Felicity had been forced to repeat her story several times since the truth came out a month ago. To her brothers and John Dane, with more details so that they could understand better, with specific parts given more weight as Dane took page after page of notes.
Every single time she repeated it, it felt like she relived it. Every single word she said felt like it tore away a tiny extra piece of her soul.
But none of those times had ever been as difficult as when she said those two little sentences to Asher. He was staring at her now, his handsome face pale and lined with shock and disbelief. But slowly it gave way to the thing she’d never wanted to see from him.
Pity.
She spun away so she didn’t have to see it and paced to the fire where he’d been standing when she entered the room. The flames were hot but did nothing to take the chill from her bones.
Suddenly she felt his presence behind her, followed by the gentle touch of his hands on her arms. She nearly collapsed with it. He hadn’t touched her since that night on the terrace all those years ago. His hands cupped her elbows with gentle pressure and he turned her. Now she was almost in his arms.
And it was torture.
She stared up at him, memorizing the lines of his face from this miniscule distance. Remembering how he had felt the last time they were so close.
He reached up and traced the line of her cheek with the back of his hand. “What happened?” he asked.
Her breath left her lungs in a sob and his thumb drew along her jaw gently. Tears blurred her vision, but she refused to let them fall as she gasped out, “Must I say it?”
“If I’m here because of this, then I fear the answer is yes,” he said.
She should have moved away from him, but there was such comfort in his nearness. In the feather-light brush of his hands along her skin.
With another shuddering sigh she slowly explained that horrible night and the attack on her, followed by the murder and the subsequent cover up. She saw his jaw tighten as she explained it all, saw a fire enter his eyes that she’d never seen there before. It was pure rage.
“I assume that wasn’t the first time he put his hands on you,” he finally ground out when she was finished.
She blinked. She had expected him to ask her more about the killing, to press her on details of after and why he was here. Instead, he dove backwards, through the awful years of her marriage.
She shook her head slowly. “No. It was an unhappy union from the start and he often displayed his displeasure with his fists.”
Asher spun away, depriving her of his warmth, his soothing touch. He stalked across the room and slammed open the lower door on the sideboard, drawing out a bottle of scotch that was kept there. Without a word, he drew away the top and swigged a gulp.
“It’s too early,” he grunted as he set the bottle back and slammed the cabinet shut. “But I needed something to burn out the taste in my mouth.”
She lifted her chin. “I’m sorry my story causes you disgust.”
He moved toward her in three long steps and his eyes were wide. “Not you, Felicity. My God, I’mgladyou defended yourself. If he had struck you down, it would have…I would have never been the same.”
The pain on his face stopped her in her tracks and she lifted a hand, wanting to trace the line of his jaw, let her fingers touch his lips. But she caught herself before she did something so foolish and jammed her hand back down at her side.
“I thought I’d covered everything,” she said, backing away from him. “That my servants would remain silent. But there was one who wasn’t, it seems. Have you heard of the Duke of Kirkford?”
Asher’s face twisted. “I’m not in your circles by birth, Felicity, but I work in them in London. Not to mention he married Elise, who was also a friend of mine. So of course I know of Kirkford.”
Felicity frowned. “Of course. I’m sorry. Well, have you ever wondered how exactly it was that he married Elise? How he convinced her to end her engagement to Stenfax?”
Asher shifted. “There were…rumors.”
She shook her head. “Lies. Created by Kirkford. In truth, he found out my secret and he used it to blackmail Elise. All those years our family despised her and Stenfax was broken, it turns out she was actually trying to save me.”
“What?” Asher’s shock was clear. “My God.”
“What she suffered for me…” She swallowed hard. “I could never begin to repay it. I’m only comforted by the fact that she and Stenfax have found their way back to each other. They’re very happy now.”
Asher’s expression softened. “I’m glad to hear of it. But I’m confused. If it was Elise’s late husband who was the blackmailer and he is long dead, how are you threatened now?”
She lifted her gaze toward the ceiling and tried to calm her racing heart. “Kirkford kept a book of all the secrets he had on others. Including mine. When he died, it disappeared, but his successor was searching for it.”
