“Aye,” he said. “Why are you alone in theworld?”
Sadly, she’d become rather accustomed to being alone. Her mother died the day Aubriella had been born. She’d never knew her and only had her father’s stories and pictures to go by. Cynthia Byrne had been lovely, with golden blonde hair and light brown eyes. Aubriella’s hair color was a mixture of both her parents’, but the color of her eyes she’d received from hermother.
“My parents are gone,” she said quietly. “I’ve been alone for more years thanIlike.”
“When did youlosethem?”
A lump formed in her throat. Talking about their deaths was hard for her. She didn’t want to talk about her family anymore. The whole point of forcing herself to be a part of this journey was so she could interrogate him. She wanted to discover the details of his family history, and save him from himself. How had she let him get the best of her in the questiondepartment?
“I think I’ve talked about myself enough,” she said. “I have no family, and it pains me to talk about what I’ll never haveagain.”
“I apologize for making you uncomfortable,” he replied. “It was not myintention.”
“Perhaps it wasn’t, but that didn’t negate the outcome,” she said stiffly. “Why don’t we change thesubject.”
If she was clever enough, she could turn the tables on him and dig into his personal life. She wanted to know a lot about the Earl of Thornbury and what made him tick. Hefascinatedher…
“What would you like tospeakof?”
She couldn’t come out and ask him about the king’s decree regarding his parents. He’d probably get ticked off at her if she was blunt about it. She would have to make it his idea to depart that bit of information. For now, she’d keep it light and ask him about things he’d thinkfrivolous.
“What do you doforfun?”
“Fun?” he lifted a brow. “I don’t have time for childish activities. Kingsbridge is a large estate and takes up most ofmytime.”
That didn’t surprise her. She’d been staying at the castle for a week and she still hadn’t managed to see all of it. At least in this time period… In her time, she’d sweet talked the current owner to give her a tour and let her explore to her heart’s content. She’d even managed to find the honeycomb of secret passageways. A part of her wondered if Killian knew about all of them. He’d probably not react well to her knowledge of his home. She’d always been fascinated with the castle and had included it as a part of her doctoral study. A lot of the information from the nineteenth century had been lost in a fire and she’d been limited in herresearch.
“What do you do torelaxthen?”
He frowned. The muscle in his cheek twitched. Aubriella stared at him for longer than was proper, but she couldn’t help herself. He was too handsome and all she wanted to do was throw herself at him. Would he kiss her if she sat in his lap and begged? She shook the thought away. Thoughts like that would lead hernowheregood…
“I read when I findthetime.”
She smiled. “I love books. You have a nice collection in yourlibrary.”
The library was one of the first places she’d located when she’d been given permission to explore. It wasn’t as extensive as the future castle’s, but it clearly was how the collection hadbegun.
“You know how toreadthen?”
Why would he assume—oh, he’d perhaps thought she’d grown up poor. “Of course,” she replied. “I had the besttutors.”
Not entirely a lie. Some of her teachers had been amazing. They had given her the drive to study hard and learn everything she could lay her hands on. She was deeply in debt because of that yearning. Her university bills were mounting, and she barely kept ahead of the monthly payments. If her stepmother hadn’t burned away her college fund to live in style, perhaps her tuition would’ve been paid for. There was nothing she could do to change that nowthough.
“In a small fishing village?” Killian lifted a brow. “How could your parents haveaffordedthat?”
Drat. She’d slipped… He’d been waiting for her to do that too. She could tell by the glee dripping out of him and sliding through her. Damn her empathy ability… “We weren’t poor, my lord,” she said sweetly. “My father was a wealthy merchant—at least until he remarried. My stepmother was a greedy woman and drove him into debt. I still believe that is what made his heartgiveout.”
That, at least, was partly the truth. Her father had died of a heart attack when she was a teenager, and her stepmother, Nora Byrne, was quite greedy. Sometimes she wondered if Nora’s attitude had driven her father to an early grave. She couldn’t prove that belief and hadn’t bothered to try. There was no point. It would have driven her crazy trying. As soon as she was able to though, she left home and didn’t look back. She’d avoided her stepmother as much as possible, and only saw her stepsisters uponoccasion.
“What happened to yourstepmother?”
He sure was persistent… “She’s dead too.” As far as she was concerned at least. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person,” Aubriella said sarcastically. Oh, how she hated thatwoman…
“You really are alone?” His voice held an edge of bewilderment mixed with acceptance. Maybe he’d finally stop the interrogationroutine.
“I believe I’ve said that already,” she said. “Why don’t youbelieveme?”
The carriage hit a bump, making her jerk backward. Aubriella was starting to hate traveling in one. She never fully appreciated how much easier a car made her life until thatmoment.
He frowned. “It’s hard for me to accept it. You shouldn’t have to take care of yourself. A woman should have at least one person she candependon.”
Aubriella sighed. “It might not seem like it, but I am all right. I don’t need anyone to see tomycare.”
Killian’s lips tilted into a firm line. “Doesn’t mean I have tolikeit.”
Time to change the subject again… “Tell me my lord, what happened to yourfather?”
So much for not being blunt… Sometimes a girl had to do the unthinkable in order to gain the upper hand though. Aubriella wasn’t above using the element of surprise when necessary. She sat back and waited to see how he’d respond.The ball is in your court,Killian.
