‘Here,’ Liam said gruffly, forcing a glass of whisky into Rebecca’s hands before resuming his pacing, looking every bit a caged, snarling beast.
He’d been doing that since he’d dragged her back inside, sat her on the sofa and thrown a blanket on her shoulders, nearly half an hour ago. There was nothing to do but let him. Soon, he would come to the same conclusion she had years ago.
Rebecca was numb, terrified and yet resolved. There was no doubt in her mind that her prince would find a way to her. The only thing she could do now was ensure Liam wasn’t caught in the middle. That he didn’t suffer trying to protect her. And he would. For, just as before, Liam refused to stop fighting.
If it hadn’t been so heartbreaking it might have warmed her. Chased away the cold numbness inside.
That’s what the whisky is for.
‘We’ll go to the magistrate,’ he declared finally to the flames, nodding his head as if trying to convince himself more than her.
‘And say what?’ she retorted flatly.
He turned, his eyes alight with indignant fire.
‘Francis never touched me. Even if he had, I have no proof.’
‘Ford is a good man,’ he bit back. ‘He’ll help us find a way. He helped with Hal.’
‘This isn’t covering up a tragedy such as that, Liam!’
He winced and she sucked in a deep breath, forcing her voice to remain even. His hopefulness and conviction were salt in the wound. Once, she, too, had believed there was a way. But no longer.
‘This is an accusation against a peer. Your neighbour. No. I will not stay hidden here, living in fear. I have to go.’
‘Then we’ll go together,’ Liam said, striding over and taking her hands in his.
Rebecca stared at him, uncomprehending, a vicious sliver of hope nearly clouding her own judgement as she looked into those eyes that would forever be her downfall.
‘Please,’ she begged, her voice cracking and what little remained of her strength wavering. The numbness was fading with every one of his protests, with his every touch, and the pain of it all tore into her. ‘Stop it. You cannot leave again. Not like this. Not for me.’
‘It wouldn’t be just for you,’ he breathed, looking down at their hands.
‘What?’
Sighing, Liam rose, and loath as he was to, he released Rebecca’s hands and returned to the hearth. This wasn’t how he’d imagined having this conversation, but then, Fate was a cruel mistress. So he would tell her why he’d truly come back. Somewhere in his heart he was grateful—the choice he’d been dreading was being made for him.
I will run; for her.
‘I only came back to rid myself of the Earldom,’ he said, turning to face her.
‘Is that even possible?’ She frowned, searching his eyes for the lie.
‘No.’
Raking his fingers through his hair, he tried to find the words that would make her understand, that would make her stop looking at him that way.
As if she doesn’t know me at all.
‘This life was never for me. The people who live on the estates need—deserve—a strong hand to lead them. To care for the lands, and them. That is not me. It never was, and never will be. I came back to rid myself of it all, make the arrangements for the title to pass to my cousin. But Leonards could not find a way. So we’ll leave.’
‘You want to run again. After that scene out there,’ Rebecca said, emotion tightening her voice and his heart with it, ‘your offer is to run again?’
‘I have means,’ he pressed on, knowing it all sounded as weak as it felt. ‘We will be safe. We’ll be happy.’
‘No, we won’t, Liam!’ she shouted, jumping to her feet, the blanket falling back like a cape.
She tossed her glass onto the table disgustedly, and his heart fell to his boots.
‘I don’t want to run anymore! I do so because I have no other choice! But you... You ran halfway across the world,’ she said, her eyes pleading, anger melting into sorrow. ‘Still you found no peace.’
No, no, no...
‘If we were together—’
‘Not like that. I can’t.’ She shrugged weakly, biting back tears.
He took a step towards her, but she pulled away.
‘You’re not the man I thought you were.’
Liam froze, halted in his tracks by the words his heart had feared all along. He’d always known what she would think of him if he told her the truth, but hearing it now...
‘You’re a coward, Liam.’
‘What are you, then?’ he spat, the harshness in her eyes spurring on his own, anger mingling with guilt and despair in his breast.
‘God only knows. What I do know are my limitations. When a battle cannot be won.’
‘So you retreat?’
He hated himself for hurting her, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go, any of this.
‘Yes,’ she seethed. ‘Call it cowardice, or self-preservation—what you will. But you...you have a name, a title, means, as you say. You have power. To be, to build, whatever you wish.’
Liam turned away, back to his old companions the flames, but her words would not release him. She would not release him.
‘You searched for ten years—or rather, I think, your entire life—for some ideal world. And you failed to find it. Instead of staying, and fighting to make that world yourself, you would run again. For how long, Liam? How far?’
‘As long and far as it takes.’
‘You will destroy yourself on that path,’ she croaked.
He felt tears of his own burning his eyes.
Only from the flames. Not the searing truth.
‘The man you feared you were when we first met, that is who you’ll become. But I will not be there to see it.’
‘We aren’t finished,’ he declared in his most lordly and commanding tone as he heard her begin to walk away. ‘If you truly wish to leave, I will make arrangements and keep you safe. You are not to disappear, and I’ll instruct the others that Mellors is not to be allowed within a mile of my land.’
‘You should tell the others the truth, then,’ she said flatly. ‘They deserve as much.’
Liam nodded. There was a moment, the tiniest sliver of a second, when he knew he could make this right. When he could go after her, and fix everything he had just shattered into a million pieces. Only the man who could, would be the man Rebecca had thought he was.
And I can never be that man.
He heard her footsteps, the click of the door, and he closed his eyes.
If you do have power here, help me protect her, Hal...
Rebecca barely even saw the others as she passed them, making their way upstairs to be told her sorry tale. She might have told them herself, only... She didn’t have it in her. She bemoaned the loss of the numbness; it was far better than this crushing devastation that left her hollow. It was beyond grief, beyond heartbreak, beyond anything she’d ever felt before.
