Page 59 of Tempting the Scoundrel
After all, he’d sold his soul to do it.
“Of course.” Kent opened a drawer and pulled out a pouch and a stack of papers. “Her trust is yours. Her money is yours. Take these jewels—” he tossed Thorne the bag, who caught it easily—“and our business is settled. Congratulations, guttersnipe. You’re a rich man now.”
The soft gasp behind him lanced through Thorne’s heart. Slowly, he turned. Alex stood at the door of the study, her chest rising and falling with her breaths. She stared at the velvet bag in his hand—which suddenly felt as if it weighed a bloody ton—then at the papers on the earl’s desk. Though she couldn’t see the print from her vantage, she had to know what they were: the contents of her trust.
All one-hundred thousand pounds of it.
And everything, down to the last farthing, belonged to Thorne.
She flinched in sudden realization, and the hurt in her face nearly broke him. “Alex.”
“No,” she breathed, putting up a hand. “Don’t. Just don’t.”
“You didn’t tell her,” Kent said with a chuckle of disbelief. “My god, she still thinks you’re a lord, doesn’t she?”
Alex’s eyes met his. Another sharp pain went through Thorne’s chest. He thought of her expression in the foyer only minutes ago, the trust in her expression. Already, he felt its absence so keenly. Christ god, he was a monster.
“Who are you?” Her voice held some plaintive note, as if she begged for reassurance that what she saw and heard was all false. That there was a reasonable explanation. Something that did not hurt. “Tell me.”
He would not lie to her, not anymore. Never again.
But it was her father who answered. “He’s a nobody,” Kent said with a shrug. “Some criminal from the East End I hired to take you off my hands.”
Thorne glanced at him sharply. “Enough, damn you.”
Alex took a step back, inching closer to the door. Thorne didn’t know if it was instinctual, or if she were waiting for the opportunity to escape. “Why?” Thorne heard the pain in her question, the understanding that the man she thought was her father didn’t just neglect her; he worked to destroy her. “What have ever I done to—”
“Don’t you understand, you stupid girl? You’re. Not. Mine,” the earl said through his teeth. “Your mother never thought I’d find out that she humiliated me by siring a bastard under my fucking roof. I’ll be damned if I let another man’s by-blow marry a peer using my reputation. You’re lucky she secured you a trust, otherwise you and your new husband would be living on the streets begging for scraps.”
“I said that’senough,” Thorne snapped.
His words drew Alexandra’s attention. The betrayal in her expression . . . god, he wanted to get on his knees before her. Beg her forgiveness. He’d give her whatever she wanted, if only . . . if only . . .
Tears rolled down Alex’s cheeks.
Her father marveled at the sight. “You must have been a great fuck, Thorne. I’ve never even seen her cry.”
Thorne spun, about to punch Kent in his arrogant goddamn face—fuck prison, he’d risk it—but Alexandra let out a sob and took off.
With a swear, Thorne dropped his fist and went after her. “Alex!” She didn’t stop. Her speed was fueled by hurt. She exited the house and ran down the steps to the drive. Thorne caught up and reached for her. “Alex, wait.”
“Don’t touch me. Don’t touch me, Nick.” She pressed a hand to her stomach. “My god, is that even your name? He called you Thorne.”
“My name is Nicholas Thorne,” he said quietly. “My Christian name was the truth.”
She was breathing hard now, her voice trembling as she asked, “And everything else?” At his hesitation, she balled her hands into fists. “Everything else,Nick. How we met? My father forbidding me to see you? Was it all lies to get my money?”
By some miracle, Thorne managed to remain standing. By some bigger miracle, his heart had not been cut out and handed to her on a platter. These were only impressions, the nearest approximation he had for the feelings that rioted inside him. It would be easier, he realized, to sink onto the ground and offer her the organ beating in his chest.
But it was worth nothing. He had nothing of value to give her.
“Yes,” he said very quietly. The word settled like coal smoke in his mouth. “It was all lies for your money.”
“Oh god.” She pressed a hand to her mouth. “Oh god, I’m going to be sick.”
Reflexively, Thorne reached for her again. He had grown too used to the ease of it, and wished he hadn’t taken every touch for granted. “If you’ll just let me expl—”
“I said don’t fucking touch me, Nick.”
