The door opened, and Whitfield’s wife slid inside. Her pretty features were pale, drawn. She’d obviously been worried, although worried that I would kill her husband, or he would kill me, I wasn’t sure. “You are all being missed. People are leaving and taking their gossip with them.”
“You were only twenty,” Rafe tried. “Too young—”
“No. Not too young. I was an adult.”
They fell silent. I could see the guilt that washed over them. How had they lost her? What had happened those years ago? Hell, I wanted to shake them all. Wanted to demand they answer for the pain they had caused her. But I’d be a hypocrite, because I’d caused her pain as well. I swiped my bloody mouth with my sleeve.
Shite, none of us deserved her.
“You will marry,” James said, daring me to reject the command. “Do you understand?”
The sweet feeling of relief that washed over me numbed my aches and pains. Yet, as I grasped at the relief, reveled in it, I knew how Ginny would react; she would not be forced.
“You will not demand anything of me,” Ginny answered, proving my point. “And I won’t marry a man who is forced!”
I took small comfort in the fact that I knew her better than her brothers knew her.
“Jules,” Whitfield said. “Take Evie to her bedchamber.”
But his wife moved toward him, stood on tiptoe and whispered something in his ear. He nodded. I didn’t miss the way she rested her hand on his back. She was trying to calm him down so he wouldn’t kill me. By the look on his face, it was working. How could I have ever doubted Lord and Lady Whitfield loved each other? It was so obvious in the way his gaze followed her, the look of desperate devotion between them. I wanted that with Ginny.
“I won’t leave when you are discussing my future!” Ginny cried out.
“Go,” James said in a gentle, yet demanding tone. “Chambers and I have some things to discuss. We will talk tonight.”
“Come,” Jules said softly, taking Ginny’s hand. “We need to talk as well.”
I didn’t miss the glance Ginny slid my way. The worry there surprised and delighted me. She didn’t want to leave because she was anxious for me. Me. I was rather sure I had a black eye, and perhaps a broken rib, I was facing down the prospect of marriage to a woman I barely knew, yet I’d never felt happier.
Ginny disappeared out the door. She had been my safety. They could do what they wanted with me now, so why was I grinning like a fool? I pulled the handkerchief from my pocket and dabbed at the blood trailing from my nose. “You could have missed my nose. Going to be a mess getting the blood out. And I did so like this shirt.”
“Shut up, you arse,” William growled, his hands fisting.
I couldn’t help taunting them. “Really, four against one? Did you fear me that much?”
“It would be best if you would keep your mouth shut and listen,” Oliver offered. He’d been the only one on my side, but even he had lost patience.
I held my arms wide and gave a flourish of a bow, even though the movement sent my already pounding head spinning. “By all means. I’d be more than happy to sit here and listen to you plan the rest of my life.”
They thought I mocked them. I didn’t.
“You’re going to marry her,” James commanded.
I moved to a chair near the hearth. Let them settle this matter between them. I would agree to any stipulations they demanded. Ginny was here. Even now, I could feel her presence in the house. That was enough.
“He doesn’t deserve her,” Rafe growled. “Fuck him. Let’s find her a prince.”
“Yes, because I’m sure a prince would gladly overlook her bastard child,” William muttered.
I bristled at the comment. The thought of anyone calling Izzy a bastard made me want to commit murder. But it was the truth. And it was my fault. I’d gotten Ginny with child. I’d abandoned her when she needed me most.
“Marry her and the ton will overlook the fact that her child was born out of wedlock.” James paced to the sideboard. “Marry her, and once the papers are signed, she and the child can live with us. You can go about your business.”
Wait, what? No. That had not been part of the plan. I surged to my feet. If they knew how much I cared