Just make it to your rooms. Then you can fall apart.
She wasn’t entirely sure what she’d expected when Liam had dragged her back. Perhaps a calm, somewhat rational conversation, during which he’d realise there were no choices left for either of them. She had to leave. He had to let her go.
Perhaps, yes, somewhere in the love-addled, still-hopeful part of her heart, she’d dreamt there might be a way for them to be...together always. Happy. Instead, she’d got...
My entire world razed.
Bracing herself with a hand to the wall, Rebecca stopped for a moment, forcing herself to breathe through the pain that nearly doubled her over. Everything she’d been so sure of, everything she had believed Liam to be, had been a lie. And, goddamn it all, if she didn’t still love him, with every last piece of herself.
It would be so much easier if I didn’t. I wish I’d never come here. I wish I’d never set eyes on Thornhallow Hall.
Sniffling, wiping her eyes furiously, refusing to be broken by this—any of this—she forced herself to move.
Just keep moving, always, she told herself ceaselessly as she made it through the final steps to her rooms, where she could finally make a plan.
‘Well, this certainly is a delightful surprise,’ came the voice Rebecca had prayed never to hear again as she closed the door to her office. It chilled her to the bone, and her stomach turned. ‘I couldn’t believe it when I discovered where you’d ended up. You’ve led me on quite the merry chase, my dear.’
Rebecca crushed every single emotion within herself, determined to show him none of it, stood proud, and met his gaze.
There he was, her prince, as dangerous and handsome as ever. Tall and lithe, fine-featured, his appearance was effortlessly but carefully curated. From the perfectly tailored pantaloons, waistcoat and jacket, to the crisp, immaculate linen shirt and intricate cravat. From the tousled yet exquisite strawberry blond curls and immaculately shaved skin, to the selection of little rings on the long, delicate and expertly manicured fingers.
Francis hadn’t aged a day. He still had the youthful, innocent air which concealed his dark spirit. Once, he’d reminded her of a fairy; now he reminded her of a fox. The way his mouth curled in a perpetual sneer and his pale green eyes swept across every inch of her, calculating, full of terrible intent... Once, she’d been charmed by the innocent facade. Now she saw only the rancid soul beneath.
Arms crossed, he was lounging in her chair, his lazy, nonchalant manner in no way dissimulating the ready tension in his body. She knew she could run, scream, call out to the others, but she also knew this was her battle, and hers alone to fight.
And now I have the courage to.
What she’d found here, in Liam’s arms, even despite all she knew of him now, what they had shared gave her the fortitude to face anything.
I will tremble before you no more.
‘I am not your dear, my lord,’ Rebecca retorted coldly. ‘Nor shall I ever be. I suggest you leave the same way you slithered in here.’
‘Now, now, is that the way to greet an old friend?’ Francis drawled. ‘Besides, I’ll be on my way shortly, with no one the wiser, once we’ve had a little chat.’
‘Please do not tarry on my account.’
‘I will have what I came for.’
‘And what is that?’
‘You know very well,’ he said, straightening and slowly moving towards her. ‘Fifteen years, Rebecca, and nothing has changed, I assure you.’
‘Many things have changed.’ Rebecca smiled, raising an eyebrow in challenge to his approach. The Viscount stopped, acknowledging her newfound strength with admiration. ‘Though one thing has not. I will not be yours. I’m not afraid of you anymore.’
‘I see that. And may I say, it serves only to make you more interesting.’
‘Losing can be a valuable lesson, my lord.’
‘Losing? But I have not lost. This little battle of ours is not over.’
‘I think you’ll find it is,’ Rebecca bit back, her unease growing at his unblemished confidence. ‘Nothing you can do will force my compliance. So I bid you farewell. May we never meet again.’
Rebecca moved to open the door, but in a flash Francis had his fingers curled around her arm and pulled her in close to face him. She tried to wrench herself free, but he simply tutted and tightened his grip.
There was triumph in his eyes, and she felt her heart sink.
‘We are not finished, Rebecca,’ he said.
He was so close she could see every fleck of grey in his watery green eyes. She swallowed hard, trying to conceal any trace of fear he might use against her.
‘I’m not angry.’ Francis smiled soothingly and her stomach roiled. ‘I was, at first, you made a fool of me, but then... I always did love a good hunt, and you’ve been such excellent sport. I’ve enjoyed our game. Only now it is at an end. So I suggest you listen, and that you listen well. Will you behave if I release you?’
Rebecca nodded as defiantly as she could, and Francis shot her another sickening smile before letting go of her arm.
God help me, for no amount of courage shall help me now.
‘You may not fear for yourself,’ Francis said, as though discussing the weather. ‘But I think, you would not see others pay the price for your stubbornness. So, my terms are simple. You will come to me by sunset, or I will end the lives of everyone in this house. Including His Lordship. If you run, I will end them. If you are not convincing enough in your farewells, and anyone comes after you, I will end them. Do I make myself clear?’
Rebecca nodded, her voice and fight gone. She didn’t doubt for a moment he would make good on his threats, no matter that Liam was an earl. There were always ways.
‘Good. Until later, then,’ Francis said lightly, sliding past her and out of the office.
Fumbling, Rebecca closed the door, falling against it as she did so, feeling her entire world crumbling around her.
You knew this was how it would end; no use crying about it now.
She had stood tall, faced her enemy, and he’d won. There was nothing more to be done but to accept her fate, and be glad that she’d been granted the chance at such a happy life, for a time at least. Be grateful for her time at Thornhallow, her time with Liam. There was nothing for it but to pack her things and disappear into the air like some sprite. Disappear before anyone could stop her again.
You can do this, Rebecca. You know the price if you do not.