Page 108 of Wicked Rivals
He halted, his boots skidding on the rug, and he stared at her, confused. She should want to see him, shouldn’t she? Before when she’d told him to go hang, he’d assumed her father had been issuing the orders and that once he was inside, she would be happy to see him.
“Rosalind, sweetheart…”
Her eyes glittered dangerously. “Sweetheart?Sweetheart?I’m no sweetheart of yours, you coldhearted, manipulative bastard.”
The barb struck him hard. What had happened between when he’d woken up from his fevered dreams to now? They’d been so happy together…
He replayed the events, going over every detail in his mind from when he’d awoken to when she’d been taken. A pit dropped in his stomach.
Charles. She’d heard him speak to Charles when she’d gone to get him some broth.
Lord, he’d dug his own bloody grave, hadn’t he? He’d said what he had to in order to appease Charles, but his words would have been damning to a woman who cared about him.
Her eyes shimmered as she spoke. “Say what you need to say and then leave.”
“Are you all right?” he asked. “When I heard you been taken I feared the worst. Is your father here?” If he was, Ashton would throttle him.
“My father?” For a moment her brows drew together. She hastily shook her head. “He is dead. He died a short time ago. I am in no danger.” Her voice softened, and he knew by the look in her eyes that she understood what he had feared.
I came for you. He silently begged that she could read his thoughts and trust him.
“Is that the only reason you came?” she asked.
It wasn’t, but he wasn’t going to make a fool out of himself over his bleeding heart.
“Or is it because you wanted these?” She pulled a stack of letters out from a secret pocket in her skirts.
He raised his brows. “What are those?”
“Theseare letters between my father and Sir Hugo Waverly. Ones that will prove he was a spy who helped destroy a Scottish uprising ten years ago.” Rosalind stared down at the letters and then up at him. “You had no idea these existed, did you?” Her hesitation made him strangely relieved. She thought he’d come after her for some letters…and then the rest of what she’d said sank in.
These letters were proof of Hugo’s actions that would sink the man’s career as a spy and put a mark upon his back for the rest of his life. Ashton’s hand twitched with the urge to reach for them, but he did not move. He sensed this was a trap, one in which he would not have both of his desires.
Choose one and I shall lose either way.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ashton was here. He’d come for her. And yet all she could think was how angry she was with him.
He stood there looking down at her with those piercing blue eyes. Eyes that had widened with surprise when he’d realized just what she had in her possession. He hadn’t known about these letters, but no doubt he suspected she had something on Waverly that he could use. That had been the whole point of his seduction, hadn’t it?
He couldn’t have come just for me. I’m a pawn to him, a piece to be moved about a chessboard.
The bundle of letters seemed to burn her skin, and she couldn’t bear to hold the weight of them a moment longer.
Again she considered, for just an instant, that she ought to demand something in return, like his most profitable shipping company in addition to the return of all that was rightfully hers. A symbolic victory of sorts over him. But the truth was, she didn’t want a reminder of him once he walked out of her life. If he wanted the letters, he could bloody well have them.
Even if it damns my family, I want nothing more to do with them—or him.
“Do what you will with them.” She stepped forward and smashed the letters against his chest. She wanted to throw them in his face, make him feel how she felt right at that moment, her heart shattering. Yet she couldn’t deny that part of her heart still betrayed her, begging to be close to him for just a moment longer.
Ashton grasped her wrist, not allowing her to retreat, the bundle of letters still clutched in her hand. The sudden move made her shiver, not out of fear, but desire. In the last few days without him, she had started to fade from within, and now his touch was setting fire to her senses all over again. A fire that threatened to turn her heart to ashes if she didn’t protect herself.
He will always be like this for me. The man I want and can never have. The one who brought me to life and left me all alone.
She stared up into his eyes, hating him for how he made her feel,lovinghim for how he made her feel.
His other hand curled around her lower back. It reminded her of when they had waltzed at the country ball, the way they’d fit perfectly together. Bittersweet memories fluttered behind her eyes as she closed them tight, wishing she didn’t have to be strong. But she had to. She jerked in his hold, trying to get free. But could she ever truly escape the man who had broken her heart?
