A Dangerous Man (35 page)

She longed to rest her palm against his jaw, to rub her
cheek against his neck, to press her lips to his.

Instead, she gathered her courage and her dignity.

It was time to face the truth.

"I know why you married me," she said. "I know my father
blackmailed you"

She watched the lump in his throat move up and down as
he swallowed. His eyes closed. His lips tightened. His jaw
grew hard, an unforgiving slope of granite.

For a moment, Leah thought he might deny it. Then he
opened his eyes, their dark centers turbulent as the storm outside the window and just as bleak. Was that pity or regret
she saw in his eyes?

"Yes, it is true," he said, his voice rough, his hand tightening on her fingers. "How did you find out?"

She pushed herself from her chair. He approached her
slowly, warily, as if he feared she would bolt from the room,
or leap from the windows. Did she appear as wild as she felt,
like the wind rattling the shutters, like the rain beating the
glass? "How you must hate me "

"No," he said quietly. "I wanted to hate you. I tried, but it
took only moments in your presence to realize you were an
innocent victim in your father's grand scheme. You are too
sweet, too innocent to partake of such a deception."

Unable to bear the compassion in his eyes, she turned
away. Her life was a sham, her marriage not truly a marriage.
What it was, she did not know. Her skin burned with shame,
with despair, with bone-crushing fatigue.

She raised a shaking hand to her brow.

He came up behind her, gripped her shoulders. "Who told
you?" When she did not respond, he dug his fingers into her
skin. "Was it Rachel? What did she say?"

Leah shook her head. She stepped out of his grasp, then
turned to face him. "Tell me of my father's trickery."

She saw a flicker of emotion in his obsidian gaze, a flash
of relief, perhaps, or rage, before he closed his eyes. It happened so swiftly, Leah almost thought she had imagined it,
for when he looked at her again, his gaze was clear and hard.

He folded his hands behind his back. "It matters not"

"It matters to me," she said. "I have a right to know. Do you
not see? My life is based on a lie, my marriage on treachery.
How am Ito live with that?"

He sliced his hand through the air. "You are not to blame
for your father's misdeeds. It has naught to do with you"

"It has everything to do with me. I tried to set you free. I
offered you a divorce, but you refused"

No words. He simply nodded.

"And now? If I offered now, would you agree?"

"Never," he said, grabbing her arms. He dragged her close
until she was crushed against his chest, until his hot breath
caressed her face, until his sensual scent seared her lungs.

"Why? For my father?"

"No. For you. Because you are my wife. It has nothing to
do with your father, and everything to do with you"

To her shame, silent tears slid down her cheeks. "Then
what has happened to change you so? Why have you become
so distant, so cold?"

"Because I am a fool, as more than one person has tried to
tell me. My love," he whispered, then touched his lips to hers.

Oh, God, she could almost believe all would be well when
he kissed her like this, hot and demanding. His tongue ravishing her mouth as she wanted his hands to ravish her body.
Reason fought with desperate need unfurling within her as he
dragged her against his chest, her breasts tingling as the
dampness of his shirt seeped through her dress, his mouth
trailing a fiery path along her jaw, then down the sensitive
curve of her neck.

It had been so long, too long, since he had touched her in
passion, but she wanted more than passion. She wanted his
love.

As the serpent taunted Eve in the garden of Eden, Rachel's
words taunted Leah. It is me he loves ... and if you do not believe me, make him choose ...

Leah shook her head. "Not yet. We need to talk."

He ignored her words, slanting his mouth once more against
her lips, his tongue thrusting within, the slow, delicious sweep
drawing a moan from her throat and dampening the flesh between her thighs. She wanted nothing more than to tumble to
the floor with him atop her, his hands scraping against her
thighs as he shoved her dress up to her waist and drove his
straining sex deep within her body. But she had to face the
truth.

She pushed against his chest, broke from his embrace. She
stumbled to the window, her vision blurred by the rain as she
stared out over the gardens. He walked up behind her.

