Page 19 of A Wicked Viscount's Stormy Affair
He had dreamt of nothing but her, and now here she was.
In his brother’s arms.
The dream had become a nightmare.
I cannot allow Gregory to take yet another thing from me.
It hardly mattered that George had told Sophie he wanted nothing but friendship from her. Seeing her smiling at Gregory twisted up his heart in ways he was not expecting. Determination surged through his veins because he simply could not stand it.
“He has spotted us,” Sebastian warned. “I believe he might be coming over with Lady Dashwood in tow.”
George’s spine stiffened. He had no idea how he was going to handle this, but he knew he had to be strong. To hold his head up high, no matter what happened. Gregory was always going to do whatever he could to get under George’s skin, to make him react and possibly prove to the ton thathewas in fact the unstable one.
And George was determined not let Gregory win.
Sebastian seemed to sense the tension riling up in George, so he stepped forward to make this all run more smoothly.
“Lord Harrington, Lady Sophie, how wonderful it is to see you.”
Gregory’s eyes widened in surprise. At least Sebastian had knocked him off kilter a little.
“You know one another? Lady Dashwood, you have already met Lord Sebastian Akerson, and my brother, Lord George Harrington?”
“Yes, we had quite the delightful boat journey over from Sweden together,” Sebastian chuckled, jumping in once more before this got even more uncomfortable than it already was. “I found the Dashwood family to be quite charming.”
All the color had drained from Sophie’s face. She looked like she had seen a ghost and did not know how to escape the clutches of the haunting. To be honest, George felt the same way. He might have spent many a night dreaming about seeing her once more, but the reality was quite stunning.
Especially seeing her on the arm of his brother.
He did not know what to do with himself.
“I believe my mother is trying to get my attention,” she finally declared in a half whisper. George was sure that this was nothing more than an excuse, but who could blame her? “Thank you for the dance, Lord Harrington. I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening.”
George could not take his eyes off of Sophie for even a moment, as she crossed the room back to the refreshment table where her parents were standing, he looked on, longingly, with a deep sense of yearning settling in the pit of his stomach.
Unfortunately, typical of a man who was sharp at spotting the weakness in others, Gregory seemed to sense this.
“Lady Dashwood is the wealthiest woman in this room,” he said smugly. “And the lucky woman that I have chosen to marry. I am sure she will be quite pleased to have a marriage proposal from a viscount. What do you think?”
George said nothing.
He knew that his brother did not even really need a response to that.
Gregory just wanted to wind him up, and George was still refusing to give him what he wanted.
“Yes, I think she will like it quite a lot,” Gregory declared, pleased with himself. “I do not think she would like to marry a mere lord. A lady like that deserves a man with a great title.” He smirked at George, really enjoying the upset he was causing. “Anyway, I do hope you have a pleasant trip back to Sweden.”
It was damn near impossible for George to contain himself.
He felt a tsunami of rage flowing through him. All he wanted to do was lurch out at Gregory, to give him what for. To perhaps finish the fight that they started years ago, and to maybe do everything that he was accused of. Because why not? Last time, he did nothing, and he lost it all anyway. So why keep on behaving?
For her.
That thought flooded him before he managed to act on anything.
Everything he lost before was nothing compared to the feeling Sophie gave him when she stared at him. The way his heart fluttered, and his lips tingled… that was a sensation he never wanted to end.
Of course he was all too aware that Gregory was right about one thing. That Sophie deserved to marry a man far better than him. A viscount, yes, but not his brother. George did not want Gregory to turn on the charm and to use Sophie for her money. That was not fair. She was a lovely person who deserved to be loved.
