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‘What I’m doing today is reallynoneof your business,’ she whispered.
‘Not my business?’ he challenged silkily.
She froze as she saw a strange glint in his eye. Her heart kicked. ‘Elias—’
Another electrical pulse shot from his hand to her wrist, charging her blood.
‘Who are you?’ Shaun roughly interrupted them.
Elias’s hold on Darcie’s wrist tightened. ‘You can’t marry him.’ His intense gaze didn’t waver from her. ‘You’re not in love with him.’
Her heart stopped.
‘Iknowyou’re not in love with him.’
She was so shocked, so horrified, she couldn’t respond.
‘I know,’ Elias repeated softly. ‘Because—’
‘Don’t...’Mortified, she finally whispered.
His jaw clamped and he glared at her, waiting for her to say more.
But she shook her head. He couldn’t be here. Not now. Not putting everything at risk. It was too precarious as it was. ‘Don’t say it. Don’t youdare.’
A white ring formed about his tightly held mouth while furious energy leapt in his eyes.
‘Of course she’s not in love with me,’ Shaun said testily. ‘And I’m not in love with her.’
A muscle in Elias’s jaw ticked. Darcie wanted the earth to crater and consume her.
‘You’re the groom?’ His question was so softly asked it was seemingly emotionless.
But Darcie knew different. BecauseEliaswas different. Her spine prickled in warning because she knew Shaun would hear condescension and arrogance. Elias was the epitome of everything Shaun despised. Successful, wealthy, powerful, privileged. Like the man who’d got Zara pregnant with Lily five years ago. She turned and saw the expression in Shaun’s eyes. Worse than sneering distaste, it was resentful defeat. ‘Shaun—’
‘This is nothing but drama, Darcie.’ He shook his head. ‘Maybe you’re better off dealing with it with your rich jerk here.’
‘Shaun!’
But as he backed away she didn’t move. She couldn’t, because there was still that hard grip on her arm holding her in place. And in less than two breaths, Shaun was gone.
‘Darcie Milne and Shaun Casey?’ a clerk called.
Darcie remained silent as she struggled to process the fact that her groom had just abandoned her. She’d known, hadn’t she, that Shaun had been unsure. It was why she’d delayed making that payment until he was here, and if they hadn’t been interrupted they would be getting married now.
‘Darcie Milne and Shaun Casey,’ the clerk repeated. ‘Darcie and Shaun?’
She turned and stared up at Elias with savage bitterness. ‘Now look at what you’ve done.’
‘Better now than after the vows.’ His tone was impassive but there was more than watchfulness in his eyes. There was wildness—a stormy emotion that she read as satisfaction and it destroyed her. Every last shred of self-control was obliterated in a tsunami of anger.
‘How dare you,’ she breathed. ‘You swan in here, swaggering around as if you somehow know it all. That you have the right to assume and to judge and to change everything?’
‘It’s just a wedding,’ he retorted. ‘It’s not like it’s a matter of life and death.’
‘And that’s where you’re wrong,’ she flung at him. ‘Ineededto get married today.’
‘Well, your groom is pretty weak if he fled just because I showed up.’ Elias snapped back. ‘He wasn’t in love with you,’ he added obstinately. ‘He even said so to your face.’
