Free Storm Ravaged (Storm Damages 2) (Storm Legacy) by Magda Alexander Page B

why I became attracted to her. With her lush hair, green bewitching eyes, she’s truly lovely, And even now, with her body fertile with my child, the luscious curves of her body tempt me. To touch. To taste. To possess.
    “I’m glad Brianna didn’t keep your secret, love.” My hand curls around her jaw, I thumb the soft satin of her cheek. The thought my mother could and would damage her, injure our child, stabs at me. I won’t allow it, no matter what measures I need to take.
    Her hands clench on her lap as her eyes telegraph desperation. “But what’s to stop your mother from spilling that secret? She can still harm you, Gabriel, destroy Storm Industries.”
    “No. She won’t be able to use that secret anymore. I sent Tilly away, and she’s the only witness to the crime. Without Tilly to back up her claims, no one will take her seriously. Not after so many years of silence.”
    “But something has happened with your mother, hasn’t it? Please tell me what’s going on.” Should have known she’d put two and two together, as intelligent as she is.
    “My mother disappeared, Liz. We don’t know where she is. I put her under surveillance, but she went to the loo. Half an hour later when she didn’t emerge, one of the guards assigned to her broke open the door. She was gone. Best Jake can determine is that she escaped through one of the hidden passages in the castle. One we didn’t know about. Who creates a hidey hole in a loo?”
    She snorts. “A person who wants to watch someone else in the nude. How could you not know?”
    “It was her en suite bathroom. I never went in there. And the castle architectural plans do not include that detail.”
    “But why is her disappearance a cause for alarm?”
    “She wants my heir to be born of Lady Melissande because that would make her grandson a descendant of a king. But you’re pregnant with my child which makes you vulnerable. There’s nothing she won’t do to stop our child from being born.”
    She picks at her fingernail polish. Is that what she does when she’s worried about something?
    “Your mother is evil.”
    “Yes. She is.” She’s finally beginning to see the light.
    Her head comes up. She fixes me with an unwavering gaze. “But if we don’t marry, he’ll never be the heir.”
    If only it were that easy. My leg’s stiffening up, so leaning on the cane I stand up, pace the floor. “You think that will stop her from hurting you? She hurt me for merely breathing, tried to break me in so many ways.” I brush fingers across my brow. I have to make Liz understand. “You’re in danger. Our baby is in danger. I have to protect you. And the only way I can do that is if you go along with my plan.”
    “To move into the Cathedral Arms.”
    “Yes. And to marry me.”
    Ceasing the devastation of her nail lacquer, she turns to look at me. “Wouldn’t that put me in greater danger?”
    “No. I can provide greater protection to a wife than a mistress.”
    “I’m not your mistress! I never was.” Her tone rises.
    I kick myself. I should have known the term’s a hot button for her. “Girlfriend, lover then. Whatever we were to each other, your pregnancy has changed everything. Right now, no one except family and close friends know about us. Have you thought what will happen once word leaks out? That job of yours you value so much, can you honestly tell me they wouldn’t whisper behind your back?
    “They’re whispering now. I hate it.”
    “But if we were engaged, married, the whispers would be of envy, not derision, as I suspect they are now.”
    She stands, walks around the couch to stare out the window..
    Rain pelts the glass, tinkling the surface. Gusts of wind lash branches on trees, bending them to its will.
    She runs her hands up and down her arms, as if she’s cold. “I don’t want to be a subject of gossip.”
    Wanting to lend her my warmth, I take a couple of halting steps, circle my arms around her. “I’m afraid that can’t be