Page 85 of You Only Love Twice
"It's your wedding day," Barrons mused with a faint smile. "Aren't all grooms nervous?"
"Were you?"
"No." Barrons's glance slid toward his wife in the crowd, his dark eyes softening. "Mina was all I ever wanted, so I was bloody thrilled to finally claim her for my own."
Thrilled.
Malloryn's lips pressed firmly together as a sudden lashing of anger sliced through him. As calm as he might claim to be, he hated feeling manipulated like this. Resentment burned within him like a smoldering coal nothing could extinguish. Most of the time he thought he had it under control, but the entire day rubbed him the wrong way.
He just wanted this over and done with so he could set his mind to other matters.
Then Adele could go her way, and he could go his, and never the twain should meet.
It's not Adele's fault you're feeling this way, he told himself.You can't blame her for choosing the wrong flowers.
His gaze slid to the flower wreaths; gorgeous red roses and sprays of carnations. And his heart gave an unfamiliar squeeze in his chest as Catherine's image came to mind.
It might have been seventeen years since he'd pledged his heart to her, but he rarely thought of her these days. He refused to, the memories tainted by what had happened to her.
Yet now, the sight of her favorite flower—a red rose—had his skin itching from the inside out with all the ways this felt wrong.
This should have beenherday, but Lord Balfour had robbed him of that chance all those years ago when he put a bullet through her heart. Malloryn had been too late to save her, and all he could do was hold her limp body in his arms and scream his bitter rage at Balfour.
"Easy," Barrons warned, and Malloryn realized the color had faded from the world as the hunger within him rose to the surface.
"I'm fine."
This entire day conspired to make him sweat. He glanced at the queen, and saw Gemma in place behind her. Their eyes met, and he gave her a faint nod.
Time ticked by.
Where the bloody hell was Adele? He had the sudden brief suspicion the bride had actually run away, but then laughed under his breath. Some punters would hope so as he knew there was a betting book in the Company of Rogues about whether he'd actually go through with this, but he knew Adele far too well. One didn't plan a military campaign like this just to cry free at the last moment.
She wanted to marry him. He just wasn't entirely certain why.
"You never asked...."Her whisper stirred through his memory. Damn her, why did she have to say that? Was this another game she played? Malloryn had ice water in his veins, and one of the reasons he'd agreed to go through with this was because Adele did too.
Don't you dare think of her as though she's the victim in all this.
"Malloryn," Barrons murmured, pulling out his pocket watch and checking it.
"She'll be here," he said, ignoring the whispers and rustling fabric behind him in the ballroom of Adele's parents’ home.
Someone cleared their throat.
If she didn't make an appearance soon, he was going to punch something.
Ten minutes passed. The whispers grew and finally Malloryn's temper snapped. The bloody little bitch. She'd actually decided to cry free. He couldn't believe it.
Mrs. Hamilton gave him a thin, nervous smile. "I'll go see what the holdup is."
That was when Ingrid slid into the room, looking breathless. Their eyes met across the expanse of the ballroom, and hers were wide and startled.
A sense of tension leached through his body as she gestured quickly with her fingers to let him know she needed to speak with him.
Malloryn made his excuses, pasting a smile on his face as he nodded to the guests and strode toward her. "Where is she?" he demanded through gritted teeth.
"I don't know," she whispered. "I waited outside her door for twenty minutes, but it finally got the better of me. Malloryn, the room's empty. There's no sign of Adele, only the breeze whispering through the window."
