Page 163 of Her Beast

“—not true!”

The sound of her uncle’s shouting yanked Julia from her bewildered state and she eased back to the window.

Malcolm was reclining in his chair, his posture that of a lazy, sated predator, while her uncle stared across the room at him, his face a mask of outrage.

What had he said? What had Julia missed?

“I would have known it even without the proof, Bri,” Malcolm said, his derision as sharp as a razor. “Richard is the spitting image of you when you were young.”

“Proof? What proof?” her uncle demanded.

Malcolm yanked open the top drawer of his desk and threw a letter across the room, smirking when the other man scrabbled to catch it. He watched her uncle read with a cruel, hate-filled expression twisting his face, which was once again masked.

When he had removed his mask earlier it had astounded Julia almost as much as hearing about her father’s plans for Brookfield. It hadn’t shocked her because Malcolm was so hideous, but because he chose to show himself to a man who so obviously did not want to see him. A man he clearly loathed in return.

Jealousy had eaten at her that he would share himself with her uncle but not with her.

Indeed, it was almost laughable how jealous shestillfelt—especially given all the other revelations she’d just heard.

Brian Harlow whimpered and looked up from the letter that trembled in his hands. “Christ, Malcolm—please tell me you aren’t going to show this to—”

“To Tommy? Why, yes, as a matter of fact. The moment I decided to let you in today I sent a messenger with a copy of that letter to your brother. I would imagine he’s in quite a… state after reading it.”

Brian slumped into a chair, the crumpled letter falling to the floor. “He’ll kill me.”

“He very well might,” Malcolm agreed, looking cheerful. “Ah, you and sweet Jenny McQueen, eh? I was more than a little surprised, Bri.”

Julia startled at the sound of her mother’s maiden name.What?

“She was a beautiful lass,” Malcolm went on. “But really, fucking your brother’s wife, Bri?Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

Julia gasped, waiting for her uncle to deny it.

But Brian Harlow looked like a drowning man. “It wasn’t my idea, Mal—Jenny was, well, I’m sure you heard stories about her. She was always on me—whining that Tommy was cold and didn’t want her. She knew what I did with Sukey and she—she wanted—Ugh.” He shoved a hand through his curly blond hair. “Christ, Mal! She all but forced me to fuck her! Even after the brats were born and she should have known better, she was still after me.”

“Tommy never guessed the twins were yours, Bri?”

The words echoed in Julia’s head so loudly that she almost missed her uncle’s response.

“—blond, blue eyed—looked enough like Tommy not to cause trouble.” He gave a hysterical laugh. “Hell, he might actually be glad to learn theyaren’this. He was bloody stricken when that old nurse told him the boy was no better than an imbecile.”

The horrified confusion that Julia had been feeling turned to white hot rage at his cruel words about her brother. Julia clenched her fists and pressed them against the glass, ready to smash it and storm into the room.

Yet again, Mr. Smith’s warning came back to her.Stay and listen to all of it, no matter how badly you want to walk away.

Brian Harlow’s whining voice—Julia refused to think of him as her father—sliced through her fury.

“She should have been grateful to get away with it once and kept her legs together, but then the silly bitch got pregnantagain.” His laugh was bitter and disbelieving.

“She didn’t get pregnant without help, Bri,” Malcolm said, his gaze cold.

Brian looked momentarily disconcerted, but he recovered quickly, a sneer distorting his features. “The woman wouldn’t leave me alone—what else could I do?” He laughed. “Anyhow, she’d not been with Tommy in years when she got pregnant the second time, so she couldn’t pass off another bastard; he wouldknowit wasn’t his. There was only one way to take care of the problem, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“Ah, did she threaten you, Bri? Is that why you did it?”

“Did what?” Brian demanded, his voice high and sharp.

“Is that why you killed her?”

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