Julian’s voice stopped her. She turned to find him moving quickly around the desk, closing the distance between them. Before she could react, he caught her hand in his.
His grip was firm, not quite painful, but possessive. Controlling.
“You know,” he said, his voice taking on a different quality, lower, more intimate, more unsettling, “on closer inspection, you’re actually more of a refined beauty than Victoria ever was.”
Joan tried to pull her hand away, but his grip tightened.
“Victoria was pretty, certainly,” Julian continued, his eyes roaming over Joan’s face with disturbing intensity. “Lovely inthat fresh, innocent way young girls have. But you, you have something more interesting. More mature. More… knowing.”
His thumb stroked across her knuckles in a gesture that was clearly meant to be seductive but only made Joan’s skin crawl.
“You were absolutely right about my initial interest in Victoria,” he said. “The moment I met her at that garden party, I assessed exactly what her family connections could do for my position. She was perfect for my purposes, beautiful enough to be displayed, connected enough to be useful, and naive enough to be easily controlled.”
He pulled her slightly closer, and Joan had to force herself not to recoil visibly.
“But you’ll do just as well,” Julian said. “Perhaps even better. Victoria would have required constant management, all those tears and sensibilities. But you, you understand how the world works. You’re practical. We can have a very… productive partnership.”
Animal, Joan thought with fury. Disgusting, soulless animal who sees people as nothing but tools for his ambition.
Julian’s free hand came up to touch her face, his fingers trailing along her jaw. Joan went rigid, every muscle in her body screaming at her to pull away, to slap him, to flee.
But she forced herself to remain still. To not give him the satisfaction of seeing her fear or disgust.
“Since we’re getting married tomorrow anyway,” Julian murmured, his face far too close to hers now, “why don’t you warm my bed tonight? We could… consummate our arrangement a bit early. Get to know each other better.”
His eyes raked over her body with undisguised lust.
“Or are you as tediously reserved as your sister proved to be? She was remarkably prudish for a woman who presented herself as worldly. I do hope you’ll be more accommodating.”
Something inside Joan snapped.
The calculating composure she’d maintained throughout this entire encounter shattered like glass.
“Let. Me. Go.”
Her voice came out deadly, vibrating with barely controlled fury.
The transformation was so complete, so shocking, that Julian actually took an involuntary step backward. His hand dropped from her face, and his grip on her hand loosened.
Joan wrenched her hand free and stepped back, putting distance between them. Her chest heaved with the effort of controllingher breathing. Her hands trembled, not with fear now, but with the overwhelming urge to strike him.
Julian recovered quickly, his usual smirk returning, but Joan had seen the flash of uncertainty in his eyes. He’d underestimated her. Mistaken her self-control for weakness.
He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
“My, my,” Julian said, attempting to sound amused. “Such spirit. I do appreciate a woman with fire. It makes things so much more… interesting.”
Joan didn’t respond. She turned on her heel and walked toward the door.
“I’ll still have you in my bed after our wedding, you know!” Julian called after her, his voice echoing down the corridor as she reached the door. “It’s your duty as a wife! You can play the ice maiden all you like now, but tomorrow night…”
His laughter followed her as she strode down the hallway, past the disapproving butler, down the ornate staircase, through the ostentatious entrance hall.
Joan maintained her dignity and composure until she was safely in the carriage and the door had closed behind her.
Only then did she allow herself to react.
Her hands were shaking so violently she had to clasp them together in her lap. Her breath came in short, sharp gasps. Nausea rolled through her stomach in waves.
