Alicia dragged herself around the gilt and baroque sitting room. Absently she picked up one object after another, pretending to look at it. Her hands trembled as she carefully handled the priceless objects. She was pretending again, just like yesterday and the day before that. She had been pretending ever since she had come to live in the Baron’s townhouse. She had just replaced a rare porcelain dove back on one of the small tables when the delicate chime of the clock startled her. If she had been holding the dove, it would be in shards now. She swallowed hard, forcing her throat to work against its will. She knew what she needed, and she needed it now. Her eyes scuttled around the room, finally coming to rest on the liquor cabinet at the far end of the room. All she had to do was walk across the room and remove the stopper on the decanter and take a drink. It was wrong. Her mother hadn’t had to resort to liquor in her pretend world. All she had done was sit in a chair and close her eyes, and everything and everyone ceased to exist. She had tried that, but it didn’t work for her. Carl’s face always swam before her weary eyes. Memories haunted her, of how close they had been, and then, as always, the humiliating scenes she had to remember of the hours she spent in the Baron’s bed. The liquor was the only thing that could blot the hateful face of the Baron from her mind. If she was lucky, and she knew she wasn’t or she wouldn’t be in the predicament she was in now, she could drink herself to death and never have to worry again.
Her hands were trembling so badly she had to clasp them together. She glanced down at her clenched hands, seeing the knuckles stark white against the sky blue gown she wore. She wanted a drink. She needed a drink. She was going to take a drink and then another and one after that, until she finished the bottle. To hell with Carl. To hell with the Baron. To hell with everything. What kind of man was Carl to lie to her as he had? He couldn’t have truly loved her if he permitted his father to lead him around on a leash. Sebastian, next to her father, was the only man fit to live and breathe. The rest were all vile, perverted bastards. Her teeth clenched together, she crossed the room and reached for the sparkling cut glass decanter. Quickly, she removed the stopper, brought the bottle to her mouth, and drank deeply. She swallowed, waiting for the fiery liquid to hit her stomach. She needed that, she told herself, pouring another jolt into her snifter. Once she finished that off, she would cry a while, curse the Baron and sleep, hoping to see Carl in her dreams. When she woke, she would come downstairs and repeat the process all over again.
Her pansy eyes narrowed to slits. Today was supposed to be different ... or was that yesterday, or tomorrow? Sooner or later she’d remember. That she’d remember anything at all struck her as funny, and she flopped down on the sofa, laughing in hysteria. If the Baron could only see her now. Fresh waves of laughter rolled over her. He’d throw an unholy tantrum because she was unable to perform. He should only know that the only way she could perform for him was to half drown herself in brandy.
Tears slipped from her eyes. Why couldn’t she be a little girl again? Have a mother and father to make things all better again? Have friends, friends like Sebastian, whom she had trailed after since she could walk. Beautiful, beautiful Sebastian. If he could see her now, he’d be appalled, but he’d understand. Sebastian always knew what to do when things went wrong; he could fix anything.
That was what she was going to do today. She was supposed to visit Sebastian. Just yesterday she’d been looking out the bedroom window and had seen his carriage drive past the house, so he must be in Manaus.
A fresh roll of laughter erupted. What would Sebastian think if she showed up on his doorstep drunk? Hiccoughs overcame her as she struggled to her feet. No one could ever fool Sebastian. When he got a whiff of her, he’d probably catch fire. The thought delighted her as she tripped around the room, swirling her skirts. “I know—hic—that you must think I’m under the weather—hic—but actually I’m feeling rather well as of late—hic—”
Making her way to the door by willpower alone, she was determined that she’d see Sebastian. Hadn’t she always had a talent to rise to any occasion? And this was an occasion—hic!
Holding onto the door for support, Alicia squinted. Damn, when had it begun raining? She’d need her cloak and, of course, her ruffled parasol. Wouldn’t Sebastian be surprised to see her.
She carefully placed one foot in front of the other as she made her way to the small utility area outside of the sitting room. She struggled with a lemon yellow cape until she had it wrapped around her. She fished around inside the urn for her parasol, coming up with the one with scarlet bows on the handle. A rich gurgle of laughter made her double over when she caught sight of her reflection in the looking glass. If Rosalie Quince’s parrot should light on her shoulder, passersby would be hard pressed to discover where the bird left off and she began.
