Page 93 of Ruthless, But for Her

“We go to Lynn.”

“Ashton, stop.”

He did.

“When did you arrange all of this?”

He didn't blame her impatience with him. But Ashton could not let it affect the most important decision he’d ever made. He could not allow himself to let emotion rule this conversation. It could not influence this.

“Holden has the papers finished—you are Alys Mercer, a widow bound for kin near Lynn. Leif will put you ashore there, and no road patrol will know you passed.”

“Ashton.”

“Coin enough for a year is sewn into the hem of the grey cloak. De Grey already believes you were carried off the night Roland died. No one hunts a woman he thinks is already gone.”

“Ashton, enough.”

She'd never raised her voice at him. She'd never raised her voice at all.

He looked at her, registering her anger. Then he remembered seeing her face above him instead, learning how to make love to a man.

Make love to him.

“You need to know the plan.”

Her nostrils flared. “Aye? Well then, if you believe I need to know the plan, please do continue.”

Her voice lowered but her temper remained.

“The papers will hold if anyone asks. Once you leave The Einar as Alys Mercer, no one will connect you to Lady Cassia.”

He reached out to grip the rail.

She went quiet. He listened as the oars struck the water, watching her, finally turning back toward the sea.

“When did you decide this?” she asked, quiet but firm.

“Since the day you asked me if I let him die. Holden had papers drawn within days. Magge agreed before I'd even finished asking her. This isn't a decision I made on the dock this morning, Cassia. I've gotten every piece of it right. You will be safe. Free to live as a widow or return to Grantchester to visit. Eventually your father will realize you do not intend to be cajoled into marriage once again.”

“You've gotten every piece of it right, save one.”

He peeked at her out of the corner of his eye. When she waited for his full attention, he gave it, though it cost him to do so.

“You decided my fate for me. Just like my father. Just like Roland.”

His jaw tightened at the comparison. “I would never hurt you, Cassia,” he said.

“But you did. I do not wish to hide in Lynn as Alys Mercer.” She held her head high. “Take me back to Grantchester.”

“Cassia, you said yourself⁠—”

“Take. Me. Back. To Grantchester,” she demanded.

Stung, unable to look at the pain in her eyes he himself had caused, Ashton turned away. The deck creaked under shifting feet as her words replayed in his mind.

He'd not done it to be like them, but to protect her. Because of him, she'd been taken captive. Because of him, her husband drowned. Because of him, one of the most crooked men in all of England knew her name and sought her out as they spoke.

You decided my fate for me. Just like my father. Just like Roland.