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The need to gather her up in my arms and run with her itched against my skin, my fingernails digging sharply into my palms as I tensed.
‘Esther!’ Maeve was on her within a few steps into the house, her arms wide as she threw them around her older sister. ‘I’ve missed you so much.’
Esther’s tense shoulders softened as she hugged her sister back, pulling her tight against her and breathing her in. ‘Missed you too.’
‘I can’t believe you’re here. We were beginning to think you’d actually disappeared for good,’ Maeve said as the women separated, Logan smiling at them both.
Another shot of pain to the chest. Even after everything, she still belonged. Still had people desperate to see her, to know that she’d okay. I wanted to be part of her circle, her person. What awaited me on getting home? Nothing. Even my plants would be dead.
Logan came over to me and patted my back with a firm hand. ‘Thanks, pal. Sorry she gave you such a runaround.’
‘She burnt down my car.’
‘Didn’t know she had it in her.’
Me either, I thought, watching her talk softly to her sister. There was so much I hadn’t known about Esther. So much that I wish I didn’t know now. How could I hand her back knowing they promised her to a man she hated? How could I watch her become his? Knowing that I want her to be mine?
‘Best get this show on the road. C’mon guys.’
Every step toward the drawing room felt tougher and tougher, like my feet were being dragged into the floor by unseen forces. It was all wrong.
Sweat glazed the back of my neck as I walked in behind them and spotted Harold leaning against the mantlepiece, looking like the cat who got the cream. I pocketed a hand, sliding my fingers over the warm metal of my knife. The muscles in my forearms tensed as I fought the urge to march over there and stab it into his neck. Sure, his men, loitering around the edge of the room, would be armed to fuck and have me riddled with bullet holes within seconds, but it would be worth it if Esther would be free.
Unfortunately, flying bullets would endanger her and her family, too.
I swallowed hard as a shit-eating grin crossed Harold’s face.
‘Here she is, my errant wife to be. I don’t enjoy waiting for things that belong to me. You’ve been a bad girl, Esther.’
Her name on his lips was like a knife to the leg. My breath came hard through my nose as I fought the urge to pounce.
‘Sorry,’ she said, more meekly than I’d ever heard her.
‘That’s okay. You have an entire lifetime to make it up. We can start right now.’
Fury erupted inside of me as he sauntered toward her, every part of her tensing up as the space closed between them. I gripped my knife between my fingers, losing all sense of self as I got ready to cut him into fucking ribbons.
A hand gripped my arm as I went to move, Logan looking at me with a small head-shake.
‘Don’t do it,’ he mouthed.
The delay was enough to have made it too late. Harold grabbed Esther harshly by the arms before kissing her hard, his tongue slipping against her tightly closed mouth. Revulsion roiled my stomach as Logan’s fingers tightened further.
Esther stood her ground, not reciprocating but not flinching either. When Harold stepped back, there was pure hate in her green eyes.
Harold laughed. ‘I like it when they fight. Don’t worry, I’ll fuck the fight right out of you.’
My eyes flicked to her father, who sat on the sofa, his eyes off to the left, avoiding the situation entirely. The fucker knew it was wrong, but he let it happen anyway, let the man who killed his wife and his son molest his daughter. How could he?
‘We’ll be married within a week,’ Harold said.
‘Two,’ Esther countered. ‘I want some time with my family first.’
Malcolm stood, finally inserting himself into the situation. ‘I think two weeks is soon enough, Harold. I’ll make sure she doesn’t go anywhere this time.’
Harold looked from Malcolm to Esther, his jaw ticking as he mulled it over.
‘Two weeks gives more time to organise a grand wedding, where you can show off the union to more of our peers. Make more impact with it.’ Malcolm stroked the side of Harold that loved a spectacle.
