“I refuse to be your pawn. How many times do I have to tell you this?”
“Don’t be a fool. My God. It isn’t as though you’ll have to live in one another’s pockets, for God’s sake. Attend the dinner. Make your offer, put your child in her belly and send her to the country. I’ve heard about all your little indiscretions. Since the moment you turned down the vicarship when it came open. My son—spawn of the devil.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Carter taunted the older man. “Father.”
“Don’t be impertinent. Besides, I’ve come to terms with your choice of profession. It no longer signifies. The Ashwood line could die out if you don’t step up and do as I ask. Think of the marriage as a temporary one. It’s not as though I’m asking you to give up your little theater tart forever.”
Elle sucked in a sharp breath and felt a stinging in her eyes.
“Don’t go there.”
“Is she the reason? I knew you’d lowered your standards, but by God, man. Why would you, a pure-blooded stallion, waste yourself on a nobody?”
“Not. Another. Word.” Carter’s voice sounded low and dangerous.
“Women come and go, but our line is eternal. I have come today to give you one more chance. Even you, in all your ungodly pursuits, know what this means.” He fell silent for a moment and Elle wished she could see inside. “Will all this still be around ten years from now? Are you willing to risk it going under?”
“You had no right.”
It hit Elle then. Carter had alluded more than once that he was going to have an infusion of money to put into the theater. He’d been talking about inheritance money.
His father needed an heir. Carter wasn’t going to get his money unless he married the woman of his father’s choosing.
A violent tremor shook Elle even as her heart skipped a beat. She knew how these things worked. Powerful people usually got what they wanted.
“I had every right. Did you really think you could walk away from your responsibilities and still collect your trust?”
“I’ll find other investors. This isn’t my only option.” But Carter’s voice sounded strained. And Elle understood.
No matter what, the theater couldn’t fail. London needed it! Carter needed it.
And most importantly of all, everyone who worked at the theater needed… the theater!
No matter how much she wanted Carter, others needed him more.
Elle jumped when something hit the desk—a book or a fist? “Here’s the time and address. You will attend. If not, you might as well kiss your precious theater goodbye.”
With the theater’s very existence at stake, Carter didn’t have the luxury of standing firm against his father. He could not allow the theater to fail. Too many people depended on it for a living.
More than that. She knew.
It was his life.
And she… was she in the way? He’d said she was beautiful and talented… Had it been the beginning of something other than a fleeting affair?
She would never know.
“Get out.” Carter’s voice dropped in volume as he issued the command from the opposite side of the door. It was the sound of heavy footsteps approaching, however, that chased her down the stairs.
And by the time she’d ducked into one of the dark wings, that single tremor had turned into uncontrollable shaking.
She swallowed back tears. Something had been brewing between her and Carter Dodd, but it would end before it had a chance to begin.
Despite his reputation, Elle had no doubt he was the kind of man who would keep his marriage vows. She felt it in her bones. He was an honorable man and he needed to marry.
She was nothing more than a distraction. She hugged her elbows and closed her eyes.
It would be too painful to watch him marry and go on as though nothing had happened between them. There would be other plays.
