Once Upon a Temptingly Ruinous Kiss - Bree Wolf Page 0,114

eyes moved around the room, looking for something or someone.

Leonora wondered what he was thinking, what he was planning on doing now that Drake’s appearance had no doubt upset his plans.

A look of indecision lingered upon his face for a moment or two. Then he set his jaw in determination, and Leonora felt an unpleasant shiver crawl down her back as she saw him change direction and head over to where…

…the rest of her family stood, enjoying one another’s company, unaware of who was heading toward them this very moment.

“What does he want?” Drake asked, his voice tense. “What is he doing?”

Leonora turned back to face him, her mind racing with what to do. Lord Gillingham could not possibly intend to tell her parents that—

Her eyes flew up and stared into Drake’s. “He wants to marry me!” The words rushed from her lips in a strangled groan as she remembered Lord Gillingham’s determination to make her his bride. Why he did not simply choose another was beyond her. Perhaps he was simply unwilling to admit defeat. Of course, he did not care for her. This was about power and victory. Nothing more.

Shock stood upon Drake’s face for no more than a split second before his features took on a thunderous expression, his gray eyes darkening as though a storm was gathering.

“Who wants to marry you?” Harriet inquired as she stepped closer, Christina and Sarah in tow. “Are you talking about Lord Gillingham?” She glanced past Leonora’s shoulder to where Lord Gillingham was currently conversing with their parents. “Did he propose?”

Leonora inhaled a deep breath as her hands began to tremble. She felt a deep longing to reach for Drake, to feel his hands wrapped around hers, warm and comforting. Still, they were not alone, but out in the open.

“What is it?” Christina’s eyes narrowed as she stepped even closer, her voice lowering. “You look pale, Leo. What is it?”

Worried faces looked at her from all around, and Leonora even saw sparks of suspicion in Christina’s eyes. The truth was that she did not want to keep this from them. They were her family, and they needed to know. It was not a matter of right or wrong, but simply something that needed to be said.

Leonora looked up and met Drake’s gaze. He gave a quick nod, encouraging her to be truthful with her sisters.

Leonora swallowed, then looked from Christina to Harriet, noting a hint of confusion come to Sarah’s face for she did not know what the sisters were speaking about.

At least, not yet.

“It was Lord Gillingham,” Leonora said quietly, but with a firm voice, determined not to cower, not even in front of her sisters. Not any longer. “It was he who attacked me at the masquerade.” Her eyes moved to Christina’s face, noting her sisters jaw dropping as she took in the words. “It was he who sent the notebook back to me.”

Stunned silence lingered for a moment or two before outrage filled the air. “How long have you known?” Harriet demanded, fury in her eyes as they once more returned to look upon Lord Gillingham. “You went riding with him only a few hours ago.”

Leonora nodded. “That’s when I found out,” she told her sisters honestly. “He proposed,” she glanced at Drake, noting him inhale a deep breath, his jaw clenched, “and I refused him. He…he got angry and started to berate me for my less than proper behavior. He didn’t say it out right at first, and I did not want to believe it. Still, I knew it was him.”

Disbelief in her eyes, Harriet shook her head. “And he still wants to marry you?” She placed her hands on her hips, her gaze narrowing. “What madness is this?”

“I’ll kill him!” Christina hissed under her breath, her teeth grinding together as she fought the fury that swept through her.

“Get in line,” Drake growled, drawing her sisters’ attention.

Although Drake had become more than a dear friend to Leonora in recent months, to the rest of her family he was merely a passing acquaintance. Never had he spoken to any of her family beyond the occasional greeting or idle chitchat about the weather or the event they were attending. Nevertheless, as Leonora watched her sisters’ eyes move to him in that moment, she could see something change.

They still did not know him, his character, his past, yet, they now recognized him as an ally.

As one of them.

“Why is he speaking to Mother and Father?” Harriet asked, apprehension in her