A Dangerous Game Read Free

her heated cheeks, hoping that she at least appeared composed when she felt anything but. “My private life is none of your concern.” Revenge or no revenge, if she stayed a moment longer in his company she would surely say something she’d regret. Her heart hammered against her ribs as she walked past him.
    He grabbed her wrist lightly, and she stopped to face him. His arrogant grin faded as his gaze slipped to her chest again. When his thumb skimmed over her erratic pulse, she pulled away.
    “It was a pleasure to meet you,” he said, his voice low and intent.
    Unable to stand the predatory gleam in his eye a moment longer, Nicolette turned on her heel and left him staring after her. She could feel his gaze burning into her back. To add to her fury, she heard his laughter all the way back to the ballroom.

    *****

    Salvatore watched the exchange going on outside between Darian and Nicolette as closely as one could while dancing in a room with hundreds of people, and making every effort to be attentive to his dance partner.
    Nicolette’s shoulders were rigid, her chin lifted. Salvatore knew that angry stance well.
    It took all the willpower he possessed not to storm outside and demand to know what Darian had said to upset her so. Instead, he watched helplessly as Darian in turn looked after Nicolette, who reached the ballroom, only to have a group of eager young men converge on her. With a charming smile, she took the arm of a boy who looked fresh out of boarding school, and practically floated to the dance floor. Her laughter was light, like the chime of a bell, and he found himself smiling, relieved to find her anger short-lived.
    “Salvatore, tell me about your life.”
    Salvatore turned to Elizabeth. “I would hate to bore you when we could be doing other things.”
    Her throat convulsed as she swallowed hard. “Other things?”
    He grinned, actually feeling sympathetic toward the young woman who would marry a man who would never be faithful to her. “Yes, like dancing and enjoying the fabulous music.”
    The music ended a moment later and Salvatore breathed a sigh of relief. He took Elizabeth by the hand, bringing it to his lips, kissing the skin covered by her glove, before folding it in the crook of his arm. She flushed and he noted her fingers curled tightly around his elbow. “What a wonderful dance partner you have been,” he said meaning it. Though far from beautiful, Elizabeth had been schooled by the best tutors in London, and she knew her way around a dance floor.
    “It has been a delight, Lady Elizabeth.” Releasing her hand, he turned to Darian. “And it was a pleasure meeting you as well, Lord Kedgwick.”
    Darian merely nodded, his gaze shifting to something over Salvatore’s shoulder. He had been excused, already forgotten. Too below Kedgwick to give him another moment’s notice.
    Oh how the mighty will fall.
    Salvatore turned on his heel and started toward Nicolette. He found her dancing with a gangly youth who was stepping all over her slippered feet, but she smiled and chatted with him.
    He smiled inwardly, proud of the young woman she had become. He had never met another person so talented, so kind and so giving. For over a decade they had lived together, four of those years alone...after the death of his mother. Though it had just been the two of them, they functioned like any family—watching out for each other, and loving each other. Often times he still treated her like a child and he had to catch himself, realizing that she was a woman now.
    When the dance ended, Salvatore walked out to meet her, taking her hand in his, and placing the other on her tiny waist. “How did it go with Kedgwick, or need I ask?”
    “He thinks you and I are lovers. He said as much.”
    He nearly laughed aloud, but seeing her discomfort, he refrained. Did she not know that everyone believed they were lovers? After all, society did not take kindly to two people of the opposite sex living