Lady Rosabella's Ruse - By Ann Lethbridge Page 0,87
had been in danger, trying to rescue the woman he later made his wife. And it had been nowhere as strong as this. But then, he’d been drinking hard in those days, so most of it had passed in a blur.
The sensation was unexpected. It made him nervous. Made him clumsy. His usually silver tongue became awkward. He took a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry. My mother is such a bitch.’
She raised her gaze. They were swimming in tears. Her nose was red. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t want children?’
Damn it all. ‘You heard.’
‘Your conversation was hardly private.’
‘I never planned to get married, so naturally I didn’t expect to have children.’ He scrubbed at his chin. ‘There are reasons why I would prefer—’
‘Shouldn’t you have told me before we made our agreement?’ A tear rolled down her face.
‘Rosabella. Don’t.’ He reached over the chest to capture the wayward drop.
She whipped her face to the side, out of his reach. ‘Don’t touch me.’
The old anger flared at her rejection. Rage mixed with humiliation. ‘If you wanted children, you should have put it in writing in that damned settlement of yours.’
She flinched.
He wanted to howl his frustration. ‘I didn’t mean that.’
Her expression hardened. ‘And if I am with child—how will you deal with it? What did you mean?’
He froze. Dear God, had he said that? ‘I meant will live with it. Deal with the consequences of losing control. What else would I mean?’
‘Control.’ She sat back on her heels and wrapped her hands around her waist. ‘Live with it. Will you, indeed? I’m sorry, the wedding is off.’
The pain of her words knifed through his chest. A new kind of anger flooded his veins. It was hotter than fire. Hotter than molten metal. If he set it free, it would destroy them both. He fought to contain it. ‘You don’t have a choice. I have kept my part of our bargain. Now you will keep yours. Think of your sisters. Of the child, if there is one.’
‘And if there isn’t…? There won’t be any, will there? Because you’ll make sure. You’ll do…whatever it is you’ve been doing.’
He stared at her, almost dumb in the face of her pain. ‘You don’t understand.’
Her gaze turned cold. ‘I understand very well. I made a bargain to marry a degenerate rake who wants to continue his life as if nothing has changed. There really is no point to us being married.’
‘You will marry me. Rosabella—’
‘I cannot let my child grow up with a father who does not love it.’
‘Why not? Plenty do.’
She stared at him, her eyes full of disgust. The look he’d seen on his parents’ face growing up. ‘I wouldn’t let you near a child of mine.’
‘I’m not a monster. I would never hurt a child.’
She regarded him for a moment from those velvet-soft eyes. ‘Not physically, no. But the way you spoke to your mother, you hurt her, Garth.’
‘My mother has no feelings to hurt. Do not speak about what you do not know.’
She shuddered. ‘She is your mother. She deserves your love and respect.’
‘No. She doesn’t.’
Her gaze returned to the trunk. She extracted a small pink satin reticule and stroked the fabric against her cheek.
He watched her warily. Saw the light of joy in her eyes, mingled with a sadness he didn’t understand.
‘This was my mother’s. She let me play with it when I was a child. She told me stories of her life before she met my father. And of how they fell in love. I want the same.’ She lifted her gaze. ‘I will not marry you.’
He took the blow from her words deep in his chest. Never had he felt such agony of spirit. Not even when he realised why his father hated him had he felt so wounded. He wanted to lash out, to hurt her back.
‘I won’t let you keep my child.’
Her lovely dark eyes widened. ‘You don’t want the child.’
He pushed to his feet. ‘I won’t let a child of mine grow up without its father.’
‘A father who doesn’t love it? Why would it matter?’
He looked down at her, smiling. ‘Make no mistake, Rosabella, we will marry, or you will lose the child.’
The look on her face said she’d fight him to the death.
Sanity eased into his brain. If he said another word right now, there would be no going back.
‘We will talk about this later, when we are both in a calmer frame of mind.’ He swung around and left, slamming the door behind