“You’ve made that sentiment abundantly clear on many occasions in the past.”
“You’re also a fool.”
He shrugged, still not looking around to meet her gaze.
“Be that as it may, I never thought I would have reason to call you a coward,” she said. “Until now.”
Grentham slowly turned. His face had turned unnaturally pale, save for the two slashes of crimson ridging his cheekbones.
“A coward?” he repeated softly.
She sensed that he was more shocked than angry. “What else should I call someone who is too afraid to admit his true feelings, thus causing pain and heartache all round?”
He sucked in an involuntary breath. “You mistake my motives. I don’t mean to cause hurt, but . . .”
Arianna waited as his outstretched fingers slowly clenched into fists.
“But the threat to me didn’t end in Paris when we caught the main traitor. There’s still a dangerous cabal out there seeking to gain power in Britain—in fact, the Tsar’s trouble may be part of their machinations—and until I root them out, anyone close to me may be in danger, too.”
“So you’ve chosen to protect Sophia by pushing her away?”
Grentham didn’t answer.
“You’re not only an arse—you’re anarrogantarse!” she exclaimed. “It’s incredibly condescending. It’s not your decision to make. It’s hers.” A pause. “Unless, of course, your feelings have changed. In which case, you owe her the respect of being honest about it.”
He closed his eyes for an instant. “How could ever I live with myself if something were to happen to her?”
“I ask myself that all the time. As does Sandro.” Arianna sighed and allowed a faint smile. “The answer is, Love can be difficult. And challenging. At times, it ties your innards into knots. But you mustn’t let fear scare you away from its joys.”
She reached out and touched one of his still-clenched hands. “You’ll learn to live with all the contradictions and complexities.”
His mouth twitched at the corners. “Assuming I haven’t irrevocably bolloxed my chances.”
“You won’t know unless you ask.”
He nodded, his fingers uncurling and touching hers for a fleeting moment before he turned and left the room.
A complicated man.But then, that was akin to the pot calling the kettle black.
“What the devil did you say to Grentham?” Saybrook slipped back into the room a moment later. “He looked white as a ghost when I passed him on the stairs.”
“Never mind,” she replied.
A chuckle rumbled softly in his throat. But it quickly gave way to a look of concern. “I was scared to death earlier when you were caught out on that ledge.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“Bad luck.” The earl made a face. “It’s hard to believe any sane person would voluntarily choose to be out in that bitterly cold night. But apparently, a gang of thieves chose one of the neighboring mansions as their target. I sent Sophia to help you while Prescott and I raced to distract the servants and guard dogs who came out in pursuit of the thieves.”
“We eluded disaster by the skin of our teeth.”
He touched her cheek. “You still feel chilled.”
Arianna repressed a shiver. “Yes, well, I confess that seeing Sophia come within a hairsbreadth of death made my blood run cold.” She chafed her palms together. “Thank Heavens, she had a guardian angel—”
A near-silent laugh tickled against her flesh. “The thought of Grentham as an angel boggles the imagination.”
“A flawed angel,” murmured Arianna. “As we all are.” She sighed. “But what matters is that we all care about Good triumphing over Evil. So we do our best, despite our shortcomings.”
