Epilogue
Simon sank against the seat of the coach. His head ached from too much whisky the night before. All attempts to fill the emptiness inside him, to somehow deal with the fact he was now the sole rakehell left standing, were for naught.
By now, every guest attending the ball the night before knew that Wylder and Emily had been wed in a secret ceremony.
The scandalous event was the highlight of the afternoon, and his parents were busy fielding questions and proclaiming how excited and pleased they were.
There was sure to be some minor gossip, but it would be tempered by breathy sighs of the utter romanticism of a rakehell stealing away with his love and marrying her underneath everyone’s noses.
The new couple was sure to be celebrated, and the ton would absolutely adore their boldness.
Simon rubbed his forehead, willing the ache there to subside, but knowing it would not.
While he’d been furious over Wylder’s actions in seducing his sister, now, in the bright, unforgiving light of day, he admitted to a tiny twinge of happiness for the couple.
And while he acknowledged that, he was also dealing with the unusual sense of being alone in the world.
Both of his closest friends had fallen in love. They were married. They had willingly given up the moniker of “rakehell” for the title of “devoted husband.” Speculation was sure to follow. Would Simon be the next to fall from the pedestal the trio had placed themselves upon?
Simon’s jaw tightened. “I will not find myself trapped into compliance. I will continue seeking pleasure and freedom as I see fit. No matter how disappointed Mother and Father may be with my actions.”
It was why he’d left Thorne Park that very afternoon.
He needed to submerge himself back into the hazy world of gambling and wicked women.
That world where he did as he pleased with none to answer to.
Of course, he would now travel that path alone, but he was perfectly fine with that.
Indulging his vices would take precedence over anything else.
And now that he was purchasing his own townhome, he would gain the freedom to come and go as he wished without the frowning censure of his own father.
Once he’d checked in with his solicitor regarding the Curzon Street property, he would make a much-needed visit to The Grinning Cockerel for an evening of blissful forgetfulness and fulfillment of illicit vices.
Simon’s body tightened with anticipation…
it had been too long since he’d enjoyed the attentions of a submissive woman kneeling at his feet.
His fingers twitched with the need to possess and command a lovely, willing female who would obey and fulfill his every wish.
Such encounters never failed to make him feel as though control, elusive and seductive, was back in his grasp.
After all, this was who he truly was. A man floundering in a world of strict duty and expectations…
a man who craved those moments of power…
of dominance… and needed them to feel somewhat whole.
So, he would do what he did best as a young, handsome, entitled lord of one of the most powerful families in all of England. He would sin with the best of them and laugh while doing so. As the last Rakehell of Mayfair, he would show all of London just how much he enjoyed that nefarious title.
And all the pleasures that came with it.
The End