Page 57 of The Lord who Seduced Me
“I miss him Rose. So much. He is the only man who has ever looked at me. Saw me. Not my illness, my chair. My weaknesses. I hate that I have not seen him. Had him hold me.”
Rose hugged her friend tightly. “I wish there was something I could do.”
Persephone smiled a sad and broken smile. “I know you do. But there is not. You cannot make my parents change. Nothing has and nothing will. Not now. I will be alone for the rest of my life. Withering away out in the country, wed to that monster and will always have to think about Brooks being with another woman. Loving someone else. Because I know I cannot be selfish and hope that he will stay alone.”
Her voice cracked on the last word as well and Rose wanted to take her pain away. Wished that Persephone’s parents could see the pain they were causing their daughter.
By not letting her just live. By always assuming the worst and making her miserable. She had tasted freedom when they were on that ship and had grown into such a strong person and now that she was back under their thumb, Rose hated the change.
She had gone from the vibrant young woman who had finally learned to walk, to let go and be the woman she longed to be, to a shell. Her face and eyes lifeless.
Every single time Rose saw Persephone, she looked worse. Like she was slowly withering inside and that was the hardest thing in the world.
Rose knew the woman Persephone was. And seeing her friend be so miserable was the worst sort of pain.
And knowing that Brooks loved Persephone was also hard. Brooks was a wonderful man and deserved all the happiness in the world. He had not had much in his life and now that he had found his woman, he was not even allowed to see her.
Rose knew a lot about how they felt, but her hurt was not because of a parent. No, it was because Cabe was stubborn and thought he knew best.
Clearly, as he had assumed the worst. Time after time. She hated that.
Pushing Persephone further away from her parents and to a quieter part of the room was her goal.
But of course, Kitty and Bruce followed and Kitty tsked. “We cannot sit over here. Persephone needs to be seen and we need to be able to hear the music being performed. She also won’t be able to see it if she is all the way back here.”
Rose bit back her biting response. “Oh, I just assumed she needed more space from everyone else. And this spot is nice. We can see everything going on, but not be in anyone’s way.”
Kitty’s face scrunched. “No, as I said, we need to sit where Persephone can be seen. And where she can see. She may not have many prospects, but she will get none if she isn’t even seen because she is in the back of the room, away from everyone else.”
Rose sighed under her breath and pushed the chair into the spot Kitty wished. “I have to find the retirement room, for just a few moments. If you will excuse me.”
They did not acknowledge her, and Rose walked away. She could not stand being around Kitty and Bruce and being in their presence for longer than a few moments was beginning to be too much.
As she walked to the retirement room, the hallway was dark. Almost foreboding.
She did not like it. Halting in her steps because it felt as if she could feel someone watching her from the shadows.
She shivered and turned back to the ballroom, not wanting to be the girl who finds herself in a bad situation because she did not follow her intuition.
She hurried back to where Persephone sat, and all through the musicale, she had to hold back a shiver. Feeling as if someone watched her.
It was unsettling to say the least and when they left, Rose took a deep breath. The feeling of being watched finally leaving her.
They got in the carriage and after a long, tense and quiet ride, they dropped Rose off at the townhouse.
She looked across the street, but the man from earlier was long gone.
Going inside her house, she went straight to her room and as soon as the door was shut, was pulled up against a hard body.
She screamed against the man’s hand holding her in place until the scent of him stole through her senses.
She was just about sick of being pulled into a dark room when she was unprepared for it. From here on out she was going to look behind every door. But she knew who it was now.
Cabe. He was here. In her room.
She went soft in his arms and he turned her, looking down at her, panic filling his eyes.
He lifted his hand from her mouth, and she started to ask what was wrong, when Cabe took her lips. Kissing the breath from her.
