Taken by the Duke Read Free Page B

brief look over her shoulder, disappeared from sight in the hallway. When she was alone, Ava stared at the door. Somehow it always took all her courage to knock. At night she sometimes dreamed of knocking here and having the entire house collapse around her, her brother crushed by the weight of the falling stones, her own body falling and falling away. She woke in a cold sweat every time that dream troubled her.
    “For God’s sake,” she scolded herself and then knocked three times. Of course there was no reply within. “Liam?”
    Still nothing.
    “Liam, it’s Ava, I have your supper.”
    She squeezed her eyes shut and counted to ten in her head, trying to remember that her brother was still hurting inside and out. Trying to recall how that explained his churlish behavior.
    Explained, but did not excuse.
    She might have wondered if he still lived but for the fall of his footsteps as he paced his room unceasingly.
    Finally, she cleared her throat. She knew one unfailing way to obtain his attention.
    “I thought you might want to know that the Duke of Rothcastle was in attendance at the ball last night.”
    The pacing stopped abruptly. After a moment his footfalls moved toward the door. The lock slid free, and he cracked the door to peek at her in the hallway.
    Ava sucked in her breath. Liam looked terrible. His green eyes, once filled with life and laughter, were dull and dark with despair so deep that Ava wanted to turn away from it. His brown hair was far too long and hung around his face like some kind of beast’s fur. That look was only worsened by the fact that he hadn’t shaved in weeks, so his beard was bedraggled.
    “Liam,” she breathed.
    His gaze darted away from hers. “You saw Rothcastle?”
    She swallowed back her reaction to his appearance and nodded. “Yes. I saw him.”
    “Did he approach you?” her brother snapped, tone suddenly tense and angry. “Speak to you?”
    She wrinkled her brow. “No. Of course not.”
    Liam’s face relaxed, but only a little. “Good.” The relief was short-lived. “Stay away from him,” he barked.
    Her lips parted in surprise at the strength of her sibling’s response. He looked almost wild with anger. Not at all like her sweet brother of days that seemed an eternity ago.
    “Liam—” she began.
    “I said stay away from him,” he repeated, then slammed the door in her face without a second look.
    She stared, blinking at the barrier between them. Never had he spoken to her in such a fashion. Never had he dismissed her like she was no better than a scullery maid who had stolen from the family coffers. Never had he looked at her as if she were nothing to him.
    She knocked again, louder. “Liam, I have your supper. Please just open the door and talk to me, or at least take your food.”
    He did not respond, nor did she hear his pacing anymore. She stood there for a while, then set the tray down beside the door and walked away. Later the maids would fetch it, probably still in its current untouched state.
    She moved toward her own chambers on the other side of the hallway. Without really seeing what was before her, she stepped into her bedroom and crossed over to sit in her favorite chair beside the fire. She was silent as the darkness in her room grew, the only light her lazy fire. But she was not alone.
    No, her thoughts were her companions. And not particularly pleasant ones at that. Mostly they were thoughts of the man Liam had become. Of the reasons he had changed. Of the man who had changed him on a cold, icy night not so very long ago.
    She supposed some people might abandon a brother who so obviously did not want them around. Some sisters might even turn away and take advantage of their increased freedom. But she couldn’t. Not without making herself utterly alone in the world.
    “He is all I have,” she murmured into the darkness. “If he was taken from me—”
    There was a knock at her door, and she started before she got to her feet and turned to