“To find Kenna.”
Victorine raised an eyebrow. “And you say you haven’t the strength to face me?”
Nick laughed at her dry poser, but Rhys had already left the room.
Certain that Kenna was not likely to ride in the wood where Tom Allen had been murdered, Rhys waited for her in the stables. He passed the time by rubbing down his horse and talking to Donald Adams about Kenna’s riding accident. Learning of Donald’s mysterious illness the morning of the accident only served to confirm Rhys’s suspicions. At the same time he was unable to learn anything at all about last evening’s visitor to the stables. Although he was not direct in his questioning, he talked long enough with Donald to know the man hadn’t seen anything the night before.
He had heard a lot more than he ever wanted to about Donald Adams’s life by the time Kenna led Pyramid into the stables. Rhys saw the head groom being given the full force of her smile until she looked past Donald’s face and saw him standing there.
Kenna’s smile froze. She gave the reins to Adams and nodded slightly at Rhys. It was only the head groom’s presence that kept her from running from the stables.
“Did you have a good ride, Lady Kenna?” Donald asked, patting Pyramid’s neck.
“Very fine,” Kenna replied, her voice not much above a whisper. “Very fine,” she repeated louder.
Rhys saw Donald give Kenna a questioning look, then glance in his direction as if sensing something amiss. “Walk with me, Kenna,” he said.
“I…I don’t…” She saw Donald’s furrowed brow and interested gaze. “Very well,” she said as graciously as she was able. “Where would you like to walk?”
Rhys took Kenna’s arm, knowing she would hardly fight him off in front of the groom. “The summerhouse, I think,” he said as he led her from the stables.
Kenna walked quietly by Rhys’s side until she was sure Donald could not hear them. “Let go of my arm,” she said stiffly.
“Not yet, Kenna,” Rhys said genially. “In the summerhouse, perhaps.”
Kenna tried to pull away but he held her fast and with very little effort, she noted miserably. “In the summerhouse, you most certainly will.” She thought she heard him say, “We’ll see,” but she knew he was trying to goad her and she refused to give him the satisfaction.
Rhys took the key from the door frame ledge and unlocked the door. He gave Kenna a courtly bow and ushered her inside, releasing her arm when he shut the door behind them. He watched her quickly put some distance between them as he casually leaned against the wall. “So eager to be out of my reach?” he chided.
“Do you blame me? I have suffered enough at your hands.”
Pain clouded Rhys’s eyes when he thought Kenna was once again taking him to task for her father’s death. When he saw her hands drift unconsciously to her backside he realized she was referring to the spanking. “That still rankles, does it?”
“To be treated as a child when one is nothing less than a lady?” she asked sarcastically. “I would say I have cause to take exception to your methods.”
“Point taken,” Rhys said dryly. “In the future I will simply call you out.”
Did the man feel no remorse? she wondered. His smug riposte was insufferable. Deciding to behave better than he, Kenna ignored Rhys’s taunt, rubbing her arms briskly as she glanced about at the sheet-shrouded furniture. “Couldn’t we have talked at the manor? It’s quite cold here.”
“I think you can appreciate the need for complete privacy.” He looked at her significantly and a brief smile touched his eyes as Kenna’s cheeks pinkened. “Anyway, I doubt we’ll freeze.”
“Then say what you will.”
Rhys would not be hurried. “You are looking well.”
She shrugged.
“McNulty and Wilver will be here in a few hours to talk to you.”
“Yes, I know. It is precisely the reason I would like to go back to my room and prepare for their visit.”
Rhys pushed away from the wall and took a few steps closer to Kenna. He felt a niggling admiration that she did not move away from him though it was clearly written in her dark eyes that she wanted to. “I wish that you would not mention to either of the men your suspicions about the attempt on your life.”
Kenna nearly choked on her surprise. “You cannot be serious.”
“I am. Deadly so.”
Kenna blinked widely. “Are you threatening me, Rhys?”