Alicia blinked. At least the damnable hiccoughs were gone. She repeated her careful progress back into the room. Her bleary gaze fell on the liquor cabinet and the two half-empty bottles. She pondered the problem for a moment. She could pour one into the other, or she could drink it. On the other hand, it was a long walk to Sebastian’s house and it was raining. She might want to stop along the way, and if she did stop, she would be thirsty. The problem was, and she admitted to herself that it was a problem, could she carry the parasol, watch out for puddles, read the street signs, and still carry the two bottles? It wasn’t an insurmountable problem. She finally solved it to her satisfaction by downing the contents of one of the bottles and carrying the other under her cape.
The minute she stepped outside, the torrential rain sluiced through her flimsy parasol, drenching her to the skin. She tossed the parasol onto the road and started off to the right, hoping she was going in the right direction. Merchants stared at her through their shop windows. They shook their heads and looked at one another. A woman in her cups wasn’t something you saw every day of the week or even once a year, for that matter. And a woman in her cups, staggering down the road in a heavy downpour, was even worse.
What seemed like hours later, Alicia climbed the steps to Sebastian’s house. “Sebastian Rivera, let me in your house immediately!” she shouted above the whipping rain. Getting no response to her order, she uncorked the decanter and took a healthy swallow. “Open this damn door, Sebastian,” she shouted again. Another swallow from the bottle, and the hiccoughs were back. “Damn you, Sebastian, you see what you’ve done. You made me get the hiccoughs again. Open this door before someone thinks I’m drunk. Sebastian!”
The door swung open and Sebastian Rivera blinked. “Christ almighty! Alicia? Jesus! Alicia, what the hell has happened?”
“I thought you were never going to open this damn door. Do you have something illicit going on in here? Look, Sebastian, I brought some refreshments with me. It took you long enough to open the door. I thought for sure that some of your neighbors would see me out there and wonder at my—hiccough—my condition. I have ... I have ... these ... hiccoughs ... from walking in the rain, and then—hiccough—you let me stand out there—hiccough—in the rain and now they won’t ... won’t ... go away. Oh, Sebastian, I had nowhere else to go, no one to turn to—hiccough— I had to come ... come here ... I knew you ... knew you would ... you have to help ... please ... Sebastian ... you have to help me ...”
“Alicia, what happened?” His voice was tender, brotherly, as he bent down on one knee. Taking her hand in his, he brought it to his cheek. “I’ll help you, Alicia. Just sit there for a moment and I’ll fetch my housekeeper.” When he returned with a rotund, jolly honey-skinned woman, Alicia was fast asleep, her hands folded under her cheek like a small child. Sebastian scooped her up and was startled to find that she weighed less than a child. How much weight she had lost; she felt all bony and thin. Gently, he laid her on the bed and spoke softly to the housekeeper. “Take care of her, and be gentle.”
Sebastian sat in his study, Alicia’s bottle of brandy in his hands. What in the name of all that was holy had made Alicia show up at his door drunk! Something told him that this wasn’t the first time she’d looked for answers to whatever was bothering her at the bottom of a bottle.
When he’d arrived in Manaus, he’d gone around to her apartment over the apothecary shop and learned that she was gone. Knowing that Carl Newsome was in Belém, Sebastian had thought Alicia was with him.
Hour after hour, Sebastian sat, waiting. He’d determined he wasn’t moving until Alicia woke and told him what her problem was. He was beginning to doze off around midnight when his housekeeper tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the upper level. Hurrying out into the hall, he ran into Aloni.
“Sebastian, why do you banish your Aloni to her room? Why is that woman here in this house?”
“Not now, Aloni. I’ve got too much on my mind. Go to bed. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
As he took the carpeted stairs two at a time, he heard Aloni complaining behind him. “You don’t love your Aloni anymore. Why didn’t you take Aloni to the masquerade ...”
Ignoring his mistress, he came to a halt outside Alicia’s door. Cautiously, he opened it a crack to see Alicia weeping into her pillow. It made him feel inadequate to see a woman cry.
