Page 84 of Cocky August Rake

He would demolish her home, cast her family onto the streets, and then carry her away from the wreckage?

She would have his protection, his ship, she’d sleep in his bed.

But she’d have nothing of her own.

No Nell. No Violet. No women who understood the things she did not need to explain. No room with a lock upon the door. No place to return to if—no, not if, but when—Reginald grew tired of her.

She would have him… for however long he wanted her.

“No,” she whispered. “Please.”

Pain crossed his face. His hands tightened around hers. “Come with me.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I know that I want you with me.”

As though that ought to be enough.

Rose stared at their joined hands, but she no longer felt his warmth. He was asking her to leave the women who had become her family. The only walls beneath which she had slept without fear since her grandmother died.

He thought he was offering her a future.

But he was also taking away her home.

“I gave you until the end of August.” His voice was rough. “There is one week left, and I will honor every day of it. Nothing will change until then.” His thumbs moved over her knuckles, almost pleading. “But my decision is made, Rose. When the month ends, the only decision left to be made will be yours.”

Whether she would leave with him.

Whether she could choose the man who’d deliberately destroy the place that had saved her. She could not imagine walking away from The Domus. And now, cruelly, she could not imagine remaining there without him.

Rose managed a nod.

Relief softened his face.

That was what broke her.

She pulled her hands from his and walked away before he could see that he was breaking her heart.

COME WITH ME

Rose did not immediately make her report to Nell when she returned to The Domus. She didn’t speak with any of the other women, feeling like doing so would break her apart.

Over the next few days, she moved through the house as though she were no longer entirely inside her own body. She helped the maids prepare the receiving rooms. Tested every bellpull and latch. Reviewed the evening menus and checked the household lists.

All the ordinary things she had done a hundred times before.

Only now, each one felt like a farewell.

Because she wouldn’t have the choice of staying at The Domus—with or without Reginald Preston.

At times, Rose would stop and force herself to notice everything—the gleam of the polished banister, the murmur of women talking in the corridor, the scent of bread drifting up from the kitchen. She tried to press it all into her memory before it was taken away.

At other times, the days passed so quickly they frightened her.

And always, just below the surface, was Reginald’s offer.

Come with me.