Free Lady Thief by Rizzo Rosko

he
couldn’t help but laugh.
    Her eyes uncrossed. “You dare to laugh at me?
After you accuse me of having…of having relations with
another?”
    Blaise had said inappropriate things to her,
William was correct in that assumption. But there were many more
hurtful things Blaise had said other than the ‘old pest’ comment,
and it had naught to do with helping her get the annulment.
    William promptly ceased his laughter, but
there was a fresh sparkle in his eyes that Marianne found much
safer than the angered stare he had presented her with earlier.
    “You have said that you are not the lover of
my son,” and his eyes turned serious once more, “but are you in
love with him?”
    “No.” Her answer had been immediate and free
of doubt. If he did not believe her she did not know what she would
do.
    He exhaled deeply. Marianne sensed genuine
relief in his sigh. He did not ask her if she was having an affair
to be cruel.
    Then, without reason she thought of Blaise
and his face that was so similar to Robert’s.
    She would not ask any questions just now, not
while he was warming towards her.
    “Good.” He said. “From now on I want you to
stay away from him. You two are not to be near each other without
an escort.”
    “He lives here, am I to have an escort at all
times?”
    “If that’s what it takes, my dear wife.”
    Marianne flinched. He made the word sound
like an insult, and her stubborn nature reared its head again. “If
you cannot trust me then perhaps we really should petition for an
annulment.” She folded her arms.
    His fingers grabbed her chin and pulled her
forward. He smiled at her now. “I think it very endearing when you
thrust that nose of yours in the air.”
    Marianne’s whole body heated, and the flesh
on her chin where his fingers held her seemed much more sensitive
than usual. She rarely received sincere compliments and when she
did they went to her head. “Do you truly?”
    He nodded. “Truly. ‘Tis endearing how much
you think you can intimidate others with that foolish act.”
    She pulled her face away and touched her
heated cheek with her hand. Willing the flesh to cool, she felt
stung. The gleam in his eyes made it clear he was not laughing at
her expense.
    He stepped away from her, and suddenly he was
her lord and not her husband. “Adam will be your escort. I trust
him most of all my servants.”
    “You would have to. He is the only one of
your servants that actually works every day.”
    William’s eyes narrowed, and she smirked when
he had naught to say, so she continued. “I was making plans for
your servants before I was rudely interrupted—”
    “Before you decided to brawl with a man like
a wild animal after its dinner.”
    She clenched her teeth. “But now that we are
both here and speaking, I might as well say that your order to keep
the servants from obeying me is—”
    “Choose your words carefully!”
    “Unorthodox, I was going to say. And I wanted
to suggest that when I give them orders to stop their miserable
slacking, for the good of this castle, you do not go against what I
tell them strictly for the sake of your revenge.”
    He eyed her carefully. “And which commands
would you bestow upon them?”
    She shrugged, she was not sure what her exact
words would be, but the orders would be clear.
    Do your jobs or get out.
    “I promised you a wife who can govern your
household, I will deliver on that promise, as I always deliver on my promises. ‘Tis simple as that.”
    He smiled at her again, that same smile that
let her know just how foolish he thought she was.
    Marianne inwardly cursed. Would staying the
wife of William Gray doom her to be forever at battle with him?
    He shook his head, his teeth showing through
his grin. “I can see into your mind as you scowl like that, and
while I do not think the notion of having one’s servants perform
their normal duties daily to be nonsensical, you must bear in mind
that they have all had years of practice at being