“Thia, calm yourself,” Brian said softly, eyeing her wound. “Let’s have Pauly tend your cheek.”
Thia staggered away from her father, batting his comforting arms away from her. “I do not want him!”
Alec left his wife to go to his distraught sister, pulling her into a crushing embrace. Peyton watched as Alec stroked his sister tenderly.
“Be calm, Moppet,” he said gently. “I shall take care of you.”
“I won’t have him!” Thia renounced in a shaking voice. “I refuse to be made a peace offering!”
“Relax, love,” Alec repeated soothingly.
“Thia, you will do as you are told,” Brian said weakly, gazing at his grieving children. “We will all do as we are told.”
Alec’s eyes were blue flame. “Why did not you tell me the Warrington’s had demanded Thia’s hand for my actions?”
Brian met his son’s gaze. “The choice was given to me before you whisked Lady Ivy away. I opted for the obvious selection, your wife’s younger sister, since I felt Thia unprepared for a husband. You should have trusted me, Alec. I told you not to question my decision.”
Alec’s face glazed with disbelief. “And this is why? Because the Warrington’s gave you a choice between Ivy and Thia, and you chose Ivy? Christ, Da, why did not you tell me from the onset?”
“Because it wasn’t your choice to make.”
Thia understood everything instantly; in spite of her peculiar nature, she was an intelligent woman. Her small blue eyes flew accusingly to her older brother. “You did this to me!”
Alec focused on his sister. “Unknowingly, Moppet. Believe me, had I but known the circumstances, I would never have acted so rashly.”
Thia yanked away from him. “How could you, Alec! You are supposed to love me!”
“Idolove you, Moppet,” Alec reached out for his plump sister once again, but she moved away from him. “Please, Thia. Do not be angry with me.”
Thia began to sob miserably. “I hate you, Alec. How could you?”
Alec caught his sister and brought her to him and she did not resist. “Do not cry, Thia. All will be well.”
Peyton suddenly felt decidedly less benevolent towards her sister-in-law. A woman who had recently tried to kill her, whom she had lied for and protected, was cradled in her brother’s arms as if she were a complete innocent. As far as Peyton was concerned, Alec should be comforting his wife who had suffered a complete whacking at the hands of the woman Alec was seeking to console. Warrington betrothal or not, the taste of jealousy was bitter on Peyton’s tongue as she watched the tender scene.I do love you, Moppet.
Words she had never heard from him. Words she would probably never hear where they pertained to her. She realized how badly she wanted to hear them.
Incensed and bitter, Peyton turned away from the compassionate sight and moved down the corridor. She simply couldn’t watch any longer, knowing that Alec loved his sister enough to tell her. Alec called after her, but she ignored him. She heard his heavy boot falls not a few seconds later, closing rapidly, and wasn’t surprised when a massive hand snatched her arm.
“What’s wrong? Where are you going?”
She jerked her arm from his grasp. “To my chamber to rest from nearly being beaten to death.”
He eyed her in the dim torchlight. “What happened between you and my sister?”
Peyton was feeling stubborn and rejected. When Alec should have been seeing to her needs, he was intent on consoling his fat, disgusting sister and declaring his love for her. More unreasonable envy filled her.
“We fought,” she said simply, still unwilling to divulge all of the distasteful details. “She was preparing to kill me, I think, but I doubt you would believe me. Go back to Thia and comfort her, Alec. I shall retire alone.”
She turned again but he stopped her with a crushing grip on her arm. She winced, gasping when his other hand clamped down on her free arm and she was trapped before him. Sky-blue eyes glittered at her. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Not a thing,” she said evenly. “Let us say that I am glad my sister is out of Blackstone, lest you force her to wed Colin in Thia’s place. I realize how precious your baby sister is to you. How much you love her. Now, let me go. You are hurting me.”
His grip relaxed but he did not release her. Instead, his expression seemed to soften and he did not say anything for a moment. Peyton could almost read the fluctuation of ideas in his sky-blue orbs. “What did you see, Peyton?”
Her sapphire eyes widened with surprise. Her bitterness forgotten for the moment, she tried to pull free from his grip. “I….”
“Answer me.”
