closed the gap between him and his brother easily. She could hear shouts and whinnies, and then the horses and their riders disappeared into the woods.

      Over the past three months she’d figured out most of the Marshalls. They were a big family, with plenty of the private drama that came from the sheer number of them. There was also plenty of public drama—not unexpected, considering their wealth and power. Something always seemed to be swirling, whether it gave the tabloids their headlines or the eleven o’clock news its lead item or just had one or more Marshalls closeted in the former senator’s study. They often fought amongst themselves, but they closed ranks and presented a unified front when attacked from the outside.

      It was nice, yet odd at the same time. She really had no frame of reference to help make sense of it, either.

      And now, just when she thought she was starting to figure it out, Ethan appeared on the scene, totally unlike what the rumors had led her to expect, and completely changing the energy she felt on the estate.

      Energy radiated off him and made her tingle in unusual ways. And, while it still flustered her a little to have those green eyes on her, she had to secretly confess that the fluster wasn’t all that bad a feeling. It made her feel … “Alive” wasn’t the right word, but it was close.

      Rumor had it that he would be staying on the estate for a while. Something about his place being refurbished and unable to be lived in. She’d probably be seeing more of him—she pushed back the mental image of the more she’d almost seen this morning—and the fact she didn’t mind at all felt like a big step forward.

      Too bad he had that whole thing about honesty.

      CHAPTER TWO

      THE growl of his stomach pulled Ethan’s attention from the reports his assistant, Joyce, had emailed last week. The ones he’d pretended not to get. A glance out showed the estate was fully awake now, from the gardeners in Nana’s roses under his window to the stable, where the horses were being turned out and the farrier’s truck was pulling in.

      Since the family as a whole and all its various members seemed to have remained financially solvent during his absence, nothing required his immediate intervention. He stretched, then closed the laptop and set it on the antique writing desk next to the window. The sun was shining—a very nice change from London’s seemingly constant overcast skies—and there was no way he was going to waste the day closed up in his room.

      The hall of the family wing was quiet now, but that could—and probably would—

      change at any moment. Hill Chase was the hub for their family, and everyone floated through here eventually.