Lowri slapped him hard enough to bruise, and he let go. Her face twisted with revulsion. ‘What about that wreck? I saw your hand in it, in that murder on the beach.’
‘Saw my hand? Tell me what you think I did.’
‘You lit the fires to lure the ship onto the rocks.’
‘Did Butcher tell you that when you climbed into his bed today?’
Lowri’s mouth fell open, and a blush spread over her cheeks and down her chest. The guilt on her face made Cullen dig his fingernails so deeply into his palms that he almost drew blood.Did she look like that after that bastard had her – wide-eyed, pink-faced?
‘Go on, deny it, Lowri,’ he growled.
‘I cannot deny that I went to him to get the truth.’
‘And did you find it, or did you just find the end of Butcher’s cock?’
She gasped at the coarseness of his words, but his anger had made him cruel. And Lowri did not answer his question.
‘Is it true, Lowri?’ he cried. ‘Tell me. I will not hurt you or seek retribution. I just need to know. Did you lie with him?’
To his horror, tears filled her eyes, spilling down her cheeks. Lowri never cried or showed weakness to him. So she must have done the unthinkable. Cullen’s heart was full of needles, throbbing with pain. He struggled to hang onto the good part of his character.
‘I would not blame you if you did, Lowri. He is richer than I, and more handsome, or so the lasses say. He would probably get you home, and he would relish taking you away from me.’
The world seemed to stop until Lowri spoke in a choked whisper. ‘I went there to do it, to betray you as you betrayed me with Donnan, but I could not.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because I’ll no more be Butcher’s whore than yours. And it’s not as if you care, either way.’
She turned to flee from him, but Cullen caught her arm. ‘You know, I care. I have always cared, and more so with every passing day. I swear on my life, I did not set those fires or have a part in that monstrosity on the beach. And I knew nothing ofDonnan’s betrayal. Please, Lowri, can we not forgive each other’s faults and make the best of it?’
‘I’m not the forgiving type, and I do not trust you. I never will.’
She tugged her arm free and ran towards the sea. Cullen stood with his head down, as if in a trance, as all the fight seeped out of him. He had lost Lowri. Had she ever been his? Not by right. Not by affection. His life stretched before him – a path of endless loneliness, without purpose, as it had been before she crashed into his world.
Was he to follow and catch her? Force her to care for him, or let her go to another. He flinched when a hand came to his back.
‘Are you alright?’ said Briony.
‘What are you doing here?’
‘I heard a quarrel, raised voices, so I followed. Forgive me. I did not mean to overhear.’
‘Creeping up on a quarrel and not declaring yourself means you did,’ he said.
Briony’s face was all innocence – concern knitting her smooth, pale brows, hurt in her blue eyes at his harsh words. ‘I do not mean to intrude on your life, and I shall soon be gone. But you rescued me, and I owe you my life, and I would see you happy, Cullen. You are a fine, brave man, and she does not see how lucky she is to have you.’
‘Do not judge me so well on so short an acquaintance.’
She gave a little laugh. ‘How can I not judge you well, when I am alive this day because of you? I have been here but a day, yet it is clear that woman does not make you happy.’
That woman? Why would she not name Lowri, who had been kind since he had brought Briony home in his arms?
‘You don’t know her, or anything about us,’ he said.
Briony stepped closer, and he fought the urge to step back when she stroked her fingers down his arm. ‘Come back to the cottage and sit by the fire with me. It will comfort you.’
Briony was so beautiful, dazzling, in fact. Everything about her drew a man into wanting her. Yet Cullen itched to be away from her cloying sweetness, grovelling flattery, and, finally, it dawned on him, her insincerity. She unsettled him, and it was not due to lust at her loveliness.
