Page 55 of Marigold and the Marquess
Beldon turned pale. “He grabbed me by the throat and threatened me!”
“He was assisting you with your cravat,” Julius said. “Dear heaven, man. Do you always walk out with it so inelegantly tied?”
“What rot! Is this how it is to be?” Beldon’s pristine handkerchief was now soaked in blood as well as the front of his shirt. “I’ll see all of you hanged!”
“And we’ll see you dead first if you do not walk away this instant,” Octavian growled. “Just walk away before I let go of Lord Muir and let him at you.”
Marigold now hopped out of the carriage. Thankfully, Julius stopped her from running forward. Leo did not want her to be the last thing Beldon saw as he ran off. Beldon already had an unhealthy interest in her.
No, he wanted Beldon to be thinking of him.
To be hatinghim.
Wantinghimdead.
Beldon cursed Leo and hurried off.
Octavian now eased his grip on him. “If I take my hands off you, I want your word that you will not chase after him. Control that rage of yours, Leo. What were you thinking, you bloody fool? To attack him while Marigold was with you.”
Julius was also frowning at him, clearly furious. “What the hell was that about?”
“Nothing.” Leo still had not calmed down, but all his anger was trained on Beldon who kept looking back as though Leo was going to shoot him down like the dog he was while he retreated from sight.
Leo would never do such a cowardly thing as shoot Beldon in the back. No, he wanted Beldon to see the jaws of death coming at him and know exactly who was taking his life.
Marigold’s friends now rushed out of the museum to join them.
“What happened?” Gory asked.
“Nothing,” Leo repeated.
Gory cast him a worried look. “That was hardly nothing, Leo.”
“Indeed, it wasn’t,” Marigold said, her eyes narrowed as she stared at him in exasperation. “My friends can be trusted. Please tell them what this is about.”
“No.” He bid her friends a curt farewell and once again hurried Marigold toward their carriage. He lifted her into it as though she weighed no more than a feather, climbed in after her, and then slammed the door shut as he settled against the squabs opposite her. “Collins, home!”
The carriage took off with a jerk that sent Marigold tumbling into his arms since the jolt had popped her out of her seat, lips pursed in that prim, schoolmistress way that made him want to kiss her even as she obviously intended to berate him. He wasn’t angry with her. Lord, he was desperate to hold her and keep her beautiful light shining for him. “Marigold,” he said in a raw whisper and crushed his lips to hers.
But it was a short kiss, for he was still too angry and did not wish to accidentally hurt her as he ground his mouth on hers. He wanted to devour her, needed to absorb every bit of her sunlight as he tried to shed his anguish. “Sorry,” he muttered, breaking it off with a suddenness that left her dazed.
He kept her on his lap, not letting her push away because he needed to hold onto this one good thing in his life before he ruined their marriage.
Had he ruined it already?
Marigold rested her hands on his chest, making no more effort to push out of his grasp. “Oh, Leo. How terribly this villain must have hurt you. Do you think Beldon was the one who ordered your ambush?”
“I don’t know. I don’t care. He could be the one. But he’s an arse, for certain. Are you taking his side? He came after me with knife drawn while my back was turned. Any man would be within his rights to kill him. Octavian should not have stopped me.”
“Are you going to blame him now?”
He sighed. “No, of course not. I would have done the same if our positions had been reversed.”
She placed her hand on his cheek and must have felt the grinding tension in his jaw. Sighing, she turned her face to his and gave him a light kiss on the lips, her touch so soft and gentle while his had been hard and crushing moments ago. “Well, you have certainly stirred this hornet’s nest.”
“I know.” He buried his head against her neck, inhaling the scent of her skin as he attempted to calm himself down.
“Dearest Leo,” she said in a whisper. “How stupid of me not to fully appreciate how badly you are hurting.”
