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Automatically her eyes fell to his leg. “You can’t …”
“I will arrange it so that your brother is the one who calls me out, and it will be my choice of weapons. I’m an expert marksman—I will put a bullet directly between his eyes with no effort at all. ” He rose, moving around the desk, holding his cane but barely leaning on it. “You see, I can do anything I want. I’m giving you a chance to save your brother, but I’m just as happy slaughtering him. Anything to take a beloved sibling away from the Rohan family. Taking a sister has better symmetry, and the advantage with you would be that the pain would be lifelong. Once you marry me you’ll never see them again. ”
She wanted to throw up. The thought of her darling baby brother lying cold and dead in the predawn light horrified her, and she didn’t doubt for a moment that this vile man meant it.
She couldn’t show weakness. “I think your brain must be as disordered as your sister’s, my lord,” she said with a foolish lack of tact. Except she didn’t believe he was mad at all. Cruel, determined, but perfectly rational. “Why in the world would you want to be saddled with a wife you despise?”
He laughed. “Oh, I don’t despise you, my precious. I find you quite … irresistible. My original plan had nothing to do with marriage at all, but a few minutes in your delightful company and I decided you were just what I needed. I need an heir, after all, and I have to marry sooner or later, and if I marry you it will be forever. You’ll never be free. ” His smile was positively angelic. “At least with you I won’t have to worry about foolish conventions. ”
“Such as pretending to be in love?”
“Exactly. I rather thought we’d present your family with a fait accompli. There will be nothing they can do about it—they certainly can’t kill their brother-in-law in a duel. All they can do is … miss you. ” There was no pain beneath his smooth voice, and yet for a moment she thought she had a glimpse of what drove him.
“No. ”
He looked at her tenderly. “The ton will be astonished. Who would have thought a soiled dove would make such an excellent match?”
“You bastard. ”
“Not in fact, but in nature, absolutely. I have a special license already in hand. I think distance would be a wise idea when your family hears about our elopement. We don’t want our honeymoon interrupted by a brawl. ”
“I won’t marry you. ”
He came toward her, and she noticed his limp was far less apparent than it had been. He came close and she wanted to flinch, but she held herself still. She gripped the seat of the chair as his fingers ran down her cheek and along the side of her neck, dipping inside her collar for a brief, shocking moment. “Oh, my precious,” he said softly, “of course you will. ”
She shivered. Shivered because he was touching her, shivered because she reacted to it, to the caress. But she didn’t move, and her eyes flashed fire.
“You wouldn’t do it. ”
“You think not? I had no qualms about endangering your life with a carriage accident. Trust me, the name Scorpion isn’t an accident. I’m cold and lethal—society shuns me for good reason. ” He leaned his face down, and brushed his lips against her cheekbone. “I’m sorry I’m such an ugly brute, my precious, but you can always close your eyes and pretend I’m someone else. ”
She did close her eyes then. Not because of the scars—those she’d ceased to notice long ago. The sight of his betrayal was new, though, and she couldn’t stand it.
“So what’s it to be, my darling? Your brother’s life or marriage to me? I do promise that I’ll grow bored of you very quickly and you will live a pleasant life out in the country, with more than enough money to indulge your every whim. Look at it this way—your life will be very much like it is here. You’ll be free to do what you want without a thought to the ton. You’ll simply be a bit more isolated. Make your choice. ” The soft, caressing voice ended on a note of steel.
He’d won, as he’d known he would. She knew Brandon too well—he’d rush into a confrontation and Lucien would kill him without hesitation.
“Yes. ” Her voice was cold.
He laughed softly beneath his breath. “I warned you I was ‘determined to be a villain. ’ I may look like foolish Caliban, but my soul is far blacker. You just refused to see it. ” He pulled back. “I’ll have the horses put to. ”
“What? I have no clothes, and my servants will have no idea where I’m gone …”
“Leopold will see to your servants. In fact, he’ll see to everything. As for clothes, you won’t be needing any. You’ve been dancing on the edge for long enough—we may as well seal our devil’s bargain immediately. ”
“But where are we going?”
He shook his head. “I think you’re better off not knowing. But you’ll be pleased to know I’ll ride while you have the carriage to yourself. I think I’d find the trip a bit too … arousing. And I certainly don’t want this to remind you of your last elopement. ”
“It’s exactly like my last elopement,” she spat. “I was abducted against my will that time, as well. ”
“But at least I’ll marry you,
” he said in a silken voice. “Whether you want me to or not. ”
And a moment later he was gone.
9