Afraid he might touch her, she wrapped her arms around
her waist. Her heart and soul cried out in fear, do not do this.

But Rachel's hideous words chanted, make him choose,
make him choose, make him choose.

Leah knew she was making a dreadful mistake by paying
any heed to Rachel's vicious lies, but she could not seem to
stop herself. As if from a very great distance, she heard herself say, "I want you to find Rachel a home of her own. I
cannot live with her another day."

His face blanched. "And what of Alison? I am her guardian.
I want her here where I can see to her needs"

Leah stared at the floor. While Rachel's words had tossed
about in the turbulent storm in her mind, she had never once
considered Alison. Leah loved that little girl so much, it hurt
her heart, but she could not stand the mother. She could not
live in the same house with Rachel any longer, not with her
vindictiveness and her coveting of Leah's husband.

"Perhaps she would agree to leave Alison with us?"

Richard laughed, a bleak sound with no humor. "No. She
would never agree, and I have no reason to keep her from her
mother, at least, no reason that would not ignite a blaze of
gossip. And I will not do that"

"Even if she took Alison with her, we could still see her every day. We could still see to her needs. Not every child
lives under the same roof with their guardian."

"I thought you loved her."

"Of course I love her," Leah said. "I could not love her any
more than if she were my own daughter. But she is not my
daughter. Nor is she yours. She is Rachel's."

He stared at her through eyes devoid of emotion. Neither
spoke. The mantel clock ticked off the passing seconds.
Every stroke brought a new pain to Leah's already aching
heart.

His chest heaved as he sucked in his breath. "You have
seen the kind of mother she is and still you would ask this?"

"I have never seen her ill-treat Alison. Are you saying she
abuses her?"

"No, she does not abuse her. Not physically. She simply
does not know the child is alive. And believe me, that hurts
more than a physical slap to the face" Richard clenched his
fists at his side. "Damn it! Why are you doing this to me?"

"Twice I offered to set you free. Twice you refused. I cannot
live with that woman " Leah bit her lip to stop the tumble of
words, but it was no use. She was far beyond rational thought,
tossed about by the turbulent emotions controlling her tongue.
"I am your wife," she said. "Either she goes, or I go"

His eyes flashed with chilling fury. "Do you dare to offer
me an ultimatum?"

"It is your choice," she said, lifting her chin. It was far too
late to turn back now.

"You do not know what you are asking."

She gazed out the window. An impenetrable fog hung over
the gardens, a silvery ghostly presence, undulating in the rain.

"Do you love her so much, then?" Her voice came out a
choked whisper.

He grabbed her arms, forced her to meet his gaze. "Of
course I love her. She is my niece."

"I meant Rachel."

Richard thrust her away. "Do you think I care a whit about
Rachel? It is Alison-"

"You whisper her name when you sleep. Did you know
that?" She had tried to deny it, tried to tell herself over and
over again that it was meaningless, that he was having a nightmare, as he had said. She laughed a brittle laugh. "I've heard
you. In the night. You whisper her name. Have you nothing
to say?"

His features hardened, as if turned to stone. "As you have
already tried and convicted me, madam, there seems little
enough to say."

Leah shook her head while her dreams wilted like the last
roses of summer. She gathered the remains of her shredded
dignity and walked to the door. She opened it, but turned back
for a moment. "You know, Rachel said you would never let
her leave. It seems she was right."

Richard shouted her name, demanded she stop, but Leah
ran until she reached the safety of her bedchamber.

She twisted the key in the lock, then ran to the connecting
door and locked it, too. His chamber door crashed open.

His booted feet stomped across his room.

With her hands twisting in the folds of her gown, Leah
stared at the door. The handle jiggled.

A vile oath floated through the wood.

A heartbeat later, the door crashed against the wall and
Richard stood before her, a raging Ares, savage god of war.

Leah refused to cower before him, even though she was
trembling so fiercely, she had to lock her knees to keep from
collapsing on the floor. She had created this horrible situation. She would not hide from her own foolishness.