Drawing up a gold brocade chair beside the bed, he gently reached for her hand and covered it with both of his. “Alicia. What happened? What’s made you so unhappy? Tell me, let me help you. You’re safe here, if that’s what you’re worried about. No harm will come to you. We’ve been friends since you were a little girl. Come, wipe your tears and we’ll talk.”
What he said was true. That was why she had come to Sebastian. It was no longer important to hide her shame. In the beginning, yes. Now she didn’t care anymore. Sebastian would understand. She groped for the snowy square of linen Sebastian handed her. She dabbed at her eyes and then blew her nose lustily. “I suppose I’m pretty much of a mess,” she said swallowing hard. “Do you think I could have a drink, Sebastian? Not water,” she added hastily.
Sebastian frowned. How could he refuse her anything? But he had to. “No, Alicia, spirits aren’t what you need right now, and I’ve a feeling that that’s how you’ve been trying to solve whatever problem it is that’s plaguing you. You can’t think and act clearly when you’re under the influence. Tell me what’s troubling you and how I can help. I don’t think I need to remind you that any confidence you share with me will stay with me.”
“I know that, Sebastian, and you’re right. Spirits aren’t what I need right now. Now I need a friend.” Staring him straight in the eye, she recounted what happened to her from the day the Baron first visited her. She left nothing out, spared herself no shame. She neither cried nor excused herself in any way. That was what frightened Sebastian.
A rage as black as hell ripped through Sebastian as he heard her out. When she finished with her tale, her eyes pleaded with him for forgiveness. At first she thought he was angry with her, then he stood and curled his fist into a tight ball. Before she knew what was happening, he lashed out at the armoire, splintering the wood. His face showed no pain, just vile disgust. The emotion, she knew, was directed at the Baron, not herself.
“My God, why didn’t you come to me in the beginning? Why did you suffer so? I would have killed the bastard cheerfully and then danced on his grave. Why, Alicia, why did you wait so long?”
“Because I couldn’t bear to see the look on your face. I thought you would believe the rumors that have been circulating that I was a prostitute. Sebas-tion, surely you understand. And then I started to drink, just to drive what was happening to me from my mind. Yesterday, I saw your carriage drive by the house. I wanted to run after you right then and there and tell you to take me away, but I was too drunk to make it to the door. In the beginning you were back on the plantation, and there was no way for me to get there, and above all, I was afraid of the Baron. Please, Sebastian, say you understand and forgive me.”
“Of course, I forgive you, and I do understand. My housekeeper is going to bring you some food shortly. I’m going downstairs to think. This can’t go on. Something has to be done. We’ll talk again in the morning. Good food and sleep are what you need most. In the morning we’ll both have clear heads and know how to deal with this matter, and you have my word, Alicia, we will deal with it, head on if we have to.” Gently, he kissed her on the cheek, and then, tenderly, he brushed back a stray tendril of hair from her forehead. “We’ll speak later.”
“Sebastian,” she said in a frightened voice. “Have you seen Carl? Is he all right? Please, you must tell me, is he going to marry Royall Banner?”
Sebastian stared at her for a moment. “I don’t know, Alicia, but I promise you I’ll find out. The last time I saw him, he appeared ... distraught. You know, I have never concerned myself with Newsome affairs unless they affected me in some way. You’re not to worry. He isn’t married yet. We both know that you’re the girl he’s always loved. Even when we were children, we all knew.”
“Not any longer, Sebastian,” Alicia whispered. “It’s too late now, for everything.” Her voice was flat, dead, sending a shiver of dread through him.
“Don’t talk like that, Alicia. It’s never too late.”
“Yes, yes, it is! Don’t you see! I’m not good enough for Carl if I ever was. Not any longer ... not after what I’ve done ... no ...” Emotionlessly, seeming to have drained herself of tears, Alicia gave him a level look that cried hopelessness.
“Alicia, you did what you thought you had to do. I’ll kill Carlyle for it, I swear.”
“No, don’t, Sebastian. Don’t ever, promise me! Promise me!” Her fingers clutched him, tearing at cloth and flesh, demanding, needing to hear him promise.
“I don’t want you wasting your life for me, Sebastian. I’m not worth it. I’m not worth anything anymore.” The expression in her eyes, more than her words, made him frightened for her. If he didn’t do something and do it soon, Alicia would die, by her own hand.
