Page 9 of Surrender

Theo’s blue eyes resembled a stormy sky over Callendar Abbey as he glared down at her. With a hard tug of her arm, she tried to break away from the firm, unyielding grip he had on her wrist.

“If you meant to insult me, Genevieve, you’ve succeeded,” he gritted out between his teeth, his jaw a hard line of anger. “Do you really believe I’m the kind of man who cares about your background? You aren’t responsible for what happened to you as a child.”

“And what, precisely, do you think you know about my childhood?” she demanded as a chill slithered across her skin.

“A great deal more than you realize.”

“Do tell,” she snapped.

“Peter told me how Ruckley sent you to Mayfair under the pretense of learning how to be a maid in a nobleman’s household.”

Shock made Genevieve grow rigid as she stared up at his grim expression in open-mouthed horror. Her stomach lurched with a sickening sensation as her gaze locked with Theo’s. Peter had sworn he’d never tell anyone the truth, and yet he’d betrayed her. He’d told Theo about her past.

“Peter never knew he’d revealed the truth to me,” Theo said quietly, as if he could read her mind. “He’d had too much to drink one night. The following morning, he didn’t even remember telling me what Ruckley had done to you. I left it that way, I knew how he would have tortured himself for having betrayed your trust.”

Genevieve didn’t say anything, she simply stared at him as she struggled not to throw up. She remained silent for a long moment, and a frown of concern furrowed Theo’s brow. Swallowing the bile rising in her throat, she regained enough of her composure to shield her ravaged emotions with an icy calm she didn’t feel.

“The circumstances of my childhood might not be my fault, but I have no intention of marrying you or any other man,” she bit out coldly as she arched away from him. “No one knows what happened here.”

“We know what happened.”

“As I said,” she bit out crisply. “Forget it. I already have, because it meant nothing.”

“And what if a child was just conceived?”

Theo bobbed his head toward the cot and its straw mattress, which was a far cry from any decent bed, then turned his gaze back to her. Pain sliced through Genevieve at his statement, and her cheeks grew as cold as Callendar Abbey’s ice-covered pond in winter. Frozen in place, she didn’t move for a long moment, then with a fierce tug, she pulled free of the strong male fingers wrapped around her wrist.

Without answering him, Genevieve yanked her riding jacket off the back of the chair and shoved her arms into the garment’s sleeves. The action made her shoulder protest with a vicious jolt of pain spinning through her chest. Ignoring the burning sensation of the wound just above her breast, she pulled the jacket over her shoulders. The sooner she returned to the abbey, the better.

“I asked you a question, Genevieve,” he said softly. The silky note in his voice indicated he wasn’t about to stop pushing for her to marry him. “What if a child was conceived a few moments ago?”

For a long moment, Genevieve studied the stone floor beneath her feet, then forced herself to look up at Theo and meet his gaze steadily.

“Then I’ll deal with that problem on my own.”

Chapter 4

Flat, emotionless, and cold, Genevieve’s declaration rang out with the same low vibration of a church bell booming in the air. What the devil did she mean she would handle things herself? Shock delivered an almost physical blow to Theo’s stomach.

Christ Jesus, she meant to end the pregnancy rather than marry him if she discovered she was with child. Horrified, he stared at her pale features in disbelief. Was the thought of marrying him so terrible that she was willing to do anything to avoid being his wife?

“I need to return to the abbey before someone comes looking for me,” she said in a dispassionate voice as she met his gaze. He shook his head and scowled down at her.

“Sit down, Genevieve,” he bobbed his head toward the chair she’d been seated on only a few minutes ago. “You’re not going anywhere until we resolve this matter between us.”

“There’s nothing to resolve. I won’t marry you,” she said in cold defiance. “As to this afternoon’s indiscretion, I’ll deal with any ramifications on my own and without your assistance.”

“Goddamnit, Genevieve. Sit down.”

Even to Theo, his voice sounded like a thunderclap in the croft, and his jaw tightened as he saw Genevieve flinch. Without looking away from her, Theo nodded toward the chair again. His mouth tightened as she appeared ready to defy him. After a long moment, she slowly sank into the chair, eyeing him with mutinous anger.

Theo studied her in silence for a long moment, trying to frame his chaotic thoughts into concise, logical sentences. Clearly unsettled by his assessment, Genevieve turned her head away from him to stare out the window that illuminated the room with the afternoon’s gray light.

Her riding coat still hung open, and in silence, he bent to button it for her. Genevieve jerked at his touch and slapped his hand away, then proceeded to slide the buttons through the buttonholes herself. The tension flowing between them was like cut glass slicing into him.

A tiny shiver pulsed through her, and his gaze returned to her face. While her features were calm, almost blasé, he could still see beneath the façade. Fragile and defenseless weren’t words he had ever associated with Genevieve before, but at the moment, they provided an apt description.

Frustration blasted through Theo in the face of her vulnerability, and he began to pace the floor in an effort to release the emotions rising inside him. Peter had repeatedly said Genevieve’s strength and indomitable will were a mask she wore to ensure she never revealed any weakness she might have. Theo now understood what his friend had meant. In the past month, Genevieve had been the rock her family had needed.