Silent Revenge by Laura Landon Page A

incredulity.
    “What does Collingsworth have to do with this?”
    “Nothing. He will only verify that what I said is true.”
    Jessica looked into his face, trying to make out what he was thinking, but found his stony expression unreadable.
    “He will verify your lies because he was the one who sent you with the money. Was it also his idea to offer marriage? Or was that your own?”
    She shook her head, unable to say any words to defend herself.
    He leaned forward and braced his arms against the back of the chair that separated them. “Did you honestly think I would marry you? Did you honestly think I was that desperate?”
    Jessica flinched as if she’d been slapped. She should not have come here. She should have known better than to put her life and her future into the hands of a perfect stranger. She should have known it would be impossible for him to overlook her imperfection.
    He took a step around to the side of the chair. “Did you truly think I would believe that you would willingly give up your wealth?”
    “It did not occur to me you would not. I thought you would accept my offer because you were as desperate for my money as I was for your name.”
    His eyes narrowed. “Was becoming a countess that important to you?”
    His accusation was like another slap across the face. He did not believe her. He was not going to help her. She should have known he wouldn’t. An earl wouldn’t want someone so flawed for his wife, even if she possessed such a huge sum of money.
    His rejection destroyed her last hope of protecting herself from her stepbrother. Jessica reached for her reticule and rose to her feet.
    “Where do you think you’re going?”
    “Home.”
    “No.”
    The earl’s command halted the breath in her chest.
    “Come here.”
    She didn’t move.
    “I said, come here.”
    Jessica took one shaky step toward him, then another. He would not see he had defeated her.
    “Why did you come here tonight?” he voiced when she was close enough that he could touch her. “Weren’t you the least bit frightened?” He reached out his hands and grasped her arms in a viselike grip and hauled her up against his chest. “After all, they say I killed my father because he wasted my inheritance.”
    What had she been thinking, coming to such a man? The Earl of Northcote had proved to be a more formidable match than she thought. He was angry and provoked, and the dark, hazy look in his eyes told her he was not thinking as a sober man. His unsteady movements and disheveled look only made him appear more menacing.
    She tried to turn her gaze away from him but could not keep her eyes off the spot where his white lawn shirt gaped at his neck, revealing deeply tanned skin and wisps of black hair exposed beneath the loose lacing. He pulled her closer, and she braced her hands against his chest. Her fingers touched the corded muscles that ran across his shoulders and rippled beneath the soft material.
    She closed her eyes to shut out the sight of his daunting masculinity. How naive to think she could convince a man capable of striking terror into all of London’s nobility to consider giving her his name. How foolhardy to think she could survive a confrontation with one of the fiercest men in all of England. How impossible to think the Earl of Northcote would ever want to marry a woman so flawed.
    She opened her eyes and stared into the blazing heat hidden behind his hooded frown. Her heart raced at a speed so incredible she feared it would leap from her breast. She had never been this close to a man before. Had never been touched by a man before.
    “I think you don’t realize how much more I could have demanded from you than just your money, woman.”
    He pulled her closer to him and brought her up against his chest.
    Crashing into his body was like being thrown against a brick wall. He was hard and immovable.
    To make sure she couldn’t move, he wrapped a massive arm around her waist and clamped her against him. Then he