papers on the blotter and shoving them into a leather folio. “Leave us, Giles,” he barked. “I’ll meet you at Birchmore’s in an hour.”
Olivia shook her head. “N-n-n-no. I . . . I w-want him to—”
But Giles Thackery had already gone, closing the door behind him.
Ice-cold fear slid its fingers down her spine as Felix’s other hand closed like a vise around the base of her throat. “Now listen here. You will not breathe a word of what you just saw or heard. To. Anyone.” He pressed against her windpipe, and for one terrifying moment, Olivia thought he was going to choke her. His port-laced breath gusted across her face. “And if you do,” he continued in a silky yet thoroughly menacing tone, “I will hurt you in ways you cannot even begin to imagine.” His gaze skewered hers. “Do I make myself clear, c-c-cuz?”
Olivia forced herself to speak. “Y-you’re stealing my m-money. Right out from under your f-father’s nose and my trustee’s. And if that isn’t bad enough, you’re w-wasting it all on entirely dissolute pursuits . . . at horrid gaming hells and b-brothels. It’s not right. In fact, it’s indecent.” She swallowed and somehow hardened her gaze even though her heart was hammering erratically against her ribs. “I won’t m-marry you. I w-won’t.”
Felix gave a derisive snort. “Well, I don’t particularly want to marry you, either, Livvie. Of course I could do away with you right now—no one really cares about you after all. But that would mean Father would inherit, and then I’d have to wait for him to fall off his perch, which probably won’t be anytime soon. So yes”—he leaned in so close, his nose almost touched hers—“I’m willing to saddle myself with an inarticulate, second-rate piece of baggage like you in order to get my hands on your indecently large fortune. As soon as we’re wed, dearest Papa and the trustee will sign everything over to me, and then I can do as I please. As long as you stay silent . . .” His gaze narrowed, and he pressed his fingers into her throat again. “But you haven’t agreed to do that yet, Livvie. What’s it to be?”
Olivia forced herself to nod. “I won’t breathe a word,” she rasped. “I promise.”
“Good girl.” Felix stroked her cheek, then released her from his vicious hold. “Now get out before I change my mind about not wringing your scrawny little neck.”
Her hands shook so violently, Olivia could barely grasp the door handle as she yanked it open. And then she fled down the corridor, into the main hall, and thence into the drawing room. She didn’t stop until she was in the back garden, sheltering beneath the beech tree.
Oh God, oh God, oh God.
Olivia wrapped her arms around herself as nausea roiled. She couldn’t stop trembling. The misty rain was a chill touch on her face and bare hands, but it was nothing compared to the icy terror gripping her heart.
Felix, the man she was expected to marry, had threatened to do her unspeakable physical harm if she revealed to her uncle what she’d learned. Indeed, her cousin’s secret was a grenade that could end her at any moment. Because what if Felix changed his mind and decided he couldn’t trust her to keep silent before they wed?
Another frisson of fear skated down Olivia’s spine, raising gooseflesh as his terrible words echoed in her mind: I will hurt you in ways you cannot even begin to imagine . . .
If Olivia thought she was in an insufferable situation before, after tonight, she was in dire peril. If she and Felix became man and wife, she was absolutely certain he would squander her entire fortune in the pursuit of Lord knew what sorts of depraved activities, without a second thought. And how could she lie with an innately cruel man who not only threatened her, but habitually frequented houses of ill repute? Arabella had warned her about terrible diseases like the pox.
Her life would be a waking nightmare.
She couldn’t stay here. She wouldn’t marry Felix.
But what could she do? She had well-connected friends, but everyone was away on their country estates, and despite her vast wealth, she was virtually penniless. Her uncle controlled all the purse strings. She didn’t even have enough coins to her name to hire a hackney.
Dare she steal into her aunt’s rooms and search for jewelry that she could sell? But that would take time and a great deal of subterfuge. Sneaking