Page 59 of Ashen Torment

“You said you didn’t travel all this way for a barrel... for what, then?”

He moves a bit closer as we both enter the driveway.

“I have looked through the old man’s study.”

I stop abruptly and stare at him. “What did you find?”

“Nothing.”

“What do you mean... nothing?”

“There are no documents belonging to our father, nor anything dating back to before his death. Everything is gone.”

“That isn’t possible.”

“The Marquess Ashford got rid of it all,” he adds, his gaze fixed forward.

He places a hand on my arm. “I asked around... Augustus had every document moved after our father’s death.”

“For what reason?” I ask, touching my throat as I resume walking through the wet leaves.

“I don’t know... but it seems suspicious.”

“Who did you consult?”

“Does it matter?”

“Tell me.”

“Miss Wood,” he responds, avoiding my gaze.

“Wood? Millicent Wood? Our maid?”

Lucien wrinkles his nose, shaking his head. “Your maid, not mine... or rather, the old man’s.”

I stare at him, slowing my pace. “And tell me, brother, did you ask her between one moan and the next?”

“No,” he says, with an expression that tries to appear innocent, “while she was... astride my thighs.”

I laugh, shaking my head. “Lucien.”

“What?”

I bring a hand to my mouth, stifling a smile. “And they say I am the danger.”

He looks down at my hands. “Why do you still have that rabbit in your hands?”

I look down. The small creature, kicking slightly, is still in my grip. A veil of irritation crosses me.

I was distracted.

Without speaking, I lift the rabbit and offer it to Lucien. He remains motionless for a moment, brows slightly raised, his eyes following the rabbit. Feeling his gaze, my chest tightens.

“I know someone,” I mutter, “who would lose his mind if he saw me with this in my hands... he would start a never-ending complaint.”

I wonder how he would react if I had this rabbit’s white paw delivered to him. Would he hit me again?

The thought of his knuckles against my skin creates a prickle in my stomach.