“Alicia, little darling, don’t torture yourself.”
“Go away, Sebastian! Go away! I can’t bear to have you look at me! Please, please go away.” She buried her face in the pillow, staring blankly at the far wall, a part of her already dead.
Without another word Sebastian closed the door and headed for his study. He had lied to Alicia. Sometimes there was nothing to do but take a drink and hope it would make the world right side up. The Baron himself had been circulating the news that when Carl returned from Belém an engagement was to be announced. And as he said it, he had allowed his gaze to find Royall.
One drink led to two and two to three. Three raced into four, five, and six, when dawn broke. He felt sober. Sober enough to want to kill the bastard named Carlyle Newsome. He knew that the only reason he had consumed so much liquor was because he needed the courage to do what he was going to do as soon as it was full daylight. There were some things a man could do and some he couldn’t do without the crutch of alcohol to get him through the tight moments. He told himself that Alicia was the only person in the whole world who could make him go to Royall Banner for help. But he would make it perfectly clear from the beginning that he was only seeking her help for his friend. There was no way he would ever approach her on his own behalf for any matter. But for Alicia he would subject himself to anything, as long as it would help her. He wondered fleetingly if he looked drunk.
He blinked when he stood up. There didn’t seem to be any feeling in his legs, at least none that he could feel. He stomped his feet several times until he felt the tingle start in his toes and work its way up his legs. He was alive. Now, if he could just ride a horse, his problems were solved. The Quince’s townhouse had been one of the first built on the outskirts of town. If he rode in from the back, he would go unnoticed. He would simply go around to the kitchen area and have one of the servants fetch Royall. It sounded too simple. He must be drunk, he thought as he mounted the russet gelding he kept at the stable behind his townhouse. He couldn’t allow himself to dwell on the Baron or he would forget his intentions to bide his time. This was no time to kill anyone. That would come later, at the proper time. If only his head would stop its infernal pounding, maybe he could think clearly.
By the time the gelding picked his way around to the back of the townhouse, Sebastian’s face wore a look of pain. All he could say for Royall Banner with two L’s was that she better not give him a problem, for if she did, he would be forced to abduct her in broad daylight. Alicia needed a woman to talk to, and he had decided that Royall was the one to do the listening. Royall was the only woman he knew who had come to terms with her own sexuality, and she was worldly, mundane, able to pick up the pieces and go on with her life!
The cook walked out to the courtyard to watch the lone rider. Her round, chocolate eyes widened when she noticed his identity. She waited for him to speak and then just nodded.
Royall was just tying the sash of her dressing gown when the cook entered her room. Motioning with her hand for Royall to follow her, she led her to the wrought iron balcony that overlooked the courtyard. Perplexed, Royall stared about and then let her eyes drop to the courtyard. Sebastian! What was he doing here? Something was wrong! The cook pulled her by the arm to show that she was to follow her down the stairs and out to the courtyard. When the old woman placed a cautious finger to her lips, Royall understood. No one was to know Sebastian was here. What could he want with her at this time of the morning?
Royall stepped outside, a shaft of sunlight capturing her in its golden rays and lighting her hair to spun gold. It was long, hanging down around her shoulders, and Sebastian remembered that first night in Rio when he had thought of little else besides pulling the pins from her hair and running his fingers through it.
She wore a scarlet dressing gown that was form-fitted, tiny jeweled buttons running down the front to the hem. It was partially opened at the wide, open neck, and from the hem to mid-thigh. When she walked, it revealed a silky expanse of a well-turned leg that set his pulses racing.
She stood before him, tapered fingers lightly touching her throat, golden-flecked eyes penetrating into his. She was beautiful, this golden girl, and he needed her. More for himself than even for Alicia.
“What’s wrong? Why are you here?”
“Just shut up and get on this damn horse,” Sebastian ordered briskly as he suddenly remembered why he was waiting for her.
“Why?” Royall demanded. “I’m not even dressed.”
“I’ve seen you in a lot less,” Sebastian leered and almost fell off the horse. “Come over here. I hate to admit this, but I need your help and what you’re wearing won’t make any difference.”
