“What the hell are you doing?” Jacob hissed.
“It’ll take a moment.” She made short work of buttoning the cufflinks before Jacob seized her arm and yanked her away.
“Stay away from these crazies, or I swear I’ll have you locked up here too.”
She shrugged herself free. “Don’t touch me.”
The quick contact with his hand had her breathing hard, mostly in fear. She put on a brave face and was aware of how manipulative he was, but the fear always lingered. She hated how he could still frighten her deeply.
He pinned her with a scorching glare that promised retribution in the privacy of his house. “I can touch you whenever I want.” He was about to say something else, but a shout coming from the other side of the corridor cut him off.
They both remained still, but there was no other sound.
Jacob’s sculpted lips twisted in a cruel snarl, ruining his perfect beauty. “If that idiot Stark thinks he can buy my share of this place from me, he’s mistaken. I’ll drag him to court. This whole thing was his father’s idea.”
At hearing that name, she stifled a gasp. Ethan. It wasn’t surprising that he was involved in the Royal Veterans’ Society, which meant she might meet him now. Her pulse sped up. She wasn’t ready to meet him, especially since she was with Jacob. Ethan would see how Jacob behaved towards her. He would wonder why she hadn’t left her husband. But she was going to. She had a plan.
“Do you really want a legal battle?” She stopped, not wanting to provoke Jacob further if only for Ethan’s sake.
“I’m not afraid of a confrontation. I won’t bother to explain to you all the legal intricacies of land law or how this place ended up with three owners. David must have taken after someone after all.” A corner of his mouth quirked up in a smirk as he stared at her, waiting for her to talk back.
She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of offering him another reason to disparage her. With Jacob, who demanded constant attention from everyone, indifference was the best weapon against his attacks.
“To keep this horrible place up” —he waved a hand around— “Stark and Lady Kingsley need my approval as well, or these filthy soldiers will find another place to grovel. My father might have indulged in the late Lord Stark’s fantasies of charity. Not me.”
Yes, the late Earl of Roxbury had been a sweet man. How such a gentleman had produced someone like Jacob was a mystery.
“Sir.” Another man reached out and grabbed Jacob’s hand. His gaze was lost in a horror only he could see. “There were cannons. The ground exploded…”
“Get off me.” Jacob snatched his hand out of the man’s and closed a fist. “You filthy—” He raised his hand, ready to punch him.
“Don’t.” She shoved Jacob hard. Heaven help her.
The moment he staggered back, nearly losing his balance, and stared at her in shock was both exhilarating and terrifying. He wouldn’t let the affront pass. He wouldn’t wait this time. She’d stood up against him, but her defiance would cost her another sleepless night of pain and fear, or worse, he would vent his anger on David, punishing him by forcing him to sleep on the floor or eat only kitchen scraps for a week.
Jacob’s cold fury reached her heart with the precision of a stiletto and caused her blood to chill.
“How dare you,” he said in a low tone that was ten times more frightening than a shout. He stretched out his hand, his anger directed towards her this time.
He was going to grab her by the throat— his favourite punishment.
She stepped back and braced herself for the attack, ready to shove him again, but the blow never arrived. She chanced a look at the beast who was her husband only on paper.
A tall, broad man had blocked Jacob’s arm and held it in a firm grip. “You touch her, and I’ll kill you.” It wasn’t a threat but a solemn oath.
She would recognise that deep, calm baritone everywhere even after years. Even though she’d spoken with him for less than a day.
“Ethan,” she whispered, but it sounded loud enough for him to hear her.
He turned towards her, pushing Jacob out of the way with a careless gesture. “Cora.”
The rest of the world vanished. Her gaze locked with his, stopping time.
Only a few years had passed, but he’d changed. His hair was long, reaching his shoulders in thick curls. The style suited him. His features had hardened, his gaze had lost the hopeful light she remembered, and his body had broadened further. The dark suit he wore enhanced his powerful body, adding a layer of menace to his build. The backs of his hands were lined with thin scars, a testament to the violence he’d encountered, and his biceps bunched underneath the fabric of his sleeves. But no shiver of fear went through her. Quite the opposite.
“I heard you returned.” She couldn’t avert her eyes from his face. Familiar but new at the same time.
Jacob said something she didn’t care to understand or acknowledge.
