Pride and Papercuts (The Austens #5) - Staci Hart Page 0,70

resourceful and unafraid to speak their minds. Something you have in common, it seems.”

Catherine made a noncommittal noise but didn’t argue.

I took the moment to turn to Laney, who wore an expression of both fury and thanks, her confusion clear.

“Will you excuse us?” I asked. “We can continue our … conversation later.”

“Don’t bother. I’ve said what I needed to say,” she said smartly.

As she left the room, she and Catherine locked eyes, tracking each other until Laney was gone, the door slamming behind her.

“What have you done?” Catherine hissed. “What have you allowed your sister to do?”

“Georgiana is an adult. I don’t allow or disallow her to do anything.”

“Since when?”

I ignored her. “It’s true that I found them at the party, but when I intervened, she was so furious that she defied my wishes and left with him. If you think I have control over her, you’re wrong. And that’s as it should be, I’m coming to realize.”

She stared silently at me as she processed what I’d said.

“Nothing is going on with Laney and me, and nothing ever will be. She despises me. Particularly for inserting myself into her brother’s relationship.”

“Good. One Bennet rat is enough to deal with.”

Again, that defensive flare. “Georgie is determined. She cares for him enough to disregard my concerns.”

“And does she disregard mine too?” The question was a warning or a challenge. Maybe both.

“I suppose that depends. What happens if she continues to see him?”

Without hesitation, she answered, “Do you think I’d keep a traitor in my midst? In my family? She is either for me or she’s against me. And if she’s against me, I’ll strip her of everything in my power. Seeing that bottom-feeding trash violates our company policies. As such, I could relieve her of her shares. Her position. Me. Permitting those people into our family in any context is a mistake, and I won’t allow it.”

The sick twist in my stomach told me what I needed to know, but I asked anyway. “Under any circumstance?”

“None in this world or the next. Tell her to make her choice and accept the consequences.”

“You won’t speak with her?”

Wrath simmered behind her eyes. “She does not want me to speak to her, not about this. I cannot be reasonable. That family ruined my very best friend. Sent her to jail. Stole her business. She has nothing—do you understand that? When she leaves prison, she will have nothing. And it’s all because of them.”

I was silent, my chest still but for my sinking heart.

“Georgiana has a knack for finding degenerates. First a gambler, now the heir to nothing. And he’ll get more desperate for your money, more conniving, as will your little toy. The Bennets have hit some trouble, if you haven’t heard.” Her pleasure at the statement was plain, the shrewd smile it brought to her lips sparking suspicion in me. “It would be a shame if they lost what little they have. And if you don’t think they’ll slither their way into your wallet to save them, you’re mistaken. It’s their way.”

“And what’s ours?”

“We win, Liam Darcy. And they do not. They will not.” Somehow, she stiffened even more, lifting her chin. “Tell Georgiana to decide. And if she chooses that dog over me, she will not be forgiven. And I will not forget.”

The battle of desire versus demand waged in me once more. I desired to shred her ultimatum and send her to hell. But it was demanded that I show deference whether I agreed or not.

I couldn’t summon a single word of agreement, so I offered a solitary nod instead. With an answering nod, she stormed out of my office with all the force she’d stormed in with, leaving me with the task of breaking Georgie’s heart.

And mine along with it.

22

The Blame Game

LANEY

It had been a very bad day.

Kicking it off with a fight with Liam was bad enough on its own. Being spoken to like that by Catherine de Bourgh was a new level of rage and humiliation. But Georgie breaking up with Jett was the absolute lowest of the low points on a godawful day.

I’d left the office after the one-two punch of confrontations, assuming Catherine would be happier with me out of the building, which made two of us. I headed straight for Wasted Words where I could talk to Jett and try to work, which was a wash—it took me four hours to get through what I should have been able to do in one. But it was