Oh, dear heavens. Thank goodness!
Relief shuddered down her spine. A certain fondness for him welled in her chest. “Hawk!” One thing about him was that the captain was never far from her, had stuck around since their false engagement had begun, and he truly was as good as his word when it came to protection.
“When I ask you a question, Ravenscroft, I expect an answer.” The captain jammed an elbow into Philip’s chest, and when her brother-in-law gasped for breath, his grip slacked. Then Hawk yanked her from Philip’s hold. He moved a few steps away and encouraged her to get behind him. “Do not think to touch my fiancée again if you value the full use of your arm.”
Belle wanted to cry with gratitude for being rescued, and for the first time she saw Hawk as the hero he had no doubt been all those years in the military. She rubbed her wrist with her opposite hand. “Philip has basically refused to shoulder the responsibilities of his title.”
“That does not explain the unnecessary force used against you,” he said without taking his gaze from Philip. “Nothing gives you the right to touch her in any capacity. Do you understand?”
“I have the right simply because I am now the head of this connection, and by the by, you should have asked my permission to wed her.”
Oh, this was outside of enough! “We don’t live in the Middle Ages. I know my own mind and am a widow besides. I can do what I will with my own life.”
“So I am beginning to see, and it’s not attractive, Amelia.” Her brother-in-law renewed his glare, first on her and then he transferred it to Hawk. “I do not know what game you’re playing here, Captain, but if you are trifling with the lady’s affections, Iwillcall you out.”
Heat slapped at her cheeks. Please God, let him not know what had occurred in that tenant’s cottage.
“I am not trifling with anything. She came willingly, and I haven’t regretted our decision to wed.” Remarkably, a chuckle emanated from Hawk, but there was no mirth or affection in the sound. A chill moved down her spine even as he spared a quick glance at her over his shoulder and gave her a wink. Once he’d turned back to her brother-in-law, he cleared his throat. “You can try, of course, but my skill with a pistol hasn’t diminished since I left the military.”
Philip paled slightly. “Is that a threat?”
“Only if you think it is.”
“Ah.” He retreated a bare step, but for long moments, the men stared each other down. Then Philip cleared his throat. “If it turns out that you are a fortune hunter, let me spare you the trouble. The Ravencroft coffers are nearly empty.”
Was the use of ‘fortune hunter’ a veiled threat to the valuables supposedly hidden on the estate? Not knowing, Belle’s eyebrows rose at Philip’s daring. “I rather think—”
“Amelia has money of her own, left to her by my brother, and not part of this estate,” Philip said as he interrupted her.
Which he always did, because like Laurence, he wasn’t truly interested in what she had to say. Hot anger simmered in her chest.This has grown tiresome.
“I am not interested in her coin, you dolt,” Hawk said with heavy annoyance in his voice. “Why does this world assume a man only wants a woman for her monetary value? That is outdated thinking and diminishes the value of herself.”
“Oh!” A piece of her heart unexpectedly flew into his keeping even though they were only playing at being engaged. Yet she needed to do a better job of guarding that organ for fear of it breaking again, and her being hurt. He would eventually leave once his mission was over, but it was becoming all too difficult to remember when he said lovely things like that.
Unprompted.
“Then you will pass a long life, Hawkins, for sadly blunt is what makes the world go round, and if a man has not made it on his own, the next best thing is to marry it.”
“I don’t hold to those same values, Ravenscroft, though perhaps you should. Go back to London, find a young heiress, and wed her if you are that desperate.” Hawk crossed his arms at his chest and frowned.
“That assumes I have the time to devote to such a project.” Philip’s glare was even more fierce than it had been before.
“Ah, so then that necessitated apparently losing your mind and throwing books about the library floor?” Hawk asked with a cocked eyebrow.
Belle sought to diffuse the situation before truths inadvertently slipped out. “Philip is under the erroneous impression that Ravenscroft land is the sight of a treasure hunt.”
“Is that so?” If possible, Hawk’s voice was even chillier than it had been before.
Philip retreated another step. “There have been various… rumors…”
“Ah, and you thought to come here and find it, thus making you suddenly solvent again,” Hawk finished with narrowed eyes. “Once again you are destined for disappointment. There is nothing here except for mud and rolling fields.”
The men nearly postured as if they were two competing peacocks, but there was nothing showy about Hawk. He was simply the better man. Belle gently laid a hand on his back. His muscles tensed beneath her fingertips. “Perhaps we should discuss all of this at a later time.” Honestly, right in this moment, all she wanted to do was back her false fiancé into a corner and kiss the man senseless. It had been a long time, indeed, since she’d felt so wanted and almost as cherished as she did right now. And he had been all she’d thought about since they’d coupled while avoiding the rain.
Philip went so far as to wag a forefinger in Hawk’s face. “This is not over, Hawkins. While you are here, stay out of my way, or I will toss you out regardless of what position you hold.” With a lingering black glance on her, he took his leave. The heavy tread of his footsteps in the corridor beyond the room attested to his flight.
Once alone, Hawk turned about to face her. Concern creased his brow and reflected in his eyes. “Are you well? Did he harm you further than what I saw?” Immediately, he took her abused hand in his and drew his thumb over the slight bruising on her wrist.