The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Montague Siblings, #1)

by Mackenzi Lee

I flick a scale of tobacco off my breeches. “Lucky me. Someday I will have everything my father does. Perhaps I’ll even have a son of my own I can beat the shit out of.” “If I ever see your father again, I swear to God, I’m going to knock him out.” “Aw, Perce, that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.” “I mean it.” “Hypothetically defending my honor. I’m touched.” I close my eyes and press the heels of my hands against them until my vision spots. “I shouldn’t complain.” “You aren’t complaining.” He lets his head tip sideways so it brushes my shoulder. Not quite resting there. But not quite not, either. “You aren’t like your father. You know that, don’t you?” “Course I am. A more imbecilic and disappointing version.” “Don’t say that.” “All boys are their fathers. Looking at your parents is akin to seeing the future, isn’t it?” “Is it?” He smiles. “Perhaps that’s how I’ll know mine someday, then.” “Better than a fiddle.” He raises his head. “You’re nothing like your father, Monty. For a start, you’re far more decent than he is.” I’m not sure how, after all the terrible things I’ve done, he can possibly mean that. “You might be the only person left on earth who thinks me decent.” Between us, I feel his knuckles brush mine. Perhaps it’s by chance, but it feels more like a question, and when I spread my fingers in answer, his hand slides into mine. “Then everyone else doesn’t know you.”