“Corby and I have been lovers since you were in leading strings, dear.” Kitty’s smile condescended and gloated at the same time. “We’ve had our ups and downs, but he always comes back to my bed.”
Pain ripped through Rosie, hopes and dreams bleeding from her.
“It’s done between Kitty and me,” Andrew said in a gritty voice. “Whatever we had, it wasnothinglike what we share, Primrose—”
“How long has it been since you’ve shared her bed?”
His turbulent gaze held hers. “I love you. I’ve loved you since—”
“How long?”
His chest heaved. “Two years.”
Two years. It’s only been two years since he made love to that woman—that witch whosoldmeto a monster.Rosie’s chest burned, fire rising to the back of her eyes.
“It ought to have been over long before that,” Andrew said hoarsely. “I knew it wasn’t right; it never was. I tried to end it. I wouldn’t see her for years, but then she would show up and I… I don’t know why I let her back in. If you’d let me explain—”
“I don’t want to hear any more of your lies!” The words left her in a shout.
“That’s probably wise, dear,” Kitty drawled, “since it seems Corby here hasn’t been entirely disclosing to you. Did he mention, for instance, that he knew that I planned to sell you to the highest bidder—that he could have prevented it… but instead he ran off and took up with another bawd? Well, I suppose one can’t blame him for his survival tactics. As they say—once a whore, always a whore.”
If Rosie had thought her life couldn’t shatter any further, this was proof that she was wrong. The shards of her dreams rained upon her, slicing the heart she’d exposed into a thousand foolish pieces.
“Primrose, please listen to me—”
She backed away from Andrew’s outstretched hand, his tormented eyes. “Stay away from me. You’re disgusting…you disgust me. I never want to see you again!”
Whirling around, she ran from the room.
~~~
With leaden steps, Andrew ascended the stairs to his chamber. Inside he was cold—colder than he ever remembered being. He’d watched the woman he loved run from him… and he was powerless to stop it.
He didn’t know how he would fix things with Primrose. Didn’t know if he could or deserved to. He did know that there was nothing he could do about it tonight. So he’d let her go. He’d instructed his guards to take her back to her parents, waiting for confirmation that she was safe.
Now it was time to deal with Kitty.
He entered the bedchamber, not surprised to see her fully dressed, sitting by the fire. She hadn’t come for sex—of that he was certain. For Kitty, pleasure had always come second to her desire for gain: for money or power or whatever it was she wanted.
During their association, he’d accepted her cold, calculating nature. She was who she was… just as he was who he was. Survival had made them both hard, immune to life’s venom. But his time with Primrose had changed him. Her sweetness and generosity had shown him a relationship he’d never imagined he could have. One full of laughter, passion, and love.
Seeing Kitty in his wingchair—in his house where she had no business being—he felt her poison seeping into his bloodstream. And it made him cold with rage.
He stood in front of her chair. “Who put you up to this?”
“Maybe I missed you, lover, and wanted to fuck for old time’s sake.”
“You have a minute to answer me before I throttle it out of you.”
“You’d never lay hands on a woman, Corby. You and I both know that.”
Her bravado faded when his stare didn’t waver, his knuckles cracking as his hands fisted.
“At any rate,” she said hastily, “I did you a favor. What were you thinking, letting that milk-fed chit wind you around her little finger?”
He slammed his palms onto the wingchair’s arms with enough force to make Kitty jolt.
“Who. Paid.You?” he roared.
