a P

k and heavy with unspoken threats. We watched

it, was a raw, hoarse thing. "T

He wasn't looking at me with lust, but with the cool, analytical gaze of a strategist. He recognized the signs

dress, soaked it in the cold well water I'd brought back in the bucket, and pr

o keep my mind my own. The man in the corner did the same with his wound, grimly binding it with strips of his own

ws, the worst had passed. The fire in my veins had subsided to a dull, ac

y solution. I had to go back. Not to surren

tranger. "I don't know who you are, and I don't care. I'

d me, his expres

g village. The jewels sewn into the bodice of my wedding dress were my currency. I

e back to the Burke estate, but to my

be coming for me

was Liam Foster, the Vinson family's head steward and my stepmother's loyal dog.

on his face. "Miss Anja. Lord Vinson has sent us

ess was a stark contrast to his uniformed

usly soft. "I believe the proper

. "A 'Mrs. Burke' who fled her ow

the distance between us in two quick s

n silence. The guards stared, their jaws slack. Liam's hea

eyes wide with disbelief

gh the air like a whip. "I am the legal wife of Caleb Burke. The recognized

I despised as a shield, a

s the money for my expenses? For proper attire? Or did he intend for me to re

low, aimed at their obsession

assailable logic. He was a bully, used to preying on the weak. He had no id

fumbled inside his coat, pulling out a small purse of

the purse

thority he had never heard from me before. "Lea