Wild Heart. Lori Brighton

she did care.

      “Yes, Lord Roberts. I’ll stay. But no more dancing lessons.”

      “Are you going to explain what that was about?” Akshay leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.

      His face was serious, but the gleam in his eyes made Leo want to slam his fist in his friend’s face. Damn him for interrupting. He slipped his fingers through his hair, his hands trembling. Yet, if Akshay hadn’t interrupted, Leo had no doubt he would have taken Ella right there in the middle of the floor. She didn’t deserve that.

      “It was nothing.” Leo stomped to the windows. Outside, Ella sat with his grandfather on a bench surrounded by roses. She belonged there, in the midst of beautiful blooms. She did not belong in the arms of a man who couldn’t even protect his own family.

      “Didn’t look like nothing to me. In fact, it looked like far more than nothing.” His friend sauntered to the pianoforte and slumped onto the seat.

      Leo didn’t bother to answer but paced the floor, feeling like a caged cat. He wanted to run. He wanted to hide amongst the woods and vegetation where there was no one to judge him.

      A few tinkling notes rang through the air as Akshay waved his fingers over the keys. “In fact, were you not the one who said, we are here to do a job, no mucking about? That, my man, was definitely mucking about. Although, I can’t say I blame you.”

      “Bastardo.” Leo clenched his jaw and resisted the urge to slam his fist into the plastered wall, releasing the wild emotions that boiled inside.

      “So, Leo, my friend, were you attempting to gather information by seducing the chit? Do you think she is in league with your cousin?”

      “Do not be ridiculous.” Leo spun around to face him; just the thought of his cousin almost sent him over the edge, yet his cousin was a safer topic of conversation than Ella, sweet and innocent Ella.

      “Well then, what could possess you?”

      Leo stared unblinkingly at the walls. What had possessed him? “She is lovely to look at, and I was merely having a bit of fun,” he mumbled, the words feeling sour in his mouth.

      “Well then, since you don’t care, mind if I have a go at her?”

      Leo’s gaze jumped to Akshay, his anger flaring. “What?”

      “Well, you can’t have all the fun. A man gets lonely and needs something to release his stress.”

      Leo was on him in three strides. His fingers tightened around his friend’s collar, and he jerked him forward, only inches from his face.

      “We are going back to the Continent. We are not staying here. We do not have time to dally with the staff.”

      Akshay nodded slowly, his large brown eyes serious. “Well then, I see.”