Page 42 of Romancing the Heiress
Her lips lifted gently into a soft smile. “He came to the house and spoke to my father. I overheard from the top of the stairs. So did my mother—from the kitchen, I think. She told your grandfather to get out and never speak of such nonsense again, that I couldn’t be spared from my family. She also told him my welfare was none of his business.” The smile had disappeared, and her gaze was lost somewhere in his shoulder. “She did strike me after that,” she admitted quietly. “She’d struck me before, but always somewhere beneath my clothing so no one would see. But this time, she was enraged that your grandfather would interfere. She demanded to know what I’d told him and didn’t believe me when I said nothing. She hit me in the face that time. My nose was bloody and my lip split. I couldn’t leave the house for a fortnight.”
White-hot anger spread through Phin like a wildfire. He’d never known such rage. But what was he to do with that now?
Leah winced, and he realized he was squeezing her hands too tightly. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, loosening his grip and stroking the tops of her gloves with his bare thumbs. How he wished her hands were bare too. “I remember that fortnight. I think it was the longest I went without seeing you. I went to your house, but your brother told me you were ill, and that I wasn’t allowed to visit.”
“I saw you from my window upstairs.” Her eyes were sad. “I never wanted you to know how bad things really were. I didn’t want your pity. With you, I could be carefree and forget, even for a short time. You saved me, Phin.”
“No, I didn’t.” Now his anger was self-directed. “Lady Norcott did.”
“You both did. Please know that most of my mother’s abuse was verbal. She didn’t often strike me. Those were the times my father intervened, so she stopped doing it if he was around.”
“I can’t believe your brother and sisters didn’t try to stop her.”
“Rebecca did once. That was the only time my mother struck her. Rebecca never got involved again. I don’t blame her. My mother is an unkind person. She may have treated my siblings better than she did me, but there was never any demonstration of love or care.”
“It’s good that I rarely run into her,” Phin said, his voice low and dark as he worked to keep his anger in check. “When I do, I have to walk away before I say or do something I would regret.”
Leah pulled one hand from his grip and raised it to his face. Her shawl fell from her other shoulder and slid to the floor. “Thank you. That means a great deal to me.”
He owed her his own secrets now. More than that, he wanted to tell her. It seemed absolutely ridiculous that he hadn’t before now. There was no one in the world he trusted more. How had he forgotten how close they’d been? “It seems time is a thief in many ways. I’d lost what we shared, what made our friendship so special. You know my father was never as attached to or as interested in the gardens as my grandfather.”
“Or you.”
“Yes, or me. He imagined himself owning properties in Winchester and made several bad investments. He then tried to gamble to replace at least some of the money he’d lost. Unfortunately, he was even worse at that. He squandered nearly all our savings, including the fund my grandfather used for the botanical gardens.”
She caressed his cheek. “I’m so sorry, Phin. It’s no wonder you are desperate.”
“The most shameful part is that he owed money to someone in Winchester. He took what he could find, but it wasn’t enough. Still, he traveled to Winchester to pay back as much of the loan as he could. He worried he might run into trouble—he told me all this in a letter I found later.” Phin swallowed. He looked into her eyes and lost himself amid the concern and support he saw there. “He never came home.”
Her eyes rounded and her jaw dropped. “Is that how he died?”
“Stabbed in the chest and robbed. The constable said he was the victim of a footpad, but I know the truth.”
“What happened to whomever he owed money?”
Phin shrugged. “I’ve never heard from them. I’m just glad my grandfather didn’t live to see any of this, not that he would have allowed my father to make more than one bad investment or gamble nearly everything away.”
She pressed her lips together. “You should not feel ashamed. None of this is your fault.”
“Itismy problem though. I work as hard as I can, and I’ve done what I could to cut costs—that’s why the gardens look like they do. I can’t afford to pay as many gardeners as we need or someone to perform maintenance.” He bristled, hating his predicament. “Please don’t tell me not to be ashamed of that.”
She barely shook her head. “I won’t.”
“I work as hard as I can, and I’ve been trying to think of ways to raise money, but the only thing left to me was to marry an heiress. Until Mercer came along.” The anguish of thinking of selling to him had not lessened. “Are you sure Genevieve is going to marry someone else?”
Leah lowered her hand from his face, a shadow flickering in her gaze. “I’m afraid so.”
“Good. I didn’t want to marry her anyway. And now I can kiss you without feeling an ounce of guilt.” He lowered his head but paused just before his lips met hers. “If you don’t mind.”
Their gazes locked. She was so close, he could see the depth of the blue-gray of her eyes, like a stormy sea.
She clasped his neck with both hands, then frowned. “Wait.” Stripping off her gloves, she carelessly dropped them to her side. Finding his gaze once more, she parted her lips. Her tongue made a brief appearance, darting over her lower lip. “I’ve never wanted anything more.”
Relief and desire rushed through him as he pressed his mouth to hers. He curled his hands around her waist and pulled her against him. The contact of her body sent lust spiraling through him. It was both shocking and the best thing that had ever happened to him.
He splayed one hand against her back while the other cupped her backside, bringing her hips more flush to his. She rotated her pelvis, and his cock, already aroused, went completely hard.
Groaning, he nibbled her lower lip. She gasped, opening her mouth. He licked inside, thrilled when her tongue met his. The kiss grew more torrid, wet heat driving him to a fervent need.
