Free Cloaked in Danger by Jeannie Ruesch Page B

about that, but mention of her father had charged the air surrounding them. He’d hit a trigger. “Be that as it may, I will be sure that your attempts at trapping a husband come to very public, scandalous light.”
    “And that is your mistake. I do not care a whit for my reputation.” The words were tossed like a challenge.
    The area around them suddenly filled with people strolling along. He stepped back, cursing himself for his stupidity. They were in public, and if her goal had been to make a scene, he had played into her hands perfectly.
    But damn it, he didn’t know what her goal was. Nothing about her made a lick of sense.
    “Good day, Miss Whitney.” Disgusted with himself, he turned to walk away.
    She closed the distance between them and lightly smacked a hand against his chest, curling her fingers on the lapels of his coat. The volume of whispers and twitters about them grew at the scandalous move, and Adam could feel the noose tightening about his neck. He jumped away from her heated touch.
    “Tell me about my father.”
    The question was so out of the blue, he reared his head back. “What?”
    “My father. Your business with him. Tell me. Now.” Her pleas were spoken through clenched teeth.
    “What would be the point now?” he asked.
    For whatever reason, that stunned her into silence. Adam took advantage and walked away, casually, as though nothing had happened. But his blood heated his skin, and his head had begun to pound.
    A large, dark-haired man passed by, his scowl directed at Adam. A sharp pang hit him in the chest. Was that the man she had arrived with? What did he mean to her?
    Not that it mattered.
    In fact, Adam wished him all the luck in the world. He would need it. For himself, he made a vow. He would stay far away from Miss Whitney. It didn’t matter if she was merely hunting him for marriage or hunting his family for some sort of revenge. She was unpredictable and dangerous.
    The fact that he battled the desire to turn around and kiss her senseless only added to his resolve.
    * * *
    Aria’s limbs had frozen.
    The man who knew something about her father’s disappearance walked away, and she couldn’t move. She wanted to scream. She wanted to throw stones.
    She wanted to kill him.
    What would be the point now?
    He’d blatantly thrown that in her face, after telling her of his business connection with her father.
    Lord Merewood had all but confirmed his involvement.
    The crush of disappointment horrified her. She had hoped he wouldn’t be, not only for the sake of her burgeoning friendship with Lady Ashton. But because when he was in the room, she felt more alive, more aware than she could recall ever feeling. Because, somewhere deep inside her stupid, stupid heart, she had hoped this dance they had begun would continue.
    Now she knew he’d played a part in her family’s destruction.
    But it remained obvious he was not going to give up answers without a fight. So she would fight. She took a step to hurry after him.
    “Aria?”
    Speaking of war. She marshaled her reserves and sucked in a deep breath, before turning about. “Patrick. There you are.”
    A scowl was set deeply in his face. “Here I am? I had to come searching for you, and I find you arguing with another man? Who was that?”
    “Lord Merewood. He is Lady Ashton’s brother, and she had to run off unexpectedly. We were simply exchanging pleasantries.” She worked to control her uneven breath.
    “That did not look pleasant.” He didn’t stop as he approached, but wrapped his hand around her elbow to propel her along with him. “It looked rather serious. What is going on here? Who is that man to you?”
    Patrick’s grip was surprisingly firm. The sounds of the orchestra began to fill the air, but they were not headed toward a better view.
    “Mr. Wade...” she started, but he didn’t stop. A prickle of guilt filled her. He was angry, and he had reason to be. She had abandoned him and then made a spectacle of