She sounded worried and he could not blame her. It was not every day your employer lost his wits.
Talek braced himself. ‘Go about your business, Winter,’ he said, calmly. ‘I do not wish to be disturbed.’
‘Yes, sir. If you insist.’
He leaned against the desk again, bowed his head and listened to the housekeeper’s footsteps walking away. The silence barely lasted a minute when the door quietly opened and closed. He did not look up, there was no need. Only Grace would enter the cage of a wounded animal. Her deception had caused him the most pain of all. He could sense her coming closer as if her warmth and sympathy radiated from her to embrace him. He did not want her sympathy. He closed his eyes to shut her out, but there was no hiding from her. Her burnished copper hair and concerned expression lay behind his tightly closed lids as if waiting to wrap him in her arms.
‘Leave me alone,’ he warned her.
‘I will not.’ Her soft calm voice was almost the undoing of him. How could a person sound so gentle, yet behave as she had done? He heard the rustle of her dress as she approached. ‘Talek, darling—’
‘Don’t try to soothe me with endearments.’
‘Look at me, Talek.’
‘Why? So I can see my failure in your eyes? I do not need your pity.’
She put a comforting hand on his back. Her touch was too much to take. He turned, grasped her hand and drew it behind his back, drawing her close.
‘Tell me,’ he asked, hoarsely, ‘why you didn’t tell me as soon as you knew.’
His grip tightened slightly, but she did not flinch.
‘I already told you. At first I thought I had made a mistake.’
Her answer only raised more questions. He frowned, confused.
‘Do you consider me such an ogre that you could not discuss it with me?’
‘The way we met, the circumstances of my arrival . . . you did not hold a good opinion of me.’
‘I don’t see the connection.’
‘I wanted you to think well of me.’
He wanted to believe her. It would mean that she cared for his opinion.
‘But then you realised it was not a mistake on your part. Why didn’t you tell me then?’
‘I wanted to.’
It was not the reply he wanted to hear. A desire without action meant nothing. He drew her still closer, until she was forced to place her hand on his chest. They had not touched like this since he had kissed her. He had taken their embrace no further as he was a gentleman. Anger at the injustice allaround him, where a man can act so despicably and walk away unscathed, where a woman can humiliate her fiancé and live without recriminations, where a man can love a woman to distraction and she not trust his love to share her deepest concerns. He drew Grace closer still, until he could feel the rise and fall of her breasts against his chest. She did not try to pull away. He wanted her to feel what he was feeling — to see his pain reflected in her eyes. He lifted her chin to look into her eyes.
‘But you didn’t tell me.’
Her taut body softened against him. ‘No.’
‘Why?’
‘I wanted Henry to tell you.’
‘Your decision gave him the chance to flee.’
She lifted her chin from his touch. ‘I didn’t know he would do that.’
He stepped back from her, her hand still locked in his grasp. ‘While he courted Amelia, you sat back and did not raise your concerns with me. You allowed him access to my vulnerable sister, knowing what he was doing behind our backs.’
‘That’s not true!’ Grace jerked her arm away and stepped back, her face beautifully radiant with the indignation. He was glad her sympathy had turned to fire. This he could face.
