He glanced at her sidelong, brows darkening. “Who says I’m a powerful man? I’m merely a man.”
Had he knocked his head going down? Why did he sound so sulky? She scoffed and waved a hand, plopping on the edge of the cot. “Are you? Merely a man? Power is a matter of influence,” she said lightly, holding his gaze. “And you have a great deal of that.”
“As you can see, I don’t have absolute influence.”
Violet grinned at him. “That’s all I wanted to hear.”
His eyes narrowed on her. “Vexing woman.”
“One you should thank, by the by. I saved your life. Twice.”
His dark eyes burned into hers. “Thank you, Violet.”
She inclined her head, heart fluttering ridiculously in her chest before she narrowed her eyes on the man. “You thought I was going to run away, didn’t you?”
“There was always the possibility.”
“Is that why you hid how close you were to fainting?”
He scowled again, taking a deep sip from the bottle before saying, “I didn’t want you to panic.”
“You didn’t want to show weakness,” she countered, slightly annoyed.
“It’s the same thing,” he muttered. “What was I meant to do if you panicked when your savior dropped cold to the floor?”
Blazes. “I did exactly what happened,” she shot back. “I became the savior.”
His jaw tightened. “You shouldn’t have to.”
“What a perfectly male thing to say.”
He suddenly rubbed the spot where she’d pinched him. “My enemies, my fault, my responsibility.”
Her gaze followed his movement before she glanced away. Do not feel even a pinch of guilt, Violet! In any case, he was very much to the point. “You know that no one can go through life without accepting help.” Just ask her. She pointed a finger at his chest. “Are you done suspecting me of whatever you were suspecting me of?” After this mad chase, the attempts on his life, she could never allow this man to discover her true identity.
“Not yet.”
Tough man.
“What brought you to settle in Brighton?” he asked.
She arched a brow at the unexpected question, answering without much thought. “The beach.”
“Have you been to the beach?”
No... “That’s beside the point. You do not need to go to the beach to enjoy the scent of the beach.”
“How poetic. Tell me the truth.”
How to answer? Whyhadshe chosen Brighton? Logic would dictate that she should break away as far as possible from her brother and from his chosen person for her, but she hadn’t wanted to venture so far as to lose sight of her former life, which included her friends. She simply wanted to live her life on her own terms, not someone else’s, and not be ridiculed and condemned for falling short oftheirexpectations.
She met his gaze steadily. “I wanted a life shaped by my own hands. Brighton seemed as good a town as any. You should understand, shouldn’t you? You seem to have built quite a reputation here.”
“If I do not hold the world by the throat, it will destroy everyone I love.”
Violet shivered. Perhaps this was what made him dangerous. Not the darkness he commanded, but the people he refused to lose. “I wish I had a brother like yours.”
“Brother?”
