His Wicked Revenge by Vanessa Kelly

Author:Vanessa Kelly
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

She met his eyes, and he saw a hint of her old fire. “You didn’t deserve what happened to you.”

“So, you’re offering yourself up as a means of atonement, is that it?”

Her mouth kicked up in a wry smile. “Something like that.”

He took a gulp of brandy, feeling gloomier by the minute. This was not how he had envisioned the scene playing out. He should be feeling triumphant after all those years spent developing his schemes, step by careful step. Vengeance against the Joslins—against her—had given his life purpose. And now, when he had prevailed and Marissa was finally under his thrall, what did he truly feel?

Not triumph. Not even simple satisfaction. What he felt was...hollow. As if he’d lost something important he could never get back.

Anthony captured her elegant chin between his fingers.

“Did you mean what you said today?” he asked harshly. “That you were desperate to find me?”

She tried to pull away but he tightened his grip, forcing her to meet his gaze.

“I want the truth, Marissa. No more lies or secrets. Not anymore.”

Her pupils dilated as she drew in an unsteady breath. She seemed almost frightened.

“It’s all right,” he murmured, giving in to the compulsion to reassure her. “You can tell me.”

Her eyes grew soft and misty.

“Yes. I would have given anything to find you. My heart was broken with the thought of never seeing you again. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said my father locked me in a room for a month. No matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t escape. And no one would help me.”

Her gaze filled with anguish, an anguish that became his. He brushed her cheek, wiping away a single fallen tear.

“Then what happened?”

“When I told Father I would never marry anyone but you, he lied to me. He said you had boarded a ship to America and were never coming back. He threatened that if I didn’t marry Richard, he would exile me to one of his smaller estates in the country—indefinitely.”

His heart ached with guilt and he longed to take her in his arms and comfort her. All these years he had failed her, never knowing the truth but choosing to believe the worst.

She sniffed and tried to look brave. Anthony extracted a handkerchief and handed it to her.

“Father was determined I not break my engagement to Richard. I know I was weak, but I simply didn’t have the strength to fight him anymore,” she said with an unhappy shrug.

She scrubbed her cheeks with the handkerchief, finishing with a prosaic wipe of the nose.

“What happens now?” she asked, looking wary.

He got up and crossed to the mantle, needing to put distance between them.

“Nothing,” he said. His chest ached, as if someone had punched him in the ribs.

She frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“You’re free to go. I’ll write to your brother tomorrow, setting out reasonable terms to pay back what he owes me. You have my word that no harm will come to your family.”

He forced himself to look at her.

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