Page 167 of Her Beast

Malcolm shuddered. “Pleasenever say such a thing in his hearing.”

Julia gave a startled laugh but sobered immediately. “I willneverblame you for anything you do to Brian and Thomas. As for Carl and Nadine,” she gave an ugly laugh. “I will hunt them down myself if whatever you’ve planned does not work.”

“And your younger brothers?” Malcolm demanded. “Do you thinktheywill thank me when their mother and father are dead?”

“They never knew Carl.”

“They know their mother and they know Thomas.”

“Nadine—in her relentless quest to ape the aristocracy—ensured that her sons would be hard-pressed to pick her out in a crowded room. It is their grandmother who has given them the only parental love they’ve ever known. As for Thomas Harlow,” she snorted bitterly. “Do you think he will be kind to them now that he knows the truth?”

“No,” he admitted. “That is unlikely.”

“Impossible, is more like. Trust me when I tell you Dorian and Dominic will be better off without scheming killers for parents.”

Malcolm somehow doubted the boys would accept their loss that easily, but then he did not have Julia’s experience or history with any of the people involved. Nor was he prepared to do anything to stop what he’d set in motion.

“Do you care for me at all, Malcolm?”

He gaped at her unexpected question. “Of cou—”

“Did you really believe I’d hate you for seeking justice from four people whomurderedyour wife and unborn child and caused you unspeakable physical and emotional pain?”

“It’s not that—”

“Oh, Malcolm.” Her shoulders sagged and she gave a sad half-laugh, half-sob. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Nothing, Julia.”

She blinked. “What did you say?”

“You’ll do nothing with me. Instead, you’re going to leave this house as you should have after overhearing everything. My carriage will take you to Brookfield, where you will stay until the Season begins. I have it on good authority that the Countess of Bankton will be in London and will, I daresay, be pleased to chaperone you.”

She shook her head, her expression wondrous. “You didn’t hear a word I just said, did you?”

“Just because you did not react as I expected regarding your—” Malcolm struggled to find the least offensive words.

“Murderous relatives?” she suggested coolly.

Malcolm sighed. “Just because you don’t hate me doesn’t mean there is a future for us, Julia. Your family wasn’t the only thing that stood in our way.”

She stared up at him with the strangest look on her face. “You can’t stop, can you?”

“Stop what?”

“Inventing reasons why you don’t deserve to be happy.” He opened his mouth, but she wasn’t finished. “I didn’t really understand until Mr. Smith”—Malcolm growled at the sound of the meddling man’s name but she just raised her voice and spoke over him—“told me how you blamed yourself for not rescuing your wife.”

“He had norightto share that.”

“Somebody had to, Malcolm, because you are intent on not just punishing those who actually set the fire, but yourself for not stopping it, for not—”

“Ifailedher! I was supposed to protect her and I—”

“Almost died in the process,” she snapped. “And you have not stopped blaming yourself for being alive. So now you think to punish yourself yet again by throwing away what we have. By mapping out a life for me that doesn’t includeyou. Treating me like a chess piece to move around in your own private game against yourself. But you have forgotten one thing—do you know what that is?”

Malcolm didn’t think that was the sort of question it would do him any favors to answer. Instead, he waited for what she had to say.

“You have forgotten that it ismyhappiness that you will be throwing away if you punish yourself.” Her lips curved into a smile that shot right to his balls. “Shall I tell you what I’m going to do?”

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