Page 23 of Stranded with His Runaway Bride

No one.

Ever.

That blistering injustice sent her rage soaring.

‘It’s your damn house. You can do it yourself,’ she shouted and slammed the bedroom door in his face.

CHAPTER FIVE

VIOLETTAPACEDTHEROOM. What was she going to do now? How was she going to get back to the duchy in time to claim the throne?

The simple answer was she couldn’t, and she feared her uncle might snatch it out from beneath her by claiming it for himself. Would he dare do that? Legally he wouldn’t have that right but, since she’d run away, could he portray her as being unfit to rule and persuade the duchy’s ministers to back him as Grand Duke?

None of her careful planning with Luisa had imagined this scenario. Being trapped in Grimentz and with the one man she’d hoped to get away from.

Footsteps sounded overhead. Her tormentor was back in the attics.

She scowled up at the ceiling. If she were really lucky, he might encounter a few rotten floorboards to fall through and be stuck up there, out of her way, until this was all over.

When he was near, she found it too hard to focus.

She rubbed the back of her neck, remembering those perfect white teeth nibbling at the nape of her neck, the searing heat of his lips. She’d felt the effect everywhere.

She shook herself. There was no time for thinking of that. She had to work out what to do next.

Could she risk trying to phone Luisa again while he was prowling about upstairs? What if he heard her and came down demanding to know who she was talking to? Would his team at the gatehouse be able to intercept her call? Her mobile had been taken away from her last night. At least, it wasn’t in her rooms when her possessions had been unpacked. They’d told her it was with her other luggage. She’d asked for it, but no one had brought it to her.

There went those footsteps overhead again. She scowled up at the ceiling. This was his doing, she was certain. He’d deliberately isolated her in his chateau.

He was coming back downstairs now. Violetta stopped pacing; it wasn’t helping. What could she do? No one was getting anywhere near the chateau until the storm had passed anyway.

She regretted that silly remark about him causing the storm. It made her sound like the witless female her uncle thought she was.

She didn’t entirely trust Leo, but she’d jilted him, not the other way round. A second Della Torre sister to humiliate him in the most public of ways and, so far, he’d been rather forgiving and decent to her.

But beneath all that he was still the enemy. A powerful man who’d in the end expect her to do as he wanted.

She stepped out of her high-heeled wedding shoes. She was wearing a different costume now and she’d be a different Violetta to match. Plus, she knew where there was footwear that suited her much more.

She left her tiara where it was. She liked how it flashed and glittered in the low light. It reminded her that she was not only a princess but about to be a grand duchess too. She wouldn’t let any man stop her, however powerful—or divinely attractive—he was.

Elisabetha’s tiara was staying put.

They both had a job to do. And no matter how fast he made her heart beat, Leo von Frohburg had no part in it.

In a foul temper, Leo stalked off down the landing.

How dared she blame him for their predicament when it was she who’d chosen to flee to this God-forsaken valley and its cursed chateau with all the conflicting memories it held for him?

He reached the attic stairs and took them three at a time. Pretending it was solely anger that drove him upwards, and nothing to do with the temptation of a delicate spine, of warm skin the colour of honey and a telling shudder of desire when he placed his mouth to a sensitive neck.

Whatever her real reason for fleeing their wedding was, it certainly wasn’t due to a lack of attraction.

In the line of wardrobes, Leo found some dry clothes and quickly changed.

As he dressed, he considered how to deal with Violetta. His belief that he’d easily persuade her to marry had quickly foundered on his bride’s hostility. He was going to have to dig deeper if he was ever to win her over.

Leo wasn’t accustomed to dealing with females beyond a date or two—he always ended things before they got messy and never stayed to deal with the fallout. He was a charming dinner companion and a generous lover but that was the extent of his interactions. He simply didn’t do protracted relationships with women. He’d learned the impact of that the hard way.

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