“I stood before God and swore to love you in sickness and in health, in joy and in sorrow, in every shadowed corner of your soul. That vow was not a courtesy. It was a promise carved into my bones. Your pain is my pain. Your fear is my fear. Your fight is my fight. Let me carry it with you, Raph. Let me be the home you come back to when the world tries to break you.” A single tear slid down her cheek, but her gaze never wavered from his.
A sudden, treacherous warmth unfurled behind Raph’s ribs, soft and golden and terrifyingly alive. It spread like spilled honey, loosening the iron bands he had worn around his heart for sixteen years, whispering that he could lay down the weight, that he could simply let himself be held.
For one dizzying heartbeat, he almost surrendered to it. But instinct slammed the gates shut, and he crushed the feelingbeneath the heel of long discipline, jaw tightening, shoulders squaring, as if tenderness itself were an enemy to be repelled.
“I told you what matters,” he growled and pulled his hand away.
“Raph—”
“I made a promise,” he snapped, ignoring the pain in her eyes as he climbed off the bed and gathered his clothes and senses.
“A promise to whom?” Camelia asked, more tears rolling down her flushed cheeks.
“To Josephine.”
“You promised her that you’ll keep the truth from her daughter?”
“I promised toprotecther daughter.” His anger flared as he yanked on his trousers. “You will not utter a word to Pamela about this.”
The warning was clear.
“Pamela needs to know the truth fromyou, and only you. I will not say a word to her, but she deserves to know who her real parents are.”
Raph’s gaze sharpened. “That knowledge would only wound her. Revealing that Montague abandoned Josephine, that he fathered her—” He stopped, the weight of a thousand rules and the promises he had made to his sister pressing down on his shoulders. “I protected Pamela for sixteen years by keeping such truths buried.”
“But she sees herself as a burden already, Raph,” Camelia argued. “She needs to know the truth. That she’s your niece. Descended from Josephine. Your truth will give her roots..” Conviction threaded through every word. “The lies you’ve been feeding her for God knows how long has to end, Raph.”
“I had to do whatever I could to protect her.”
“She believes that she killed her mother by being born. She believes that she’s the reason you can’t celebrate her birthday. This is not protection. This is hurting you and Pamela, and I cannot bear to witness it anymore.”
Raph’s back stiffened. “Camelia, you are overstepping. You were brought here to instruct Pamela. But all you did was meddle in her past and mine. She was right; you are not her mother, and you have no right to dictate her future.”
Camelia opened her mouth, then closed it. Heat crept up her neck as she stared down at the floor.
Raph inclined his head, acknowledging the impasse. “It seems as though this matter requires some patience. We will discuss it again when our tempers have cooled.”
He turned with deliberate steps, daring not look back at her crumbling face. He closed her chamber door with a soft click. The scent of her skin still clung to his shirt as he stalked down the corridor, resisting the urge to run back to her.
“Your Grace!” Raph’s butler’s voice called, followed by hurried footsteps. He appeared from around a corner with a silver tray in hand and a single letter sealed with black wax resting atop it. “Forgive the hour. It was delivered by express messenger. The man insisted it be delivered to you at once.”
Raph took the letter, recognizing the seal instantly. An ornateMentwined with a serpent. His blood turned to ice as he broke the wax and read Lord Montague’s letter.
Old friend,
You once stopped me from collecting your father-in-law’s debt. Heroic. Unfortunately for you, I am no longer inclined to let that insult rest.
I want the sum paid. In full. By the last day of the month.
If you refuse, I will present proof that Lady Pamela is my child. It would be a pleasure to take her under my care, especially as she reaches the age to be welcome into society. But sadly this very scandal may ruin the girl, destroy your wife’s reputation, and permanently damage your name in the ton. You know exactly how quickly they devour weakness.
Settle the debt, or watch your niece and household burn.
Your move.
Lord Montague.
The paper trembled in Raph’s grip; fury surged through him. The thought of losing Pamela and Camelia made his mind swirl dangerously.
