Page 60 of Bad Luck Bride

The moment the words were out of her mouth, she almost grimaced. Of all the lies she’d been telling herself of late, that was probably the biggest one of all.

Devlin seemed to know it, too. His next words proved the fact. “Tell that one to the marines.”

She gave up on pretense. With Devlin, it seemed to be useless. “I am a bit… muddled up, I confess.” She made a rueful face. “For that, I blame you.”

He smiled a little. “I’d say I’m sorry about that, but then I’d be the one lying.”

“The truth is…” She paused and faced him. “Wilson has been showing this obsessive jealousy for weeks, and it’s starting to set my teeth on edge. That’s why, I suppose,” she added, thinking it out as she spoke, “I didn’t agree when he ordered me to stay away from you. I was angry.”

“Kay, you aren’t blaming yourself because he behaved like a lout, are you?”

“He didn’t—” She broke off as Devlin raised an eyebrow, daringher to deny Wilson’s conduct. “I’m not blaming myself. But it’s undeniable that I could have avoided this argument with him tonight, and I didn’t. In a strange way, I wanted it. I don’t really know why. To test him, perhaps? To take a stand and see what he’d do in response? I don’t know. But it was foolish.”

“Perhaps it’s much simpler than that. Perhaps you did it because you don’t really want to marry him, and you’re looking for a way out.”

“We’ve already discussed this,” she reminded, in no mood to rehash it again. “There is no way out.”

To her relief, Devlin didn’t try to debate the point.

“And anyway,” she went on, “he’s only being this way because of you.” Even as she said it, she thought of Wilson following her across Yorkshire last autumn, and her words seemed more like wishful thinking than truth. Devlin’s return may have made things worse, but there had been signs of Wilson’s possessive, acquisitive nature from the very beginning. It might very well continue, even after their marriage was a fait accompli. Either way, however, it would serve no purpose to discuss any of it, especially with Devlin.

“It’s true that jealousy can bring out the worst in a man,” he said as she fell silent. “I know that well enough. But if I’m what brought this on, then why did he invest in the Mayfair? He knew—he must have known—I was an investor, too.”

She decided not to get into the weeds by bringing up Wilson’s desire for connections to the Duke of Westbourne and Lord Calderon. Instead, she shrugged. “It’s clear he thinks it will be a lucrative investment, and things like that are important to Wilson. He never turns down a chance to make money. That’s how he got sorich. And I don’t think he thought you’d ever be directly involved. After all, you live in Africa.”

“That’s probably it. No doubt he’ll be happy to see the back of me when I go, and with any luck, that’ll be the end of it. I hope so, at any rate,” he added, giving her a meaningful glance. “For your sake, Kay, I hope so.”

At this confirmation of her own apprehensions, Kay shivered, misgivings dancing over her skin.

“But,” he added when she didn’t reply, “will it be the end of it?”

Slowly, gently, he picked up her hand, his thumb caressing her wrist through her glove in the very place Wilson had gripped her so tightly.

Kay shivered again, a feeling that had nothing at all to do with her fiancé or her fears of the future.

“If my departure isn’t the end of it, Kay, what then?”

She stirred. “I should go.”

At once, Devlin opened his hand.

Pull away, she ordered herself, staring at her wrist resting on his open palm.Go inside.

She didn’t move.

“When I came out here,” he murmured, “and I saw him grab you and refuse to let go, do you know what I thought?”

“No,” she whispered, lifting her face, meeting his eyes in the moonlight. “What did you think?”

“I thought I’d have to break his arm to free you. I was almost looking forward to the prospect.”

Warmth flooded through her, an odd feeling given the violence of his rhetoric. She parted her lips to reply, but no words came out. She didn’t know what to say.

His lashes, long, opulent, and midnight black, lowered as he looked down, his gaze homing in on her lips.

Kay’s heart slammed hard into her ribs, robbing her of breath, and she tensed. He seemed to feel it, for he stirred, letting her hand fall, then slowly, ever so slowly, he moved closer.

“I should go in,” she said again, her voice strangled and desperate to her own ears.

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