Summer's Distant Heart - Laura Landon Page 0,42
treat me as any loving father would, I have no doubt that you would do the same to Evan’s son. I will not permit you to have any hold over the boy.”
“How dare you,” Trentridge hissed. “This is not over. I intend to take whatever legal action is needed in order to gain control of the boy. You are not worthy of having him.”
Lia watched as the Marquess of Trentridge realized the guests were staring at him with revulsion and disbelief on their faces.
“Surely you know I’m correct,” he said to the room. “Surely one of you will assist me in my quest to gain custody of my grandson?”
The Duke of Palmery stepped forward, his hands clasped thoughtfully behind his back. “I’m afraid your attempt—whether intended or not— to take the boy away from those both his mother and his father requested as guardians before they died will be met with disappointment, Trentridge. I believe I speak for everyone here when I say we will stand with your son should you attempt any further action, legal or otherwise.”
Trentridge sagged. “Damned traitors, the lot of you.”
“That may be, in your estimation,” Palmery said standing up to Hunter’s father, “but we’re only doing what we think is in the boy’s best interest.”
“You all feel this way?” Trentridge asked.
“We do,” they answered in unison.
Without another word, Hunter’s father staggered in disgrace from the room, flinging epithets every step of the way.
No one spoke for a long moment until the Duke of Natchess turned to Hunter. “The truth is out now, Montclaire. The boy is no longer in danger.”
He reached out a hand and Hunter shook it.
“Thank you.”
“And Montclaire? Miss Halloway?” Palmery laid a hand on Hunter’s shoulder as he shook his hand. “I’d be honored to take a seat at your wedding.”
Lia blushed at the kind words of a man asking for an invitation to a wedding that Hunter had drawn from thin air. How she was going to deal with explanations that no such wedding was planned—though perhaps in a corner of her heart it had been pondered—was too much for her brain to consider at the moment.
As if sensing her discomfort, Georgie squirmed in her arms and she made her excuses to leave the room.
Hunter led her across the foyer to transfer the babe into Frannie’s arms.
“It’s over,” he said, drawing Lia to him. “The Earl of Atherton is safe now.”
Lia wound her arms around Hunter’s neck and stood on her tiptoes. His mouth came down over hers and he kissed her tenderly.
How she loved him. It was impossible to think that she had ever thought any feelings she had for Hunter were wasted. It was impossible to believe that he could love her as much as she loved him. But he did. She knew it in the way he held her. In the way he kissed her. In the way he cherished her. It was a feeling she never thought she’d experience. An experience that had set her blood tingling.
“What, pray tell, was that folderol about our getting married?” she asked with a coyly innocent grin.
“Folderol? I meant every word! If you’ll have me, that is.”
And then his face fell.
“You will have me, won’t you?” The hint of a plea made his voice crack unexpectedly. He swept a hand across his forehead, pushing his thick dark hair from his brow. He grasped her hands. “It’s the only way, Lia, don’t you see? If you won’t have me I’ll wander the world half a man, I’ll—”
Lia laughed with an unrestrained delight that welled up from a place within her which a moment ago had seemed impossibly distant. She thrust her hand up to cover his lips and rob him of speech.
“Half a man, is it, Hunter Montclaire?”
He gave her a sheepish smile. “Nearly half, I should say. Bordering on three-quarters on a good day, though.”
He lowered his head to catch her lips in a tender kiss. Rightness flooded her veins, and a moment later she forced herself to pull away to catch her breath.
“At half a man, my love, you are head and shoulders above any other. Now kiss me properly.”
With her hands on his chest Lia allowed him to crush her. As his kiss began to ply her eager lips, she knew this was the only distance she could ever allow between herself and the man who filled her heart with such joy. But long before she was ready to let even the smallest space come between them, Hunter reared