His Grace's New Valet Learns The Cane

I never intended my new valet to become the one thing that could save or destroy what remains of my family name. Isla stands perfectly still until I speak, her answers quiet and immediate, yet that male disguise hides a truth I cannot afford to acknowledge. The study holds the last of my control, with quarter day approaching and the foreclosure that waits beyond it. Each command I give her only heightens the pull to test her obedience further, to draw the cane from its drawer and see how long she holds the position I demand. I open the lower drawer now, my voice cool as I tell her to remove her coat and bend over the desk, the dread of ruin mixing with the need to claim her stillness in a way that could expose us all.