Maryann carefully shifted away from David, wanting to be out of his range of madness.
“Do not move, Lady Maryann, or I will shoot you,” he snapped.
She froze, her heart twisting. Nicolas stepped forward and David swung the gun at Arianna. The stillness that blanketed the room felt perilous.
“You may not believe this,” David said shakily, his eyes wild. “But I am damn glad you are alive, Arianna. I was young and foolish…I had been drinking when I asked you to be my mistress and…I did not react well to your rejection. It has haunted me for years.”
Arianna’s hand fluttered to her chest, and a wounded look entered her eyes. “We were best friends,” she said softly. “And you broke that bond of friendship and trust.”
“I am damnably sorry!”
Nicolas’s stance was coiled readiness, the coldness in his eyes one Maryann had never seen. She tried to discreetly glance around the room for anything that could be made use of as a weapon, but all she saw were ladies and gentlemen frozen in horror as they watched the tableau unfold. None thought to interfere or perhaps look for a weapon. The damn useless fools.
“You are not going to let me off, and I do not accept that,” David snarled. “And I want to hurt you how you’ve hurt me, Nicolas. I am going to put a bullet in a place that you will never recover from.”
Maryann faltered at the change that came over Nicolas. Gone was the mien of icy indifference, of cold rage. To her shock, she realized he appeared frightened. She wanted to reassure him she would not allow him to lose Arianna twice, but he was not looking at Maryann, but at David. Arianna was staring at Maryann, her eyes wide with shock and glistening with tears.
“I know she is the most important thing to you,” David said snidely.
Maryann watched Nicolas swallow, shaking his head in a movement that was almost vulnerable. Then he looked at her, a pleading look of torment in his beautiful eyes. Confusion rushed through her, and she stepped haltingly toward him.
It was then she noted David had taken the pistol away from Arianna and pointed it dead center at Maryann’s heart. Shock and confusion blasted through her in icy waves, and she gripped her fan until her palm burned.
“Do you think me a fool?” David murmured with malicious spite. “I know the most important person to your entire world is her—Lady Maryann Fitzwilliam. And her loss will torment you, drive you mad with grief…it will kill you.”
There was a ripple through the crowd, and Maryann saw her father stiffen, his eyes going wide before his expression shuttered. And her mother reached up to grab her husband’s arm as if to steady herself against a blow. Crispin had paled, and a perilous hush had fallen over the ballroom as if they had just perceived the raw extent of the danger.
In two strides, David was before her, and he pressed the point of his gun directly against her stomach. Maryann felt faint as a bitter taste of fear coated her tongue. She swung her gaze to Nicolas, and her knees weakened at the raw agony on his face.
“Please, let her go; she has nothing to do with this. You can leave. I will not come after you. This I vow upon my life and honor,” Nicolas said.
Fury flashed in David’s eyes. “No,” he snapped tightly. “You’ve been a right thorn in my side these last few years. We have been friends since we were toddlers, but that meant nothing to you because you still made steps to ruin me!”
I’ve made moves against the wolf.
Oh God. David was the wolf. And from the conversations she’d had with Nicolas, the Earl of Marsh was a good friend. This was the man Arianna had loved, and he had betrayed her.
“I stayed by your side helping you take down the men who hurt Arianna, hoping to redeem my honor, but you would not let me.”
“You were the leader of those very men.”
“I have been your friend for years, and I was hoping…” David’s chest lifted on a ragged breath. “I was hoping that should you learn of my hand in everything, you would allow that our friendship was more important than what happened. But you ignored our bond of brotherhood as if it meant nothing to you. She is nothing but the daughter of servants and we…we have been friends since we were small. The best of friends! And you