Page 64 of The Burning Passion of a Fiery Lady
“Yes, my love.” He looked at her sadly. “No one was witness to the attack. He need only provide an alibi, and that would be that, I am afraid.”
She tried to suppress her crushing disappointment. Perhaps Jasper was right. Leonard was smart, and he was crafty; he would find a way to wriggle out of it. Frustration coursed through her. There had to be a way to deal with him … but how?
“You look tired, my love,” he said, caressing her face gently. “This is sitting heavily upon your soul. I can tell.”
Her eyes filled with sudden tears. Itwasexhausting, dealing with it all, knowing that the threat to them was still out there. She had been wracking her mind for a permanent solution to it; she had been pinning all her hopes on Jasper remembering that Leonard had been the one who had injured him. And now, it seemed that those hopes had blown away like a dandelion on a windy day.
She took a deep breath. She had to remain strong. Even though Jasper had made significant progress in remembering that night, he still needed rest. He wasn’t well enough to deal with any of this, yet.
And she had to find a solution. Shemustfind a solution, before Leonard Green showed his hand again, and attempted something else.
“I want you to rest,” she said, in a fierce voice, standing up. “I have work to do. A lot of work to do …”
He gazed at her curiously. “What do you mean? What work?”
She smiled faintly. “I will tell you, as soon as I have a plan. But it might take some time.”
She leant over the bed, kissing him softly on the head. “Rest now, my love. I will return soon.”
He gazed up at her, his blue eyes shining. “Have I ever told you that you are the most beautiful woman that I have ever set eyes upon?”
She smiled again. “You may have, once or twice.” She paused. “I love you, Jasper. All will be well. I promise you.”
She left the room, her mind whirring furiously. Thoughts were tripping over in her mind. She needed to be alone to process them and figure a way out of this mess.
She stomped fiercely down the hallway towards her room, looking neither left nor right. Leonard Green was not going to get away with it. He wasn’t going to get away withanyof it. She knew he had killed her husband, and he had tried to kill Jasper, as well.
She took a deep, ragged breath.
He thought that she was a helpless woman, sitting lonely in a large house. He thought that he could manipulate her and do terrible things, to bend her to his will. He wanted to control her as if she were a possession. As if she were some kind of a trophy that he could just pluck off a shelf and steal.
He didn’t love her. He had never loved her. For a man like Leonard Green, it was all about possession. He was incapable of loving a woman properly. She wasn’t even a flesh and blood woman to him. She was like a princess living in an ivory tower; something out of a storybook.
She took another deep breath. This time, she was going to get him.
Do not mess with me, she thought, fiercely.This time, you have overplayed your hand, Leonard, and I will not put up with it, anymore.
Chapter 25
Jasper was sitting up in the bed, eating toast and marmalade, when she walked into the room the next morning. He stopped chewing for a moment, gazing at her, with that almost stunned look he always wore, when he looked at her for the first time, after they had been apart.
Her heart melted. She knew how much he loved her, and that love was only growing stronger, every day. This terrible incident had only brought them closer together if that were possible. It was as if it had somehow solidified their connection.
She smiled. There was a delicious irony there. Leonard Green had tried to tear them apart permanently, but in doing so, had made their bond stronger.
Her smile widened. How he would hate to know that.
“My love.” She rushed over to him. “How are you feeling today?”
“Much better,” he said, his eyes raking over her face tenderly. “In fact, I feel so much better, that I after I have finished breakfast I am going to get up. I have already asked Kathy to go to my old room and fetch some clothes for me to wear.”
Susannah’s mouth fell open. “It is wonderful that you feel so much better,” she said, carefully. “But it is too soon, Jasper. You have had a major head injury and need a lot more rest. The headaches are still coming and going …”
He waved a hand dismissively. “I can deal with them.”
She sighed deeply. “Jasper, it is the doctor’s orders that you remain in bed for at least a week. And he knows what he is talking about. You do not want to sabotage your recovery, do you? Especially when you have been making such progress.”
He looked mutinous, for a moment. “I just feel so useless, lying here, all day,” he muttered. “I cannot just stay in bed when there is a threat to you, Susannah …”
