The Captain's Midwinter Bride (Holiday Novella) by Liana De la Rosa

Author:Liana De la Rosa [De la Rosa, Liana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-11-11T18:30:00+00:00

Phillip walked through the small dressing room and paused outside of Annalise’s chamber. The door was ajar, and she was his wife…but still he hesitated. Should he knock and wait for her admittance? Just stroll in as if he owned the place? He did, after all.

In the end, the decision was taken from him when Annalise called out, “Do enter, Phillip.”

The room smelled of her perfume, and he greedily inhaled the scent into his lungs. He spied her sitting at her dressing table, pinning her mahogany curls up into a simple but elegant coiffure. Her curious gaze met his in the mirror.

“You haven’t changed your mind about accompanying me to the dinner party tonight, have you?”

“I have not.” He clenched his hands to keep from running his fingers through the wispy curls at the base of her neck. “But are you certain it’s to be a dinner party? The Newells promised us an intimate dinner, and it turned into a bit of a crush.”

“Yes, there were far too many people in attendance at the Newells’, if you ask me.” Annalise crinkled her nose, and it kicked up the corner of Phillip’s mouth.

“Precisely why I distrust the Pellinghams’ invitation.”

Annalise shook her head as she reached for a simple strand of pearls. He batted her hand away when she attempted to clasp them behind her neck.

“Was there a reason you and Beth snuck away before I could have the carriage readied for you?” he asked, taking longer with the clasp than necessary.

“We needed to talk, and I find that sometimes a walk will loosen the tongue.”

Phillip arched a disbelieving brow. “Even when it’s so frigid out your tongue is likely to freeze to the roof of your mouth?”

She chuckled, laugh lines crinkling at the corners of her eyes. “Even then.”

“What did you want to talk about?”

“Mr. Newell. Mrs. Newell. How they’ve treated her when I’m not around.”

He instantly felt his muscles tense. “And what did she tell you?”

Annalise paused, and Phillip settled his hand on her shoulder. She stiffened for an incremental second and then relaxed into his touch. “What she disclosed convinced me that Silas Newell is not at all deserving of her hand and most definitely should not be entrusted with her heart.”

Anger singed up his throat. “What exactly did she say?”

“That Mrs. Newell has been unkind to Beth in his presence, and her future husband has done nothing to defend her.”

I knew it. Phillip had taken one look at the young Silas Newell with his tousled hair and ingratiating smirk, and he’d known he was a coward. After working with scores of officers, enlisted men, prisoners, and members of law enforcement, Phillip thought it safe to say he was quite familiar with the attributes of men. And he could spot a craven bastard from a league away.

With great effort, he kept his anger from his voice. “Did you encourage her to call off the wedding?”

Annalise shifted under his touch. “I wouldn’t say I encouraged her…”

“What did you say, then?”

She narrowed her eyes at his in the mirror.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.