as Sev appeared in the doorway.
‘Not half as hard as I wanted to,’ Sev breathed in a raw undertone. ‘The bastard! Thinking he could walk into our house and abuse you! And calling you a gold-digger? A man who married a woman he didn’t love to milk her like a cash cow? I gather he assumed I’d be in London at my office...idiot! I was afraid of something like this happening because he’s blaming you for his downfall when it’s his own lies and extra-marital affairs which have caused his problems.’
A little thrown by that spirited speech and the surprising admission that Sev had feared such an approach on her behalf, Amy sat down because she was feeling somewhat dizzy in the wake of all the excitement. ‘You shouldn’t have hit him,’ she said numbly again. ‘Violence is never an answer.’
‘But it can be, in certain circumstances, very satisfying,’ Sev slotted in without remorse. ‘When I caught that last sentence and saw him moving towards you, blatantly trying to bully you...and not only are you my woman, you’re pregnant and even more vulnerable...’ He fell silent, compressing his lips as he expelled his breath in a pent-up surge and raked long brown fingers angrily through his already tousled black hair. ‘To be honest, I wanted to rip him apart for even daring to come near you! What did he want?’
Amy explained about the NDA and her refusal, concluding by saying, ‘Not that I want to mention that we’re related to anybody!’
‘I’m sorry that you were embarrassed like that and that I put you in the firing line with him without thinking about the consequences at the time,’ Sev murmured gravely as he studied her, his lean dark features taut with concern. ‘He would never have sought you out if I hadn’t brought you to his attention and embarrassed him.’
‘But you didn’t think that through when you embarked on your revenge project,’ she completed for him.
‘I wasn’t capable of putting myself in your position then. I had zero empathy and tunnel vision,’ he acknowledged curtly. ‘I just saw that Annabel was hurt and I wanted to hurt him back...but he’s not sensitive enough to be hurt in the same way as you are.’
Sev bent down and lifted her where she sat and settled her down again full length along the sofa. ‘You still look ill. He frightened you, shocked you. Maybe I should call a doctor.’
‘Oh, don’t be silly,’ Amy parried. ‘I was just thinking of poor Annabel having to deal with him all alone that night that she stumbled and fell. He’s scary in a temper and I’m ashamed that he’s my father. I didn’t appreciate until now that what my mother screamed at me about my father the day we rowed was genuinely the truth about him. I often thought that she could have said that stuff to punish me and make me more grateful that I had her.’
Sev hovered, still all shaken up but unable to grasp why that was the case in the aftermath of the encounter. He had enjoyed hitting Lawson and throwing him out, but he was appalled by Amy’s pallor and distress and the dreadful awareness that he had not kept her safe in their home from such an ugly approach. Indeed, a whole slew of unfamiliar emotions were assailing Sev in a tidal wave in that moment and guilt rose uppermost. He was incredibly protective of Amy and hated seeing her suffer, but it felt much worse to be forced to accept that his actions were the direct cause of that suffering. In a blind need to seek revenge for the harm caused to his sister, he had fuelled Oliver Lawson’s resentment against Amy and her very survival.
‘I triggered his visit with what I did to you at the party,’ he murmured flatly. ‘I didn’t consider the outcome, not for you as his daughter.’
‘No, you didn’t,’ Amy agreed softly. ‘And it did kill any little fantasy I had about my mother having lied about the kind of man he was, but that was for the best.’
His high cheekbones were clenched as hard as granite. ‘This whole situation has hurt you and I would never have knowingly chosen to do that to you.’
Amy sighed. ‘You wouldn’t do it now. I know that.’
‘At the time, I only considered Annabel and I realised once I saw your history that he would never want a relationship with her child either,’ Sev proffered hesitantly. ‘I am ashamed that