Page 89 of Wild Hearts

Paris spent the evening regaling Troy with tales of the voyage. He didn't so much as glance at Tabrizia or his sister until the meal was finished. Then he gave Alexandria one command. "Come."

She wished she could have vanished like an elf at dawn, but she screwed up all her courage and followed him. When they were private, he wasted no time on preliminaries but handed her a paper to sign.

"What is it?" she asked quietly."

'Tis a sworn affidavit that you were imprisoned and forcibly raped by one Adam Gordon."

"But I wasn't," she replied low.

"Are you telling me that you willingly spread your legs for a man you had never seen before?" he asked incredulously.

Alexandria whispered, "Adam and I knew each other. We had met before."

"How? Where?" demanded Paris.

"When I stayed with Tabrizia in Edinburgh."

The muscle in Paris's jaw stood out visibly as his temper began to rise. He opened the door and bellowed in the voice he used aboard the Sea Witch. "Tabrizia!"

She came in, bristling with annoyance, to be summoned like a servant. The tension in the room could almost be felt and tasted. His eyes glittered emerald green, and when he spoke, the cruel mockery she dreaded was back. "It seems my sister first became contaminated with this Adam Gordon while you entertained him in Edinburgh."

Alexandria, filled with guilt, said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to tell him."

"Silence!" commanded Paris.

Tabrizia, trying to minimize matters, so that calm could prevail, said, "He came to see me on business about a mortgage. I canceled the debt. It was nothing but a simple business matter."

Paris was stunned. "Is there a conspiracy to keep me from knowing your business, madam?" he sneered.

She declared with some heat, "It was before we were wed, milord."

"I have been your husband for six months. In all that time did you not think to tell me you had dealings with my enemy?"

"It was business, milord," she insisted.

"Damned funny business! What of John Gordon? Was that also business?" he mocked.

Tabrizia knew of the explosion that was fast approaching, so she desperately tried to divert it. "How can you keep us both standing here when you know we are in a delicate condition?" she flared.

His eyes never left hers as he brought forward two chairs for them to rest upon. Then he was right back at her like a dog with a bone. "Delicate, indeed. It is said that the art of being a woman is to do disgusting things delicately. What disgusting things have you been forced to do that you are keeping from me?"

"Nothing! I swear it! I had copies of mortgages loaned to the Gordons and Huntlys. I signed them over to John Gordon in return for my release."

"Where are the original documents?"

"In the bank vault in Edinburgh,'" she whispered.

"Tomorrow you will turn them over to me," he commanded with finality, and turned to his sister. "Sign this affidavit, charging rape."

"But I wasn't raped," she protested feebly.

Impatiently, he said, "That has no bearing on the matter whatsoever. You will sign it, Alexandria."

"I'll get him in trouble," she protested.

The muscle in his jaw began to knot. "I think you have that the wrong way around. He got you in trouble. Dammit, girl, you sit there questioning my actions like I owe you some sort of explanation. Have you two not the brains to realize that when I negotiate with my enemy, it must be from a position of strength? I was born with only so much patience, and that's it; you've had the lot!"

Alexandria signed. He affixed his own signature and dismissed them both.

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