the wealthy had less of a claim to it than the people they assumed were beneath them.
I think if I had the choice, I would be like them, that I would take pride in walking my own path rather than having the demands of wealth and polite society box me in.
“So, tell me what it’s like to have Callan Rose gunning for you?”
Leaning back against the wall, Haley sat with her legs straight in front of her on my bed, her eyes rolling my direction like a minx, a smile stretching across her pretty face.
Near us stood Isabelle, a scowl firmly set in place, eyes watching me warily. Two other women were seated in chairs near the door to my room, laughter bubbling up their throats in response to Haley’s request.
Meanwhile, I was at the head of the bed, still in the short nightgown I’d been given to wear instead of the maid uniform I had when brought down.
My legs were bent in front of my chest, my arms wrapped around my shins. Resting my chin on my knees, I met Haley’s stare while trying to ignore the eye daggers from Isabelle’s direction.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Haley cocked a perfectly shaped brow. “Sure you don’t. Meanwhile your neck is still a little yellow from fading bruises. It takes a lot to drive a man to violence like that.”
Her gaze drifted to Isabelle. “She’s never been marked.”
Uncomfortable with the direction our conversation was taking, I tightened my arms around my legs as if that could make me smaller or invisible.
Haley’s eyes found mine again. “What did you do to him?”
“She exists in my space.”
All our heads snapped toward the door at the sound of Callan’s deep voice. How he’d snuck up on us, I didn’t know. Normally I felt his presence, the cold brush of shadow.
Haley’s eyes widened, her body straightening over the bed. The other women left, their bodies brushing past him quickly. All except Isabelle.
But while Isabelle stared at Callan like he hung the moon, his gaze locked on me.
I felt trapped in that dark stare, consumed once again by a man that didn’t just make my heart flutter like a panicked bird, but burned me from the inside out with every word he said and every act he committed against me.
Without looking away from me, his voice rolled like thunder.
“If you ladies don’t mind, I’d like to speak with Lisbeth alone.”
“Awe, but we’re just getting to the good part.”
Despite Haley’s teasing, Callan’s eyes never left mine. It was a silent challenge. One I wasn’t sure I could take on.
“Now.”
His deep voiced response was obeyed finally.
Haley was quick to jump to her feet and wave goodbye to me as she walked off. Isabelle, on the other hand, made a point of pushing away from the wall with an angry jerk of her body.
Hips moving with pure seduction, she approached Callan as if to pass him by, but then her palm pressed to his chest, a loving touch.
He gripped her wrist and pulled her hand from his body, his eyes finally releasing mine to stare at her face.
Isabelle went still beneath that look, raw pain flashing across her expression.
Uncurling his fingers from her wrist, he stepped aside giving her wide berth to pass without touching him again.
I won’t lie and claim I didn’t have to hide a smile of triumph.
And how fucked up was that?
I should hate him for what he’d done. I did hate him. But there was still warmth that bloomed all over my body every time he was near. A touch of victory for being the only woman he allowed to lay a hand on him.
After Isabelle left, Callan nudged the door closed with his foot, broad shoulders leaning back against the wood as he stared at me.
Neither of us spoke at first, yet it was a conversation so full of our past and present that my mind scrambled with all the emotions and thoughts.
In him, I saw a servant boy who took the abuse. And in him, I saw the man who had fought his way to the top and would never be abused again.
What he didn’t know was that, in him, I also saw two hearts that had been broken by cruel circumstance. I saw lies. I saw games. And I saw an opponent who had no idea how he’d hurt me more when we were young than he could ever hurt me now.