Page 12 of Trapped with the Earl of Sin

By the time Mary realized what Edwin’s true intentions were, he had already wasted far too much of her time.

Would he never let her go?

Susanna caught Martin’s eyes, and he seemed to sense her discomfort. She needed to get out of there before Martin or, even worse, Edwin infuriated her further.

So the duke’s company is better than Edwin now?

She needed to escape this earl’s powerful presence. He was a distraction while she needed to focus on her sister. She needed to make sure that Mary would be happy. There was no way to be sure that she could control herself and behave like a lady was supposed to if someone was being nasty about her sister.

Especially if it was Edwin of all people.

Deserved punishment.

Those words continued to rattle around in her brain as they backed off as quietly as they could, trying not to make a sound that would alert anyone to their presence.

Deserved punishment.

What did that mean?

Duncan was brutally murdered. He suffered a lot in death. While Susanna did not have all the details, that much she was aware of.

Edwin had told her family that Duncan owed money and was involved with bad people, which had led to his death. Was that his ‘deserved punishment?’

But Susanna was never fully convinced by those stories. Especially because there was never any evidence that Duncan had ever gotten involved with gambling.

No one seemed to be able to prove that.

Susanna might not have known Duncan for a long time, but she had never seen any reason why he would deserve to die. No one else had ever had a bad word to say about him either, which only made this statement a lot harder to process.

It did not matter how many times these words ran through Susanna’s mind, she did not know what to do with them. She did not know what to say.

“We should head back now.”

“But, my sister…” Susanna felt a hand on her waist guiding her towards the estate. The opposite direction from where she should be heading.

“She is with her future husband. You have nothing to fear. I will escort you back.”

And no matter how many times she protested, Martin’s hand stayed firmly on her waist.

CHAPTER FOUR

What the hell just happened?

Martin was in shock as he and Susanna backed away from the strange conversation happening just around the corner from them. Just a few minutes ago, all he could think about was Lady Susanna’s seductive lips and the desperate need to taste them. Until the moment was ruined by none other than the man he despised. He had no idea what Edwin and his friend were talking about, but it had sickened him to his stomach. No wonder Mary reacted like he did when he arrived. She obviously saw right through him as well.

He had nastiness in his heart. A strange unpleasantness that affected his deep black soul.

“What did Edwin mean back there?” he asked curiously, needing the blanks filled in. “Do you know what he meant?”

Susanna glanced his way, looking at little glassy-eyed as if she had forgotten that he was seated right beside her. She swallowed hard before she gave him a response.

“My sister has been engaged before…”

“She has?”

Luke had not told Martin this. It left him a little uneasy. What had happened? How could Luke trust that this wedding was going to happen when another one had failed?

Martin’s senses sharpened with irritation.

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