With Every Breath (Slow Burn #4) - Maya Banks Page 0,97

the sudden intensity of his gaze. He paused in his speech, his chin lifted as if looking beyond her so his gaze encompassed the majority of the crowd. But his eyes were fixed solidly on her. She felt a peculiar sensation, a flutter of awareness in her mind as if he were probing to find his way in.

And as suddenly as it happened, it was gone, and a slight frown marred Thomas’s face before he quickly recovered and once again resumed his speech.

Relief and a keen sense of victory fizzed through her body like a bottle of champagne having the cork popped and the contents bubbling out and over. He hadn’t been able to push past her barriers! She’d felt his attempt, something she’d never even been aware of before. She’d never felt or sensed anything at all when he’d accessed her mind all those years ago.

She was careful not to let her jubilation show and to temper her thoughts of victory and immense satisfaction. He would try again. Of that she had no doubt. And she’d give him that attempt. One more and then she was done here. She’d accomplished what she’d set out to do and she’d baited the trap. All she had to do now was hope he fell neatly into it.

She went rigid when she tuned back into his polished, very practiced recitation of expressing his thanks to everyone who supported him and who fought for him and believed in him blah blah. She’d zoned out until she heard her name. Or rather what used to be her name.

Her gaze caught his and for the first time she looked directly into his eyes, boldly, refusing to look away. And as he spoke, once again she felt that odd fluttering sensation in her head, sharper, more forceful than before. Pain sizzled through her head and she clenched her jaw against the nearly unbearable strain, but her thought patterns never changed, didn’t deviate from what she was focusing on and none of her hatred for the man now saying her name had diminished in the least.

“It was with a heavy heart that I learned that Melissa Caldwell has been the recipient of so much ill will and has been treated poorly by the citizens of this town. I harbor no animosity for Miss Caldwell. I pity her, as you all should too, and she should be granted more understanding. You see, she was but a child then. A mixed-up, confused child who had no family, no home of her own and had been on her own with only herself to rely on since she was fifteen.”

Nausea welled in Eliza’s stomach and it took every ounce of willpower she possessed not to vomit right there on the ground. She was shaking and this time, no attempt at controlling it was successful. She had to keep it together. She should leave now. Her objective had been achieved. But she was frozen to the spot where she stood, unable to turn away without hearing the rest.

Thomas sighed dramatically and affected a pained, sympathetic look of regret.

“She convinced herself she was in love with me,” he said, as if admitting to some heinous crime. “I fear I carry partial blame for that, though that was never my intention or desire. She was attacked on her way home from work very late at night and I happened on the scene and managed to fend off her attackers. I felt responsible for her in a way that an older brother would feel responsibility for his younger sister. I would walk her home because I couldn’t in good conscience allow her to come to harm when she had no one else to look out for her.”

He ran his hand through his hair in faked regret.

“She mistook my kindness for something more and as a result she became obsessed with me. I tried very hard to let her down gently. I didn’t want to hurt her or embarrass her in any way. I explained that even if I felt for her the way she thought she felt for me, it wouldn’t be appropriate. She was far too young and I was much too old for her. I told her that she was too young to be thinking about the kind of relationship she wanted. With me,” he added with a grimace. “That she had all the time in the world and that one day she would meet the man meant for her but that I wasn’t—could