AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It is settled. Witness statements have persuadedthe committee in the House of Lordsabout the legitimacy of my claim, and without Frederick to contest it, they have already made the transfer of the title.”
“That is wonderful.” Relief flooded her—she would never have been able to forgive herself if he had lost his place in his family because of what she had kept from him. She smiled. “That is why you need to go back to London?”
He shook his head. “I won’t be going back. You will be. I bought you ahouse in Golden Squareand I’ve arranged a full staff and several of my men to guard it. It is close to Daphne’s residence, and I have set up two trusts for you to live off of. You will want for nothing.”
“Trusts? A house?” Her head jerked back, her eyes narrowing. “What are you talking about, Strider?”
His mouth opened as he took a deep breath. “I can’t do this—you can’t be in my life, Pen.”
“What?” Her hand flew up, palm to him. “Stop—stop right there.”
“No.” He exhaled, his jawline setting hard as he stared down at her. “I can’t have you in my life—what happened with Frederick—it was just the tip of the mound of enemies I have—too many enemies. And this.” His right hand shifted, waving over the wound on her side. “Watching what this did to you, almost killing you. The surgeon didn’t think you would live. I didn’t think you would live. And I can’t…can’t let it happen again.”
Her eyes narrowed at him and her back straightened as she swung her legs to the floor. “Don’t live in fear, Strider—it doesn’t suit you.”
He took a step backward. “No. You were the only thing that could ever strike fear in me. And I won’t risk this. Won’t risk you ever again. Don’t argue this with me, Pen. This is how it is.”
Instant ire flooded her veins. That he would decide this for her—that he thought hecoulddecide this for her.
“You never knew how to let someone fight for you, Strider.” Her palm slammed into the cushion by her thigh as her look skewered him. “But it’s always been me. I am the one that was meant to fight for you so you don’t have to fight life alone. You know that. You just aren’t willing to admit it.”
His right hand balled into a fist. “No.”
She shoved herself upward, gaining her feet, and she stepped toward him. “But you don’t get a choice in this matter. When we were young and first separated, I always escaped whatever cage the Flagtons put me in to run back to you. Again and again. This is no different.” She stopped in front of him, staring up at him, the anger boiling so fiercely in her blood she wanted to slap him—slap sense back into him for the nonsense he was spewing.
“Pen, sit down.”
“No.” Her hand swung in front of her. “Whatever cage you think to put me in to keep me away from you, it won’t work. You need me at your back. And I need to be there.”
His fist slammed into his thigh, his knuckles straining bright white. He spun away from her, his left hand running across his brow. “Pen, you almost died. Died.” He looked over his shoulder at her, his lips drawn to a severe line, his voice low thunder. “Died. You don’t know how many times I looked at you and your breath stopped and I thought that was it—you were gone. Every one of those moments crushed me. Crushed me into a place where I wasn’t about to go on without you. I cannot do—”
“No. Stop. You need to stop because I didn’t die. I am here. Alive. Death is just another cage that cannot hold me back from you.” She rounded him, setting her hand on his cheek.
His head jerked away from her touch.
She wouldn’t have it and moved in closer, her palm landing along his jaw, refusing to let him escape her. “If death comes, then death comes. That will not stop me from being where I’m meant to be—at your side.”
“No, it cannot—”
Her other hand went upward, capturing his face, making him look at her. “Here’s the harsh truth—the only way you could stop me from coming to you time and again when we were children was for you to break my heart.”
“Pen…” His eyes closed as he exhaled her name, the torture of that memory still haunting his face.
“But I am so much smarter than I was then. If I know anything, I know that.” She went up onto her toes, her face close to his where she could inhale the scent of him. “I know you’re never going to do that to me. You’re never going to hurt me again—break my heart—no matter the reason. So stick me in a house in London and I will escape it and find you. Stick me on the farthest Scottish isle and I will escape it and find you. I am with you, Strider. Against all your excuses. Against all your fears. I am with you. We make sense together, and that is the only place I will be.”
His eyes still closed, he cringed, her words wounding him. Wounding him for he realized the truth of them. She would always find him.
As much as it pained him, he would just have to accept it. She wasn’t about to let some foolish noble thought of protecting her separate them—steal more years away from them. And if he was smart, he’d realize that sooner rather than later.
Strained, his jaw shifted under her palms. His eyes opened to her and she saw the most glorious thing in his honey-brown irises.
Defeat.
A low growl escaped him. “You are impossible.”
“Yes. But I know where I belong. With you. With love.”
His arms wrapped around her, pulling her tight, desperate, to him. It aggravated her side, but she didn’t take pause at the stab of pain. His arms, the heat of him, took away everything that was wrong. They always had.
