Free His Wicked Lady by Ruth Ann Nordin

eyebrow in her direction.
“Did I mention he’s self-absorbed?”
    “Pardon me for having something better to do
than to sit around and gossip all day,” Malcolm muttered as he
walked over to Regan.
    “What was that?” Logan asked.
    “Nothing.”
    “Oh, please do repeat it. I know how
important everything you say is.”
    Regan tried to hold back her laughter, but it
came out anyway. She quickly compensated for it with a cough.
    Malcolm groaned. “I can already see how
things will be.” He looked at her. “It’s a shame you didn’t marry
him when you had the chance.”
    She stood up from the settee and gathered her
veil. “Your sister’s happy with him. And I’m sure, in time, you’ll
find I’m not as bad as you think I am. You might even be happy with
me.”
    “I’ll settle for contentment.”
    “Promise me you won’t be that boring,” Logan
told her.
    Helena and Melissa came into the room, and
Logan jumped up so he could give Melissa a kiss on the cheek.
    “Where are my parents?” Melissa asked.
    “Oh, they left with the vicar,” Logan
replied. “They figured the damage was already done and if they
stayed here, it would only get worse.”
    “Too bad not all of us had that option,”
Malcolm blandly said. Turning to Regan, he asked, “May we
talk?”
    Regan nodded. “We may. We’ll take my carriage
to my townhouse.”
    “Actually, I was thinking we could go in my
carriage to my townhouse,” he argued. “I am the husband, and it’s
the wife’s duty to go where the husband is.”
    “But I have a son, and everything is already
arranged for him at my townhouse.”
    “You can have his things moved over to my
townhouse.”
    “This townhouse belonged to his father. It’ll
one day be his.”
    Logan snickered. “I love my new
sister-in-law.”
    “I think we’d all be better off without your
comments,” Malcolm snapped, shooting a pointed look at Logan that
dared him to say something.
    Logan only shrugged and slipped his arm
around Melissa’s waist. “I’ve grown bored of his childish antics.
Take me to our happy home.”
    “I’ll be over to see you soon,” Melissa told
Regan before she allowed Logan to escort her out of the room.
    Regan turned her attention to Malcolm. “I
left Leonard at my townhouse with my mother-in-law. She watches him
from time to time.”
    Though he tapped the floor in irritation with
his boot, he finally said, “Fine. We’ll go to your townhouse.”
    Glad he at least was willing to do this,
Regan offered a thank you to Helena, who gave her a sympathetic
smile, then headed out of the drawing room.
    Malcolm followed, and though he didn’t say
anything, she could hear him sighing in frustration.
    To be honest, she wasn’t the least bit
surprised. She’d fully expected this. He felt betrayed, but he was
unwilling to take responsibility for his part in the whole
deception. Had he shown her enough consideration to meet with her
prior to today, he would have known exactly what he was getting
into…or he could have taken measures to prevent the wedding from
happening. Either way, she refused to take sole blame for this.
    Without a glance in his direction, she went
straight to her carriage and got in. She wasn’t sure if he’d join
her. In fact, she expected him to take his own carriage and follow
her. But he was soon sitting beside her, looking more like a child
denied his favorite toy instead of a besotted groom. What a
contrast to her wedding day with Frederick. He’d been so happy he
couldn’t stop smiling and talking about all the things they’d do
together. Things, of course, they had such a short time to do. They
hadn’t even been able to do half of them, but she had his son. She
wouldn’t trade that for all the sorrow following his death.
    The carriage pulled forward, and she pulled
herself out of her memories. Frederick would want her to be happy
with someone else. Life was too short to be stuck in the past.
    “Will we have this talk before or