“But you don’t have any family left.”
“No,” I said, “but the Willsons are like family to me.”
“Are you sure they aren’t trying to make you believe that so they can take advantage of you?”
When he reached out to brush back a strand of my hair, I couldn’t stop myself from recoiling a little. The idea of his touch repulsed me, as did his words about Scarlet’s family.
This man fully believed I was some helpless woman who shouldn’t worry her pretty little head about anything. He thought I was easily manipulated and that, for some reason, he had a right to touch me.
When malice flashed through his eyes, I knew I’d made the wrong move. I was doing my best not to draw any more of his attention and failing.
I could kill him. He didn’t know it, but I could.
The consequences of killing him weren’t something I was ready to face, but it was an option if he tried anything. My fingers twitched before I steadied them again.
I had to find a way to diffuse the situation. It would be just as bad, if notworse, to have this man as an enemy instead of an ally.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I wasn’t expecting you to move; it startled me.”
This ass already believed I was some damsel in distress; I might as well play into it.
He gave me a patronizing smile as he lowered his hand. “Of course it would. I’m sorry I frightened you.”
I smiled sweetly while imagining what would happen if he entered the Revenant Woods. He wouldn’t last two minutes. I’d love to introduce him to the poltergeist Farley; I was sure he could get Gaius to shit his pants in no time.
We stood awkwardly before Gaius clasped his hands behind his back and surveyed the land again. “It is a lovely property. Perhaps I could get a tour.”
I kept my smile in place and bit back a refusal. Ryker would lose his mind if I brought Gaius into the barn, but I didn’t know what to say. If I told him I’d been about to eat lunch, he’d offer to join me; if I denied him a tour, it would irritate or make him suspicious about why I wouldn’t show him my farm.
I didn’t want this man getting annoyed with me, and I didn’t need him thinking there was something he shouldn’t see here.
“Of course,” I murmured, “but I have to get back to work soon.”
“A woman as beautiful as you shouldn’t be toiling in the fields.”
My smile didn’t falter as my dislike of this man grew. “This is my home, and the work is something I’ve always known and enjoyed.”
“I understand, but if I had a woman like you”—before I could stop him, he linked his arm through mine and turned me toward the barn— “I’d make sure you lived a life of luxury.”
When I gave a discreet tug on my arm, he clamped down with bruising intensity. I gritted my teeth against yanking on it as my gaze flicked toward the window in the hayloft.
It was too dark to see anything beyond it, but I knew Ryker was there, watching and seething. If I tried harder to free my arm, he would see it, and that would be the end of Gaius. If that happened, and if anyone knew he’d planned to come to my manor today, it would bring more trouble down on our heads.
I compelled myself to endure his touch as I gave him a tour of the land and buildings.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Ellery
I didn’t haveto see Ryker; I could sense him seething behind me soon after Gaius’s horse vanished over the horizon. I braced myself before turning to face him, but my eyes still widened when I spotted him in the doorway with his shoulders back and his black eyes filled with lightning.
I’d just dealt with one man who was a ticking time bomb; I wasn’t in the mood to deal with another. With a sigh, I approached him.
“I have to return to work,” I told him.
Ryker’s lightning-filled gaze shifted from the horizon to me. “What did he say?”
“He asked for a tour of the farm, but what he didn’t say is he wantsmyland. He thinks that because I have no family, I’m vulnerable, and he can move in on my property.”
