“You are not serious. You’ve just proven how unsafe it is out there for you.”
“We’ve been helping people for months, Gray. People who have no one else to turn to.” Her eyes begged him to understand, but all he could see were the bruises someone had inflicted on her.
“No more. I demand that you promise me you will never again take such risks. Never again go out at night with your brothers. Never—”
“I will not be controlled by a man.” The words were a whisper, but Gray heard them. “I am no longer a victim.”
“I am the man who cares about you. Damn you, they could have killed you! I want you safe, not to control you.” Rage was making him roar at her.
She didn’t back down. Didn’t look away from him, just lay there against those pillows, pale and hurting. Gray was consumed with anger and had no outlet.
“Our parents dictated my every move for years. I could not walk out the door without being told in which direction and what to wear. I will never allow a person to do that to me again.” The words were not spoken in her usual proud tone. These were subdued, almost as if speaking them hurt her.
Someone had punched her. Pushed her to the ground and kicked her. The woman he loved, and she wouldn’t promise him to stop taking risks. Gray knew in his bones he could not live with that knowledge. Not live knowing someone could hurt her again when she walked recklessly into danger.
“This is who I am,” she whispered.
“And you can never change? You will continue to walk into danger with your family?” Gray growled out the question.
“If people need our support, then yes.”
“That’s what the police and Scotland Yard are for!” he barked.
“There are not enough of you to go around,” she snapped back and then winced as she moved. “People are hurt constantly because there is no one to help them. They have loved ones going missing or they are threatened.”
“And it is the job of you and your brothers to keep them safe, is it?” He looked at her. The beautiful woman who he knew held his heart. The woman who would not change who she was to accommodate his love.
“We help where we can,” she said. The fire that she’d shown him briefly had ebbed away. She now lay back even more exhausted after their fiery exchange.
“And you will not stop if I ask you to?” Her silence was the confirmation he needed. “I will leave you then.”
“Gray, try to understand.” She reached for his hand, but he stepped back from her.
“I do. You will not change what you do, and I cannot stand by and watch you be hurt again.” He turned and walked from the room.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE
Ellen’s body healed slowly. Her ribs still hurt, but her bruises were fading. She had spent days in bed reading or staring at her ceiling rose because her family had forbidden her from leaving her room.
Leo had crept in or she to his when no one was looking, and they kept each other company. Neither of them had spoken much. It was just enough that they were together.
Ellen tried not to think about Gray. He’d walked away from her because she had not given him the assurance that she would stop taking risks. But she couldn’t, even for him.
She’d never loved a man before, but she had given her heart to Grayson Fletcher, because with his departure from her life, he’d left her with a deep, aching pain.
Ramsey had visited her, but as Matilda and Teddy had been with her at the time, neither of them had mentioned Gray, and for that she was grateful. Everything to do with that man felt raw inside her.
“Hello, is this where you are hiding?”
Leo limped out and sat beside her in the other chair. She was enjoying a brief break of fresh air… well, as fresh as you could get in London. The sky was still overcast, but the cool breeze was wonderful after days inside.
“How are you feeling today?” he asked her.
“I want no more of Mr. Peeky’s tonic.”
Her brother snorted.
“I don’t want any more of that chest rub from Miss Alvin. I’m sure it’s burned my skin,” Leo said.
