Page 16 of When He Was Wicked

“It was wrong of me to take you here,” he said gruffly, his heart throbbing with guilt…and fear that something might have scared her because he had pushed too soon. His rage had festered like a wound when someone had dared touched her.

“No, thank you. I needed to understand.”

“Do not thank me when I could have gotten you hurt, badly.”

“Do not be melodramatic,” she chided. “The man barely touched me.” She wanted to sound brave and nonchalant, but her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

“May I come closer?”

She lowered her eyes away from his steady gaze. “Yes.”

“What made you run?”

A sob hitched in her throat and an icy resolve filled him. Whatever or whoever had hurt her would be vanquished. It was a risk, touching her, but he needed to see her face. James placed a finger beneath her chin gently and urged her face upward.

She reacted, gripping his finger, but she did not push him away. Instead, she clutched at his finger as if it were a lifeline. Her touch against his knuckles was like the delicate brush of the wings of a butterfly.

Large wounded eyes peered up at him. “Sometimes I hear his laugh in my dreams, deafening and suffocating me.”

And he knew in that moment he would kill the man who had put such shadows in her eyes and pain in her voice.

“Tell me his name.”

She closed her eyes briefly before snapping them open. “I…”

He raked his fingers through his hair, turning its careful disarray into a tangled mess. “He was inside just now. That is why you ran outside. It was unbearable seeing him again.”

Her throat worked on a swallow. “Yes.”

“Tell me his name,” he repeated.

“Why?”

“So I may call him out and put a bullet through his black soul.”

“Do not be foolish! Dueling is illegal!”

“Verity—”

She stepped away from him and he felt bereft at the loss of her touch. “No, and if you shall say such madness, I’ll never reveal who he is to you!”

“I’ll not get caught,” he said on an irritated grunt.

“I’ll not risk you,” she cried, thumping his chest.

Something at once primal and tender shifted inside of him. “Why, Verity?”

The air tightened with an unexpected tension. Her lashes swept down across her cheekbones, hiding her expression from him.

“Look at me,” he said gruffly.

“I do not know. Just know that I’ll not risk your life or reputation over that snake.”

“And are you not doing the same now, wanting to fight, to learn about the uglier side of life?”

Her face was pale but proud. “I need to do this…at any cost, but I am not selfish enough to risk another’s life because of my pains,” she said hoarsely.

She looked so young and vulnerable, he wanted to drag her into the cage of his arms and promise he would slay her fears. Lady Verity pressed a hand to her mouth, shaking her head when he would have moved to touch her.