“And you mean to make that happen by telling him the one thing I trusted you not to tell.”
“Bea—”
“This is my business.” Her voice cracked like a whip. “It has nothing to do with Dash—or with you, for that matter.”
Those words should have stopped him.
Perhaps, if he were his usual self, the calm and collected version of himself, they would have. But Gideon was not calm. Not after the theater corridor. Not after what he had learned over the past few days.
“It damn well will once we marry.”
“Do you hear yourself?”
Of course they would marry. She knew that. She had to know that after…
“You won’t be in danger again.” If he had to lock her in a tower, he’d do it.
The same men were in London now who had been here five years ago. Or near enough.
And worse, a few so-called gentlemen had uttered threats.
Gideon had not yet pinned down who. But he would.
And if his own sister, Veronica, was walking about with danger hovering over her head, Gideon would damn well expect to be told. He would demand it. He would expect to hunt the bastard down and see him ruined.
No.
Not ruined.
Destroyed.
“If Dash knew you were in danger?—”
“He would lock me indoors.”
“He would protect you.”
“He would take over.” She threw the words at him. “Just like you’re trying to do!” Her hands trembled at her sides, but her chin lifted. “Just because of what happened between us—just because I?—”
Beatrice’s color rose sharply.
“We have been intimate with one another.” She slowed down. “That does not give you the right to take over my life.”
“I’m only trying to do what is necessary to keep you safe. I cannot stand by and allow—” He broke off. Just what he would not allow, he dare not even say. It was unspeakable. “If your well-being comes at the cost of… certain freedoms, then it is a cost I am willing to accept,” he finished.
Her face changed. The hurt vanished beneath fury.
“Beatrice—” He reached out.
“I am not, though.” She stepped back. “I’m not willing to live in a cage to satisfy your worries.””
His mouth tightened. “That’s not it.”
“But it is.” Her voice broke, which only seemed to make her more angry. “You want to tell Dash because you cannot bear the guilt. You want to marry me because you don’t trust me to make my own decisions. You want to find the man who hurt me because you cannot bear the failure. But where am I in any of that?”
He said nothing.
“Can you not see how stifling that is?” she demanded. “How insulting?”