Royall advanced a little closer. “How do I know you’re telling me the truth. And why should I do you any favors after the way you’ve treated me? You’re drunk!” she all but shouted, and then immediately clapped her hands over her mouth.
Sebastian tried for a sweeping bow from his saddle. His head reeled as he straightened, his back stiff, his face haughty and cold. Carefully, he brought his index finger to his lips. “Shhh. I don’t want anyone but you to know. Now, get on this damn horse before I fall off and make problems for both of us.”
She felt deliciously wicked as she reached up for him to help her. She seated herself as comfortably as she could, feeling the hardness of his chest against her body. Clenching her teeth, she refused to think of the other times the same feeling swept over her. Sebastian’s arms circled her, holding her firmly against him. He liked the feel of her softness next to him.
“It’s not necessary to hold me so close, Senor Rivera. I realize that the only reason you’re doing so is so that you won’t fall off this horse, so please spare us both the indignity of me helping you once you fall. I’ll leave you in the middle of the road.”
“Testy this morning, aren’t we?” Sebastian grinned drunkenly. “Don’t worry, Royall, with two L’s, I’ll not mark you in any way. I’ve seen chickens with more meat on their bones. You’re skinny,” he said slowly and distinctly.
Royall seethed and fumed. “And Senor Sebastian, as in bastard, I’ve seen roosters who have been done in by chickens, so watch that tongue of yours.”
Sebastian threw back his head and laughed uproariously. “I never thought of myself as a rooster somehow.”
“What a pity. You should recognize the smell, though. You smell quite gamey to me,” Royall said viciously.
“I’ve been drinking, that’s why. I was in such a hurry to fetch you that I didn’t bother to ... It’s none of your damn business, Royall with two L’s, why I smell like I do.”
Royall suppressed a smile. She must be insane to go riding with him at the crack of dawn, dressed in her dressing gown. What could possibly be wrong at his townhouse to make him come for her as he had? She tried again. “Why did you come for me? Tell me what’s wrong. I demand to know, or I’m getting off this horse right now and pulling you with me. You’re so drunk you’ll never be able to get back on. Now tell me!”
“All in good time. I thought I told you to shut up. I hate to hear women whine. It’s so ... so ... annoying.”
“I wasn’t whining,” Royall sputtered. “You know, you really are an insufferable—”
“Bastard,” he finished for her. “I never denied it. I even told you I was a bastard myself. Honesty has always been my motto,” he said piously.
“You’re disgusting. Aren’t we there yet? Why is this animal going so slow?”
“Because my head is pounding, for one reason. The second reason is that this animal is carrying two people. And the animal had just recently been castrated. Is there anything else you want to know?”
Royall clamped her mouth shut, swearing to herself that she wouldn’t say a word, never ask another question. He always told her much more than she wanted to know!
She felt his hands around her waist through the scarlet silk of her dressing gown and became increasingly aware of the fact that she hadn’t a stitch on underneath. Her long bare legs were stretched out, the wind lifting the skirt and exposing her skin to his greedy eyes. His hand clutched her tighter, so tight she thought she’d never draw another breath. His face was in her hair, his lips nuzzling the back of her neck. And she loved it.
“We’re here,” he said at last. “Now, was that so bad? Get off and go in the house. My housekeeper will find something for you to wear. I wouldn’t want her to get any wrong ideas about this little ride.”
Royall slipped to the ground, her face suffused with rage. “I don’t believe what I’m hearing. You care about what your housekeeper thinks, but you rode me through town in my dressing gown. You are ...” Words failed her completely.
“You’re giving me a headache,” Sebastian said coolly. “Go in the house. I’ll be in shortly, after I see to the animal.”
The kitchen area was dim and cool in the early hours of the morning. Royall looked around, conscious of her bedroom attire and hating the position in which Sebastian had placed her. She must be out of her mind to follow him so blindly. All she had to do was turn her back on him the way he had turned his back on her aboard ship. Refusing to follow him would have been simple. Where was the housekeeper? Advancing farther into the kitchen, Royall cleared her throat. Everything was neat and clean. A long, sharp knife rested alongside a bowl of ripe papayas, and mangos sat on a rough table ready to be prepared for the first meal of the day. She felt ridiculous as she called out, “Yoohoo,” using Rosalie Quince’s favorite yodel. There was no reply. Well, what had she expected? Sebastian was drunk as a lord, and probably didn’t know if he even had a housekeeper. For all she knew he could have abducted her with some devious plot in mind. What a fool she was. There was nothing to do but wait and see if someone answered her call or go in search of Sebastian.
