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There was a brief conversation outside the door. William could not make out the entire dialog, but he surmised it was about exchanging money, and at the end, he heard the jingle of a coin purse.

He wondered idly how much his head fetched—hopefully a substantial sum.

Then footsteps moved toward the room and the person he least expected to see walked inside.

William let out a sigh. “Porter. What an unpleasant turn of events.”

“It certainly is for you,” Porter said, his disfigured lips twisting in a snarl. Then he pulled up a chair and sat across from William.

“Is this your house?” William asked.

“Why would I tell you?”

William shrugged. “I’m just wondering why you would have chains in a guestroom.” Then his eyes widened as he attempted to shake out his arms. “Oh, no. Don’t tell me. Is that why I am here? Because I assure you, I am not interested in you that way. I know you might have perceived the slash on your lips as a flirtation, but I didn’t mean it like that.”

Porter looked unamused. “You think you’re funny, don’t you? A court jester.”

“I think I am charming.” William smiled widely, artificially so.

Porter folded his arms across his chest. “You’re smiling now, but once the leader of the Brotherhood arrives, it won’t be so amusing.”

William chuckled. “The Brotherhood of the Crimson Fist? I really doubt you have a path to the leader. You’re new, right? Want to make a name for yourself? If so, I wouldn’t brag about catching me. I am really not that big of a fish to interest them.”

“Perhaps not as William the Bastard.” Porter shrugged. “But I would love to see the reactions on their faces when they realize that I, the young, new member, figured out who the infamous Erebus is.”

It took William but a moment to realize Porter was serious before he burst into laughter. He laughed so much that he almost wheezed. “What? You think I am Erebus, the leader of the Shadows, the group that is the only greatest threat to your Brotherhood?”

“That’s right! You’re the only one who makes sense. You know everything about everyone. You’ve blackmailed half the country. How else would you have gotten a princess to marry you?”

William wrinkled his nose at the insinuation that Victoria would never fall for him unless he blackmailed her… which was partially true. “My charm?”

“Once you disappeared from London, the blackmails ended! You returned and here we are. Besides, how else would you have known that I am a part of the Brotherhood?”

William jangled his chains as his wrists started to ache. “Because for a secret society, you are quite brazen with branding a crimson fist on your bodies.”

“When would you have ever seen me naked?” Porter’s eyes narrowed for a moment before he bit his lip. “The House of Pain and Pleasure. Are those whores part of the Shadows too?”

William couldn’t help it. He laughed again. “You are clever, very clever. Except even an idiot knows that the Shadows are an aristocratic group! Only aristos are allowed. And I am not one. Why would they let me be their leader? You’re a nobleman; would you make me your leader? Or would you have eaten me alive? Besides, it’s passed on through primogeniture. So, even if my father was Erebus—which he wasn’t—then Kensington would be Erebus now.”

“For someone who claims he is not a Shadow, you sure seem to know a lot about them.”

William grinned. “Now that’s what I do. I know things. I trade in information. I also know a lot about the Brotherhood. Do you think I am your leader, too? And if you tell anyone that I am Erebus, you’ll get laughed out of the Brotherhood. Not that I care. In fact, it would be for your benefit.”

“And why is that?”

“Have you any idea what the Brotherhood does? What you’ve gotten yourself into? You’re a good man… well, compared to them. You have not done anything wrong. Believe me, I looked. Aside from kissing my wife—which is an egregious sin, I have to admit—the only thing I could find was your proclivity for chains and whips. Now, I might not see the allure, because,” William raised his arms as much as he could with his shackles on, “let’s be honest, every time I am in chains, it does not end well. But it’s not even on the list of things I condemn. And trust me when I say that list is very short.”

“It is obvious that you think I am stupid. But I am anything but.” Porter bristled, shifting in his seat. “All the people who were blackmailed by Erebus had ties to the House of Pain and Pleasure. The moment you threatened to expose me, I made the connection. But it took you slicing my lips for me to realize how dangerous you are.”

William licked his lips. “The Shadows are a vigilante group. They consider themselves a force of good. Do I look like a force of good to you?”

“You look like someone looking to get out of those chains any way you can.”

“That is true,” William agreed. “But only because I have supper to get to.”

“You won’t be getting anywhere. You’re going to spend the night here. And then I am bringing you and my evidence before my peers.”

William grimaced. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. For your sake. Nobody is going to take you seriously. My involvement with the Shadows is easily refutable. However, if you let me out right now, I shan’t slice your face for the second time.”