Page 87 of The Iron Earl

It was time to leave. The only thing keeping her here was what she felt for Lachlan. And that, she’d always known would end. Knew it the moment Lachlan had filled her heart. Nothing good ever came of her happiness.

Once his grandfather and her stepfather had their way, what she felt for Lachlan wouldn’t matter. Not in the slightest.

She had to set her feet forward. Had to face the reality of what was about to happen.

They were never destined to be together. Lachlan had wanted her for revenge and then he’d felt sorry for her. That was the extent of his feelings.

Ithadto be the extent of his feelings.

This was her one chance to leave before her stepfather got his tentacles back about her.

Yet her feet couldn’t shuffle forward. Her fingers couldn’t crawl to the reins.

Damn him.

Damn Lachlan.

Damn her feelings for him.

He was the whole bloody reason she wasn’t miles away from Vinehill already.

Her head bowed and she concentrated on the blood pounding in her ears, her chest lifting and falling in short rapid breaths.

Trapped.

Trapped like she’d never been before. Damned if she stayed. Damned if she left.

“I’ll not give you up, Eva.” Lachlan’s panting growl filled the air behind her. Breathless as though he’d just run a hundred miles. “Not ever. You’re not going to run.”

She jumped at his words—at the air about him swallowing her whole—but she couldn’t lift her head, couldn’t look at him.

If she did she would break. She would stay when she knew she shouldn’t—when she couldn’t trust what the future held for her.

But what if she could be sure? Sure of her trust in Lachlan?

The thought bubbled up from her roiling gut, taking a hold of her mind. There was a way to be sure. Sure that leaving was the right thing to do.

Determination skittered down her spine and bled to her fingers and toes, stopping the tremble that had taken a hold of her ever since her stepfather had appeared.

She had to risk this—risk it if she was ever to truly trust Lachlan. A broken nose. A broken arm. Painful, yes. But wounds would heal and then she would know. Know if she truly needed to escape.

If she stayed, she would have to trust Lachlan. Trust him implicitly.

Trust him through anything.

Trust him when he was angry. When he was truly, brutally, furious. Raging at her.

Her look lifted and she turned her head slightly, facing the already brewing storm in Lachlan’s eyes.

“I’m leaving, Lachlan.” The lie left her lips easily, her words far more controlled than she could’ve imagined them.

“What?” His head shook slightly, her words not making sense in his mind.

“I’m leaving. I have to.”

“You’re not, Evalyn. Your mind is not right at the moment—how you reacted when you saw your stepfather…” He shook his head. “There is no place that is safer for you than here—here by my side.”

“Except it’s safer for me to leave.” She swallowed hard. “I needed safety, but you cannot offer me that, Lachlan. He walked right in here. Welcomed.” She forced her look to hold his, unwavering even though all she wanted to do was collapse into him, hide in his chest with his arms wrapping her.

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