“May I help you?” a light, musical voice inquired. Royall swung about to see its origin. Beautiful almond eyes stared into Royall’s startled gaze. At first glance she thought she was looking at the perfection of a China doll. Waist-long hair, resembling a length of ebony satin, graced a small head that was in direct proportion to the rest of the tiny body. The only words that came to Royall’s flustered mind were exquisite miniature. She felt dowdy and overgrown.
Uncomfortably aware of her appearance, Royall found her tongue sharp. “Fetch me some suitable clothing,” she ordered imperiously. In all her young years she had never known a housekeeper who looked like this porcelain decoration.
The rosebud mouth on the miniature doll tightened imperceptibly. Her voice, when she spoke, was disdainful as was her gaze. “I hardly think my clothing will fit you. I suggest you fetch it yourself. Perhaps the housekeeper has something . . . suitable.”
Royall stared at the China doll, not fully comprehending her words. If she wasn’t the housekeeper, who was she? Oh, no. Sebastian wouldn’t humiliate her like this. Surely, he wouldn’t dare bring her to his house while his . . . his . . . whatever she was was in residence. He dared! He would! He did!
Just then, with both women’s eyes shooting sparks, a plump, jolly-looking Indian woman entered the kitchen. Royall’s blood boiled as she recalled the tiny girl’s words, “Perhaps the housekeeper has something . . . suitable.” Goddamn Sebastian to hell. He truly was a bastard to subject her to this confrontation. “You come with me, missy, Senor Rivera tell me you coming early this morning. I take you to other lady now and bring breakfast for both of you. Other lady wait upstairs.”
Royall’s blood continued to boil. “Now just a damn minute here!” she exploded. What did that bastard think he was doing? “I’m not going anywhere, not until I know what is going on around here. You,” she said pointing a long finger at the carved doll, “don’t open your mouth again until Sebastian gets here. I’m surprised at you that you would . . . that you could . . . Why, you’re nothing but a child, a baby actually. Make me some coffee,” she ordered the housekeeper. “Now!”
Two pairs of eyes stared at Royall. Hastily, the housekeeper set about making coffee, while the girl in her flawless white silk wrapper gazed at her with eyes that clearly did not belong to a child. She seemed amused and annoyed at the same time. Royall was infuriated.
Royall was tapping her foot angrily on the brick floor of the kitchen. The housekeeper was busily clanking pots and pans while the tiny girl drummed on the door frame with two-inch-long fingernails. Sebastian picked that moment to enter the kitchen. His black eyes took in the scene at one glance. A grin stretched across his lips and was banished instantly when Royall leaped from the chair. “What are you doing sitting here?” he demanded arrogantly.
“I’m sitting here because I feel like it. And I feel like having a cup of coffee. When I finish the coffee, I want a carriage that will take me back to my own house. I hope I make myself clear.” While her comments were addressed to Sebastian, her eyes were on the girl in the silk wrapper. “If you think for one minute that I’m going to be a party to your ... your lascivious pastimes, you have another thought coming. How dare you bring me here with ... with . . . her!” Royall shouted.
Sebastian grinned widely. The plump housekeeper wore a decided smirk. The tiny girl grimaced, marring her perfect features.
“You talk more than any female I ever came across,” Sebastian muttered disgustedly. His gaze shifted to Aloni. “Go to your room,” he said coolly.
At first Royall thought the girl would defy Sebastian. Instead she favored him with a level look, turned, and left, but not before Royall saw the hatred leap from her eyes. As if she cared.
“That’s it, order everyone around. Arrogant bastard,” Royall hissed.
“I can almost imagine what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong. Believe me. I brought you here for a reason. Upstairs in one of the bedrooms Carl’s bride-to-be is waiting. She needs someone to talk to, another woman. I thought you might be able to help her; after all, you are a worldly woman and that’s what she needs right now.”
