“Christ! Don’t answer,” he snarled. “I’ve had more than enough of your lies already! What a grand little actress you are! If ever you tire of playing the seductress,m’mselle, you might consider taking to the floorboards!”
Jessie felt as though she’d been slapped.
Her eyes misted, and her heart felt as though it would shatter into a thousand tiny shards. She tried desperately not to weep before him. Weeping would accomplish naught, she knew, and yet, even as she restrained herself, a sob seemed to form of its own will. “How could you?” she blurted miserably, “I... I never?—”
“Shut up, Jessamine!” Amos exploded. Closing the distance between them, he seized her forcefully by the arm, gripping her hard in warning. “You’ve absolutely nothing to explain to this—this jackal!”
All eyes turned to Jessie, waiting.
She couldn’t speak. Amos’ grip warned her not to—nor could she seem to form the words.
Christian was the first to turn away.
Shaking his head with disgust, he clenched his jaw.
Those pale green eyes of hers had a way of piercing his very heart. Impossible not to feel when they were fixed upon him, and he didn’t want to feel just now. Outwardly his expression remained carefully bland, until he happened to spy the wounded expression she wore.
How could he ever have thought her pure?
Sweet? Caring? How dare she play the injured before him now? He didn’t give a bloody damn who else was present, he wasn’t about to leave this place without giving her a piece of hismind. And to think he’d nearly given her... everything—Christ, what a bloody fool he was! His eyes narrowed. “Tell me, my love, was it difficult to lie there beneath me and whisper words of love, knowing all the while you belonged to another man?” His jaw clenched.
Her face drained of color, but he felt no satisfaction, only pain more intensely.
“So much for love, eh?”
St. John’s face mottled with rage.
“Do not make intimations that can so easily be disproven, Haukinge.” Amos shot a warning glance to Jessie, urging her without words to remain silent while he attempted to acquit her name.
Smoldering with anger, Christian taunted, one brow lifted in contempt, “Can it now?” He turned to Jessie. “Can it, I wonder, my love?”
He was daring her to deny it.
Jessie’s face flamed at his mortifying disclosure. It seemed all eyes were upon her again, probing, questioning, gawking. God help her, but she could not deny Christian’s insinuation, for she was, in truth, no longer innocent. Only that didn’t seem to matter just now; she only felt the pain of his betrayal. She choked on a sob. “I... “
“You what? You do love me? Say it now, so that all may hear your tender declarations.”
Jessie stood silent, her heart breaking, her world collapsing around her. She thought she might swoon. Her palms dampened, and she wet her lips nervously, glancing at her brother, then at St. John, then again at Christian, not knowing to whom to turn. Tears welled in her eyes, blinding her to all but Christian’s spiteful glare. His furious expression cut her as surely as a knife. Her hands began to quiver, but she could not speak. She didn’t know what to say in response to all the hurtfulthings he was saying to her. Oh, God! She stifled a sob. Amos had paid him! And Christian, he’d accepted without compunction.
Her heart felt crushed beyond repair.
She couldn’t bear it. Bile surged in her throat. It was no wonder he believed she would betray him, for he had already betrayed her. Her heart felt as though it would rend in two. And God help her, for she loved him even still. He stared, waiting, inviting her to humiliate herself further by professing an unrequited love, for he couldn’t possibly love her in return.
Well, she wasn’t about to satisfy him.
“You cannot say it, can you? Now, when it matters most! Christ! How witless of me to have ever believed in you!” His eyes came alive with loathing, as he turned to St. John. “My congratulations to you, St. John, on your impending nuptials. You richly deserve one another!” He started toward her. “Keep your stinking money, Westmoor, your sister has already paid me in full.” His gaze locked with hers as he passed her, and he whispered for her ears alone, “Haven’t you, love?” He left then, his footsteps echoing behind him. He opened and slammed the front door, taking with him the promise of Jessie’s future.
If possible, St. John’s face reddened even more as he turned to face her. The whites of his eyes seemed to bulge from his face. “Is it true?”
Even without Christian’s presence, she could not answer.
“I shall not be the butt of every man’s joke!”
What could she say? Nothing. There was nothing she could possibly say in her own defense.
Silence permeated the room, damning her.
“By God!” St. John thundered. “I shall not have that jackal’s leavings! Not this day! Nor any other! Good day to the two of you!”
