Chapter 2 #3
“No, no.” He waved a hand. “I am merely being truthful.”
Jane stared. Her brother had been missing less than a day, and already Zachary was criticizing him.
“Colin managed the estate quite well,” she said.
Zachary snorted. “Did he?”
“He did.”
“Perhaps that explains why armed men carried him away in front of half the ton,” Zachary said.
Lady Wynten gasped.
Jane’s blood heated instantly. “How dare you.”
Her uncle shrugged. “It is hardly my fault.”
“He was kidnapped,” Jane said.
Zachary said, “And one must wonder why.”
Jane stood. Her chair scraped loudly against the floor. “Colin has done nothing wrong.”
“According to you.”
“He is a good man,” Jane said.
Zachary laughed. A short, unpleasant sound. “Good men are rarely dragged away by criminals.”
“Enough.” The word escaped before Jane could stop it.
Her uncle’s eyes narrowed. “What did you say?”
She had come this far, so she felt she must continue. “I said, enough.” Jane stepped forward. “You have been here five minutes, and already you are insulting Colin.”
“Jane,” her mother said nervously.
“No.” Jane lifted her chin. “If Uncle wishes to discuss my brother, then he can do so respectfully.”
For one long moment, Zachary simply stared at her. Then his face darkened. “What an unfortunate habit.”
“What?” Jane asked.
Her uncle said, “Speaking when wiser people are talking.”
Jane’s jaw tightened, but she said nothing. The room seemed to shrink. Her uncle took a step toward her. Then another.
“You always were too bold,” he said.
“And you always were too cruel.”
The movement came so suddenly that Jane barely registered it. One moment Zachary’s hand was at his side. The next it was rising.
Lady Wynten cried out and threw herself between them. “Stop!”
Zachary froze. His hand remained suspended in the air. The sight seemed to embarrass even him. Slowly, he lowered it.
A dangerous silence followed. Then his expression twisted. He grabbed Lady Wynten’s arm and shoved her aside. Hard enough to make her stumble.
“Mother!” Jane rushed forward.
Lady Wynten caught herself against a chair.
“How dare you touch her?” Jane demanded.
Zachary ignored the question entirely. Instead, he smiled a cold, cruel smile. The sort that made Jane’s skin crawl.
“You truly do not understand the situation,” he said.
“What situation?” Jane demanded.
“The obvious one.” His gaze sharpened. “Your brother is not coming back.”
The words struck like a physical blow. “No.” Jane shook her head immediately. “No.”
“He was abducted by armed men.”
“That does not mean—” Jane began.
“It means precisely what you think it means.” His smile widened. “If his body turns up in a ditch somewhere, I shall not be surprised.”
Lady Wynten made a broken sound. Jane feared she would collapse again.
“Stop.” Jane’s voice shook. “Stop saying that.”
“Why?”
“Because he is alive,” Jane insisted.
Her uncle’s smile grew. “You do not know that.”
“I do.”
“Wishful thinking,” he said.
Jane wanted to strike him. The urge shocked her. She had never wanted to hit another human being before. Yet, at that moment, it seemed entirely reasonable.
Zachary walked toward the window. His hands clasped comfortably behind his back. “As tragic as it is, life continues.”
Jane stared. “What does that mean?”
He looked over his shoulder. It was the look of a man revealing a delightful secret. “It means that when Colin is declared dead, the title passes to me.”
Jane felt ice flood her veins.
“The title is Colin’s.”
“For now.” He smiled again. “But not forever.”
A horrible realization began to dawn. “You’ve been waiting for this.”
Zachary’s expression did not change. The lack of denial was answer enough.
“You’ve actually been waiting for something to happen to him,” Jane said.
“What nonsense.”
“Then why do you look pleased?” Jane asked.
His eyes flashed. For a moment, the mask slipped completely. Jane saw naked ambition. Then it vanished. “I merely understand reality.”
Lady Wynten sank weakly into a chair. “What will happen to us?”
The question escaped her in a whisper. Zachary looked at her. Then at Jane. “That depends,” he said.
Jane hated the smile that followed. “On what?”
“On whether I decide to be generous.”
A stunned silence filled the room.
“You cannot mean that,” Lady Wynten said.
“Oh, but I do.” He adjusted his cuffs in a leisurely manner. “This house belongs to the earldom.”
Lady Wynten began crying again. The sight nearly broke Jane’s heart. “You would cast your own family aside?”
“If necessary.”
“You are monstrous.” Jane could not keep the words from escaping her mouth.
His eyes hardened instantly. Danger flashed there. “Careful.”
“Jane,” her mother whispered.
But Jane could not stop. Not now. Not while he stood there threatening them. “You are cruel.”
His expression became deadly calm. “And you would do well to remember something, niece.”
He stepped closer. Close enough to intimidate. Close enough that Lady Wynten visibly flinched. “I hold your future in my hands.”
Jane’s stomach twisted.
“I hold your mother’s future as well.” He let that settle. “Perhaps you should learn some respect.”
The room fell silent. No one spoke. Finally, Zachary straightened, apparently satisfied. “I shall await further news.”
With that, he turned and walked toward the door. Halfway there, he paused. Then he looked back. That same smug smile returned. “If any arrives.”
The door closed behind him. Silence descended. Lady Wynten broke first. A sob escaped her. Within seconds, she was openly weeping.
Jane crossed the room immediately. “Mother.”
Lady Wynten clutched her. “What if he’s right?” The question shattered something inside Jane. “What if Colin is gone?”
“No.” Jane wrapped both arms around her. “He isn’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” Her voice came out stronger than she felt. “He is alive.”
“Jane—” Her mother’s voice was pleading.
“He is alive.” She repeated it because she needed to hear it herself.
She needed to believe it, needed something solid to cling to. Because if she allowed herself to imagine otherwise… if she imagined Colin dead or Zachary inheriting the estate… if she imagined losing everything, she might break apart entirely. So she held her mother tighter.
Then she made a silent promise.
She would find Colin. Before her uncle got exactly what he wanted. And, for the first time since the kidnapping, Jane felt something stronger than fear.