"Never lock that door against me, madam," he said, his
calm voice an understatement to the rigid tension in his arms
and legs. "Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Leah didn't even try to raise her voice above the lump in
her throat. Her eyes wide, she simply nodded.

"Excellent. Now that we understand one another, you may
see to the packing of your bags. As living with me makes you
so unhappy, you may retire to my Cornish estate."

Leah lifted her chin. Her lower lip quivered. She needed to
end this interview before she disgraced herself more than she
already had. Good Lord, what had she done?

He glared at her. "Have you nothing further to say?"

"What is there to say?" she managed, pushing the words
past the knot in her throat. "You have issued your commands.
I am to go into exile-"

"How so? Is this not what you wanted? Is this not what you
asked for? Was this not the purpose of the scene in the library? To force me to send you away? To gain the precious
freedom you demanded on our wedding day? You simply
latched on to Rachel to force my hand."

Leah clamped her lips together. Of all the arrogant, ignorant, sanctimonious nerve! To assume to make judgments on
her motives! If only he had heard Rachel's terrible words.

He rubbed his hand down the center of his chest. His gaze
shifted away, as if he could not bear to look at her. "Leah .. ."

"If you do not mind," she said, surprised her voice came
out so soft and reasonably controlled. Her skin was so cold,
she started to shake. "I would like to prepare for my journey."

He took a single step toward her, as if pulled by an invisible hand, then he gave a curt bow before striding from the
room.

Leah dropped to her knees, buried her face in her hands.

Oh God, what had she done?

Richard stood outside the nursery door, hidden in the shadows, as he watched Leah kneel before Alison.

Her hands shook as she drew the child into her arms. Her
voice quivered as she said good-bye, each word spoken in her
soft, melodious voice a whiplash stripping the flesh from his back. He sucked in his breath, drawing air deep into his lungs
in a desperate attempt to flush the pain from his chest.

He was glad he could not see her eyes.

Alison pushed out of Leah's grasp, backed away until her
shoulders bumped into her nurse's knees. The tears drenching
her cheeks gave the lie to the belligerent set of her mouth.

He should walk away. He should leave while he still had
control over his emotions, but he was no more capable of
moving his feet as he was of dragging his gaze from his wife.

"I have a favor to ask of you," Leah said, lifting a rag doll
in her hand and offering it to Alison. "Could you look after
my friend while I am away? Her name is Mary and she is very
special to me. My mother gave her to me when I was not
much older than you"

Alison puffed out her lower lip. "You lied to me. You said
you would be my friend. You said you would never go away
and you're leaving me. I hate you," she shouted, then turned
to flee. She stopped, grabbed the doll out of Leah's hands,
then ran into the adjoining room, her weeping drifting back
through the door.

Leah buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders heaved,
but no sound emerged from her silent, smothered sobs.

Richard bolted for the stairs. He could not allow himself to
think, or worse, to feel, for fear his black heart would shatter,
the fragments scattering over the floor until nothing remained. Rachel stepped into his path. The malignant gleam
in her eyes, the gloating triumph in her smile, left no doubt
that she'd enjoyed every heart-wrenching word she'd just
heard.

"If you open your mouth, if you dare say a word," he
snarled as he pushed past her. "I will kill you"

Geoffrey stood at the bottom of the stairs, casually dressed
in a loose banyan tossed over his shirt to hide his wound. He
glared at Richard. "I understand congratulations are in order.
You have finally managed to push her away."

"Geoffrey, for the love you bear me, do not. Not now. Not
today." Richard stalked the perimeter of the hall, through the
arched columns to the door, then back again. The echo of his
boots beating the parquet floor filled the void between them.

Soft footsteps approaching the bend in the stairs caught his
breath in his throat. A moment later, Leah appeared.

The hall grew silent, the air, musty and damp against his
sweating skin. The only sound he could hear was the thumping of his heart. He was amazed it was still beating, for he
thought surely he was dead. He wanted to drag her into his
arms, to bury his lips within her hair, to beg her to stay, but
pride and anger smothered with despair kept the words locked
within his throat.