Page 87 of How to Tempt an Earl

“It wouldn’t have mattered. You’ve said many times that he’d go elsewhere to gamble.”

“I’m going to find out what happened. If Hatfield is responsible, then he’ll pay.”

“Why bother? You know what happened. My father told you. He was wrongfully accused of cheating, lured outside, and beaten.”

“So he says. I need to confirm it. The guilty party will be held accountable.”

His tone was harsh, and she almost felt bad for Hatfield. Almost.

“I’ll return to you tonight as always,” Ian said.

Pain squeezed her heart. Did he believe that now everything would go back to the way it was? “I don’t believe that is a good idea.”

He nodded. “Of course, you will want to sit with your father tonight.”

“You misunderstand, Ian. I don’t think your visiting my bedchamber is a good idea ever again.”

She turned on her heel and headed down the long hall toward her bedchamber. The entire time she had been in his home, their marital home, she hadn’t spent one night in the feminine room. He’d always carried her into his master’s chambers and insisted she sleep in his arms.

His long strides met her shorter ones. “What are you saying?”

She halted in the hall and whirled to him, her eyes blazing. “We have been avoiding the topic, but tonight’s events have made it clear to me. I want no part of the Raven Club.”

“I thought you understood.”

“I understood nothing because we haven’t discussed it. You took me there once, and we never spoke of the place again. I thought I could do it, but I cannot,” she said.

“You cannot what?”

“I cannot continue to live like this.”

“You speak as if you are miserable. You come alive in my arms. You can’t deny that,” he said, his dark eyes searching her face.

She raised her chin and faced him. “Desire is not enough. I want more.”

“What more do you want?”

I want you to love me like I have fallen in love with you.

“You cannot blame the club for what happened to your father tonight,” he said, his tone curt.

“Yes, I can,” she said. “If he wasn’t there, he never would have been accused of cheating at cards and been beaten to a bloody pulp outside the club.”

“It could have happened anywhere.”

“But it didn’t. I feel sick that we had been intimate there.”

“Sick? You regret what happened? From what I recall, you enjoyed it very much.”

Anger bubbled inside her. She raised her hand to strike him, but he grasped her wrist and pulled her close. “You are driving me mad, my lady.”

“I’m driving you mad?”

“You refuse to see your father for what he is. He is a gambler, yes, but he is just as strongly drawn to his drink as he is to the dice. Both vices have resulted in his ruin.”

“Perhaps you are right, but I cannot live knowing my husband owns an establishment where my own flesh-and-blood parent was nearly murdered.” She tossed back her head. “You need to pick, Ian. The Raven or me.”

His jaw tensed, his grip firm. His silence was enough of an answer to her. It was clear. Why hadn’t she seen it? He’d never love her. There was no room in his heart for anything or anyone else. She pulled her arm from his grasp, opened her bedchamber door, and stormed inside.