She could still feel his hand clamping over her wrist, squeezing until her bones protested.You belong to me now, Violet. Your brother signed the papers. You’re mine.
No.I am not.
“Stop that,” Pippa said suddenly.
“Stop what?” Violet blinked.
“That face you make when you’re thinking ofhim.”
“I wasn’t—”
“You were,” Holly cut in. “Your mouth twitches and your nose wrinkles, like you’ve just swallowed a glass of vinegar.”
Violet shook her head, schooling her features better. “Perhaps I was thinking of my brother instead.”
“They are one and the same, where I’m concerned,” Pippa said dryly.
“Both of them are poison,” Holly agreed, grabbing Violet’s hands in hers. “We did not help you build a new life only for you to spend your days reliving their cruelties. You are free, Violet. Breathe it. Claim it. And try to have some fun, all right?”
Violet nodded and said softly, “Of course.”
“You just wonder sometimes how long your freedom will last.” Pippa said what she could not. “It will take some time, but you are so much braver than you think, Violet.”
Violet wanted to believe her. She wanted to sink into that truth and let it hold onto her forever. However, if life had taught her one thing, it was that peace never lasts. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t try to hold onto it for as long as she could.
“I’ll be fine. Don’t forget I made an acquaintance thanks to you, Holly. Calliope is quite pleasant.” She also had a shop—of a candle shop—and evidently, they shared a landlord.
The Furys.
Men Violet would rather not think about. Holly and Pippa might think them handsome and dangerous, but they were hard, lethal men. They had the literal scars on their faces to proveit. Especially the one with the jagged scar running from his eyebrow to his jawline. He was particularly frightening.
And intriguing.
But only in so much as how he got that scar. Quite frankly, she couldn’t begin to imagine how it might have hurt. For some reason, he reminded her of Hades, king of the underworld.
It was most certainly best to keep those landlords at a safe distance. However, Calliope had just married her landlord, so she was a Fury as well. They couldn’t beallthat bad, could they? She’d learned the hard way that when a person’s nature is revealed, it is wisest to accept it at once. And their natures were all... brutes.
“It’s fine to befriend Calliope,” Pippa said. “Just don’t get caught up with the business of the men she keeps company with. That path leads only to danger.”
Holly nodded. “Just look what happened to Calliope.”
“Didn’t her family in London kidnap her back?” Violet asked, remembering the sequence of events all those weeks ago that led to Calliope’s kidnapping. A truly shocking event, given that it also happened to be Violet’s biggest fear. Their situations were slightly different, but one thing was remarkably similar—they’d both run away from home and opened a shop in Brighton, renting from a ruffian family. She didn’t mind the last bit so much, so long as their troubles didn’t become her troubles.
“Be careful,” Pippa urged.
“I will,” Violet reassured. “Plus, I have no reason to cross paths with them except to visit Calliope, or she me, and then I’ll be with her, not them.”
“Right,” Holly said. “There’s danger and handsome, then there’s handsome and deadly. They, I believe, fall into the latter category. Let us know if they stir any trouble.”
“I will.”
“Then we shall be off,” Pippa said.
Violet walked her friends to the door. “Have a safe trip. Send word when you arrive home.”
“Oh, we shall send so many letters you will get sick of us,” Holly chirped.
“Oh, I doubt that.”
