Free The Widow Wager by Jess Michaels

been me. She certainly seemed to be utterly terrified of me and despise me in the first few moments after I woke. And yet she didn’t do anything at all.”
    “That is somewhat comforting, I suppose,” Rafe agreed.
    “Except that in the husband’s case whatever was done could have easily been done in a moment of heated passion after months or even years of built up emotion.”
    Crispin found himself glaring at Marcus. “You are talking about a situation we have no idea about.”
    “You are utterly correct and I am wrong to speculate, except that in this case it is done out of worry, both for my wife and for you, a man I’ve considered my own brother since long before I swept your sister off to Gretna Green.” Marcus’s stare was suddenly very focused. “I suppose I take a more personal interest in what is truly happening here.”
    Crispin scrubbed a hand over his face. Part of him loved Marcus for both considering him a brother despite everything he had done and for giving a damn about him. Part of him felt uncommonly defensive of Gemma.
    “Let us forget what she did or didn’t do when I was unconscious,” he ground out through clenched teeth. “When I awoke, Gemma seemed more like a dove with a broken wing, not a killer. Once we got past the idea that I would harm her, once she began to accept that I didn’t recall what happened, well, she certainly didn’t behave in a way that would make me suspicious as to her past. She was conversational at breakfast, even funny at times. And don’t forget, she was the one who brought up that there would be rumors for me to deal with. She never tried to hide that fact.”
    Rafe folded his arms. “But she didn’t tell you anything about the truth, either.”
    Crispin ducked his head. “I doubt I’ve earned her confidence to reveal something so utterly personal and I’m sure devastating, no matter the circumstances. After all, I am the blithering idiot who has forced her into a marriage right alongside the father she despises.”
    The room was quiet and Crispin watched as Rafe and Marcus exchanged a brief but meaningful look. He turned away from it in annoyance and chagrin. Probably they were shocked he was taking any responsibility in this situation at all. He hadn’t done that for a very long time.
    “So what will you do?” Rafe asked.
    Crispin sighed. “I will speak to her about it. Not here, because it is between us and not a story I would force her to tell to a room full of people she doesn’t know. But I will confront her with the rumors she herself admitted I would eventually hear and let her tell me her side of the tale. Only then will I be able to truly judge what happened and whether I am safe with her in my home.”
    Marcus nodded. “A fine way to handle it. But will you keep her in your home, assuming it turns out the girl is not a raving murderer?”
    “You’re asking if I will continue the marriage,” Crispin said softly. “I-I don’t know.”
    Rafe stepped forward. “You came here seeking my counsel and I am now going to give it to you. Should it turn out that the story of Gemma killing her late husband turns out to be exaggerated or untrue, I believe—”
    His brother didn’t get to finish the thought, because at that moment, the door to the billiards room opened without the preamble of a knock and all three men turned to watch Gemma enter the room, flanked on either side by Annabelle and their mother.
    Crispin caught his breath at the sight of her. It was funny, he knew now that he was looking at a potential killer, someone he might not even be safe in the company of. But if she was not the most beautiful potential murderer he’d ever seen, he didn’t know who was. He let out a long sigh.
    Whatever was going to happen, the fact that he found Gemma so entirely attractive was going to be an issue. He already knew what beautiful women could do and it could be far worse than murder a man in body. She could capture a soul. She could take