“Why don’t you try and make a guess?”
Isadora opened her mouth and then closed it again.
“Stupid woman,” he spat. “This is for ransom. Your dear husband has caused me a great deal of trouble, and I think it only fair that he be made to pay for his transgressions.”
“He did nothing,” Isadora fought back. “You had it coming.”
“He humiliated me,” he said simply. “Ruined my reputation before half of the ton. And what’s worse, he did it foryou. So, you see, this arrangement serves two purposes. One, Evan shall be forced to restore what he has taken from me. And two—” He reached out, brushing a gloved finger against her cheek.
She flinched violently, jerking away.
“—he will know what it feels like to lose something precious.”
A chill ran down her spine, but she reminded herself to be strong.
“You are a fool if you think he will bend to your demands.”
“Oh, he will,” Hartenshire said smugly. “I have already sent word. A letter detailing the terms. He will restore my standing, clear my debts, and offer public retribution—or he will never see you again.”
“You underestimate him,” she warned. “Evan is not a man who cowers before threats.”
But even as she said the words, she knew that she was only putting up a front. At this moment, she had no way of knowing what Evan was thinking.
Had he even received the letter? Would Hartenshire stay true to his own terms?
“Oh, but hewill,” he said. “Because for all his callous arrogance, there is one thing he values above all else.You.Like a lovesick puppy, he will follow you to wherever you are.”
His gaze swept over her, and Isadora felt violated even though he had not so much as touched her.
Would he follow her?
She knew that Evan cared for her and that his feelings had grown into something deeper, but would he truly give in to Hartenshire’s demands?
“If you believe that taking me will be the key to your redemption, then you are an even greater fool than I first thought.” She forced herself to meet his gaze again. “You will fail.”
Hartenshire paused mid stride, his smirk faltering for the briefest of moments.
“You believe yourself clever,” she continued if only to stall him, “but you are playing a game you cannot win. Evan will not negotiate. You have already lost.”
A flicker of something dark passed over Hartenshire’s face. “Is that what you think?”
“That is what Iknow.”
He did not like that answer. She saw it in the way his jaw tightened, in the way his fists curled at his sides.
And then, acrackrang through the room. Pain exploded across her cheek.
He had slapped her.
Her head snapped to the side from the force of the slap, the sting was immediate.
“How dare you?—”
“Shut up!” he barked. “If you argue again, you shall get another one. Such a mouth on someone who is the root of the problem. This is your fault to begin with. You and your meddling ways.”
Isadora tasted blood where her teeth had cut into the inside of her cheek, but she slowly turned her head back to face him.
“You got what you deserved.” She held his gaze, daring him.
