She squeezed his fingers. “You will remain here,” she told her brother. “Until you understand what it is to have no one answer your demands. No one hurry to your comfort. No one soothe your fears.”
Reginald shook his head frantically. “Violet—”
“You tried to have Drake killed, did you not? You are at his mercy now.”
“And yours,” Drake whispered.
She shook her head. “I don’t want him.” Lord, it felt so good to say! “If possible, I never want to lay eyes on him again.” She looked at Drake, those dark pools that never fail to make her pulse reach for him. “He is yours to do with as you see fit.”
“Violet!”
She turned back to a man she’d never call brother again. “And mine to discard.”
*
The moment thosewords left Violet’s beautiful lips, Drake wanted to haul her into his arms and kiss her wildly. He, more than anyone, knew the cost of letting go. He’d taken treasures from his mother’s family after her death, but what he’d really wanted to do was rip their mouths from their faces, their hearts from their chests. Walking away with baubles had been a bittersweet compromise, and more bitter than sweet. Violet could demand anything from him, anything at all, and he would give it without question, without pause. She must know this. And yet she’d chosen to leave him the choice, the mercy.
Bloody hell, he loved this woman.
Drake pulled her back to his side and looked down at the man kneeling in the cell. “I may yet have use for two earls.”
“Oh?” Violet murmured. “What use may that be?”
He smiled at her curiosity. “We may have need for help in this war with my uncle.” He brought her palm up to his lips. “My uncle approached your brother from the start.”
Her eyes widened. “He did? So your uncle is the supporter they were boasting about?”
Drake nodded. “See, little flame? We were always destined to cross paths.”
She gave a light scoff. “I remember you suspected me of foul play at the start.”
He had. That seemed ages ago, however. “My suspicions weren’t that far off.”
“True enough.”
“You are both equally mad,” the dog growled from its cage. “The Crown will never allow you to get away with this!”
Drake snorted softly through his nose. Men like Reginald clung to crowns and titles like charms against the harsh reality of life. “What the Crown doesn’t know, the Crown cannot act upon.”
The dog’s glare turned fierce. “You think you’re untouchable! You are not!”
Drake tilted his head. “No, I don’t believe myself untouchable. However, leverage and trade are things I know all about.”
Violet’s fingers tightened in his. “You plan to leverage and trade my brother? Are you sure? I don’t think he’s worth much.”
“No, but his title does have some uses.”
“What are you thinking, Drake Fury?”
Drake grinned, leaning to brush his lips against her ear. “Why don’t I tell you in bed?”
She whacked at him, matching his grin.
Christ.
Violet’s smile was the kind of smile that changed a man. He’d chase it all his life. He reached for her hand and guided it to his chest, pressing it flat above his heart.
“Feel that?” he asked again, softer now.
