Silent Revenge by Laura Landon

James interrupted. There was a warning in his voice.
    Simon had not heard the door open, nor had he realized she’d entered the room.
    Ignoring the unease he felt, he lifted his head. His gaze met Jessica Stanton’s refection in the window. She stood in the doorway with Melinda at her side. Her eyes focused on his refection in the glass. He thought he saw a flash of pain in her eyes before she lifted her chin and raised her shoulders almost in defiance.
    Bloody hell. How long had she been there? How much of what he’d said had she seen?
    Simon looked at her eyes, her pale cheeks, and her lips. The lips he’d kissed last night.
    Uncomfortable with the memories, he glowered, then turned his gaze from her face.
    He stared at her hands fisted at her side. Hands that had touched him with a gentleness he’d never experienced before, then clung to him with a ferociousness he couldn’t comprehend.
    He pushed away the possibility that he cared what happened to her, one way or another. He did not. The last thing he wanted was emotional involvement with another deceiving woman.
    James started across the room to escort both the women to a seat, but stopped short when Miss Stanton raised her hand in warning. “I cannot stay, Your Grace. I have only come to offer my apology and beg you will find a moment to visit with me when you are no longer occupied.”
    Collingsworth shook his head. “No, Jessica. Please, stay. Together we will work out a solution to your problem.” He glanced at Simon for help.
    Simon said nothing.
    “No,” she answered, the glare in her eyes lethal. The tone of her voice deadly. “There is nothing more to be said. Everything I had to say to the earl was said last night.”
    Simon took a step toward her. “I think there is a great deal left, Miss Stanton.” He noticed the slight lift to her shoulders and the determined gleam in her eyes. “You came to me last night with an offer of marriage. I have reconsidered your offer.”
    “I, too, have reconsidered my offer,” she said. There was a pleasing expression on her face, but when she spoke, her words hissed through her teeth and spilled into the room like venom. “It will be a cold day in hell, my lord, before I will marry you.”
    He held her icy glare for a long moment, and then he smiled. “Then you’d best ring for another wrap, my lady. Because the temperature is dropping even as we speak.”
     

     
    For a long time, no one moved. Not even to breathe. Jessica stood in a haze of confusion, trying to assimilate what he’d said.
    “I have changed my mind, sir,” she said firmly, her voice stiff and cold. “I no longer wish to marry you.”
    He kept his gaze leveled at her. He looked every inch the ruffian—a pirate on the high seas—a man more dangerous than any she had ever seen. He was in need of a good night’s sleep, a shave, and a clean set of clothing. Yet, for some unfathomable reason, Jessica thought he was the most handsome man she had ever seen.
    “James,” he said to the Duke of Collingsworth, yet keeping his gaze locked with hers.
    She refused to look away.
    He met her challenge. “Leave us alone for a while and send someone after my solicitor.”
    Jessica panicked at the thought of being alone with him. “No. I don’t want—” He was not listening, but talking through her words. She stomped her foot.
    “And James,” he continued, “stand ready. The marriage must be binding. We cannot make one mistake or overlook even the smallest detail, or our lives could be forfeit in the end.”
    Jessica could feel the blood rush to her head and thunder against her ears. She stared at his mouth to make sense of the words and commands he issued. He intended to make her his bride.
    Heaven help her.
    Even though a husband was exactly what she’d been desperate to find last night, it was something she was just as desperate to avoid today. Last night her actions had been impulsive, borne from desperation. She’d realized it during