He was set up, that’s for certain. How did Jackson arrange it? I know the others will be furious to find out they were manipulated into killing an innocent man! Jackson will hang for this.
Jackson and Melanie finish up their meal quickly, and even though we seem to part on good terms, I can tell he’s being very careful around me now.
The plot is so thick, I’m sure he believes I’ll never figure it out. But he doesn’t know who he’s dealing with.
As we smile and shake hands, I give Jackson a hearty slap on the shoulder, making him aware of my strength. Shock flashes briefly in his blue eyes before his controlled mask covers it back up again.
That’s right, asshole. I’m tougher than I look. Throw your worst at me, and see what happens.
After I close the door, I almost stagger back to the table and fall into my chair. The act of controlling myself when I want to hurl Jackson up against the wall and shake the truth out of him is completely exhausting.
When I look across at Sara, she’s staring at her plate, absently pushing the food around.
“That was tiring,” I say, trying to make peace with her.
“Why? You guys seem to get along great.”
I examine her closely, wondering if she’s joking. After a moment, I realize that the poor girl has been under Jackson’s heel for so long, she literally doesn’t know the difference between sincerity and manipulation.
That’s great news for me, isn’t it? How am I supposed to convince her I have a genuine interest in her?
“Is that really what you think?”
Sara looks up at me, and from this distance, her eyes are so dark, they look almost black. I can’t see any gold in them at all.
“It doesn’t matter what I think,” she says. “It’s obvious from the way you talk to each other. You’re the same.”
“But Talon was different?”
A soft smile breaks across her face. “Talon was kind. It just radiated out of him, all the time. If he really did kill my grandfather and those other men, he would have had a good reason. I saw him out hunting more than once. He had great power, and he could be brutal, but he was honest to the core. I could just feel it.”
Sara looks down, hiding her gaze from me, and I honestly don’t know if I believe her words.
She could have put Talon on a pedestal, and she’s completely deluded as to what he was really like—or he really was a great guy who got thrown into a meat grinder.
“Okay,” I reply. “So, if I’m just like Jackson, what then? What does that mean for us?”
She looks up at me, and her face is cold and determined. “It means I’ll live here and be your wife. I’ll do all your chores, and have your children, but it is all duty to me, and nothing more.”
“And what if that’s not what I want?” I say, putting all my feelings into my voice. “What if I want your love?”
Her eyes widen and fill with tears. She covers her mouth with one hand and shakes her head.
“You’re not like Father,” she hisses. “He’s a bastard—but you’re cruel!”
“Sara, wait—”
I try to stop her, but she bolts from the room, and I hear a door slam down the hall. A desperate fear rises in me that I might never be able to convince this sweet, beautiful woman that I really want her, and I’ll never use her.
My duty here is becoming more important to me by the day. These people need a strong, fair leader, and Jacksondeserves what’s coming to him, but my need for Sara is beginning to consume me…
Chapter 12 - Sara
I slam the bedroom door behind me and stagger over to the bed, falling down heavily and curling myself around a pillow. I don’t even try to hold it back anymore; I just let the ripping sobs come.
That bastard! What kind of game is he playing?
Dancing at the edges of my mind is the beautiful, haunting possibility that he might be genuine. The trouble is, I want to believe in it too much, and I know exactly how badly my heart will get broken if I let myself fall.