Royall backed off a step and then advanced until she was standing inches from Sebastian. “That has got to be the most insulting thing you have ever said to me. I wouldn’t do anything for you if you were the last person on this earth. Who,” she hissed through clenched teeth, “is more worldly than that ... that . . . decadent child who was just here? How dare you call me worldly.” Unmindful of the housekeeper’s sharp ears, Royall rushed on. “You’re nothing but a ... a perverted, decadent, miserable . . .”
“Charming, dashing, handsome bounder,” Sebastian finished for her. All signs of drunkenness were gone. His movements were sure and steady, his gaze cold and mocking as he stared down at her, enjoying her anger. She was quite the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, even when she was in the throes of rage.
“Ha. That just shows how stupid you really are. I, for one, never heard anyone say such things about you. It’s solely your opinion,” Royall shot back.
“But that’s the only one that counts. Enough of this nonsense. Personally, I don’t give a good goddamn how you feel or what you think. I brought you here for a very real reason. Believe me, if there had been anyone, I repeat, anyone else I would have gone to them. Since there wasn’t you were the only choice. Listen to me carefully because I won’t repeat myself.” Quickly, he recounted Alicia’s story, deliberately leaving out the Baron’s name. That he would deal with in his own way, in his own good time.
Royall was thunderstruck at Sebastian’s words. She could only stare at him with wide eyes, begging him to tell her it was all a poor joke. When he returned her cold-eyed stare, she knew that Sebastian would never jest about something so important as the dear childhood playmate who was like a sister to him. Rage, hate, pity, every emotion known to her flooded through her being. “You see,” she squawked hoarsely, “men can’t be trusted. I never heard of anything so vile . . . so degradingly inhuman. I demand that you tell me who the man is who made Alicia do this! I demand to know. I’ll kill him myself before he gets a chance to practice his wicked ways on some other poor female. Sebastian Rivera,” she stomped her foot, “I demand that you tell me now.”
“Shut up, Royall. I will handle the matter. You would only botch the job, and I want to be the one to make the bastard suffer as Alicia has suffered. All you have to do is talk to Alicia and help her in any way you can. Woman to woman. I’ll say one thing for you, you do have a glib tongue . . . among other things.”
Royall ignored what she thought were his compliments. “Then I want your promise to at least allow me to be in attendance when you do the fiend in. Give me your promise or I’m going home.”
“I thought I told you to shut up.” Wearily, he brought his hand to his forehead. “Why is it you women feel you have to screech and squawk at every comment a man makes? You should talk softly, caressingly to a man. You should be gentle and compassionate.”
“You can just stop telling me to shut up, Sebastian. God gave me a mouth and I intend to use it. If there was a man around, perhaps I would take your advice. You,” she said piercing him with a speculative eye, “don’t count. And don’t tell me what to do again. Do you understand? I’m not deaf, dumb, and blind. I know where my duty lies and I’ll do it. And,” she said triumphantly, “the only reason you have a headache is because you were drunk. A drunken headache, they’re the worst kind. For shame, Sebastian Rivera,” she said disgustedly.
“If you don’t shut up, I swear I’ll ...”
“You’ll what?” Royall shouted. “You’re in no condition to do anything. You’re fortunate you can stand erect. I find your behavior insulting and degrading. I don’t even want to be in your company. What do you think of that?”
“I think you need to be taught a lesson, and I’m just the one to teach you. Like that night aboard ship. I did teach you a thing or two, if memory serves me correctly. You certainly were an apt pupil.” Sebastian leered at her, his intentions clear. She watched him with narrowed eyes as he advanced a step and then another.
“Now look, Sebastian. Perhaps I was a little hasty in my tirade. You’re suffering from your headache, and I wouldn’t want to add to the pounding in your temples.” Royall backed off, her eyes trapped, her heart pounding. “You wouldn’t take advantage of me in my position. You said Alicia needed me and I’m ready to ... to help her. I know exactly what you’re thinking and you aren’t going . . . ever again . . . I told you I hate you . . . you hate me . . . you even walked out on me and made a fool of me ... Get away from me, you . . . you . . .” She babbled on as she backed deeper into the kitchen.