*
Nicola was dozingin a big chair with Teague lying across her lap and Tiernan sleeping upon her shoulder. After fleeing her former chamber and the wicked man who now slept there, it had taken her a while to calm her fright. She kept thinking of that terrible man, and of how he had grabbed her, trying not to think of what would have happened had she not broken away. Perhaps le Bec had a very valid reason for telling her to stay to her apartments and it hadn’t merely been because he was a cruel captor. Perhaps it had been for her own safety. That hadn’t really occurred to her until now.
Feeling rather sheepish, she had finally settled down in the nearest chair, taking a cup of stale wine from Janet to help calm her nerves, but the twins were upset and restless, so she had turned her focus to them in the hopes of settling them down. She eventually calmed, they calmed, and the boys finally fell asleep. Exhausted from a night of very little sleep herself, Nicola closed her eyes and dozed off right along with them.
Until the door to her chamber flew open and le Bec was standing there in all of his hulking glory. Startled by the servants’ cry when the door slammed back, Nicola sat up so fast that she nearly dumped Teague onto the floor. She grabbed both boys to make sure they didn’t fall as she looked up at le Bec, wide-eyed with surprise.
“My lord!” she gasped. “What is the….?”
He didn’t let her finish. He took three massive steps over to her and picked up Tiernan from her shoulder, extending the now-squealing child to the nearest frightened servant.
“A word, Madam,” he said as he then reached down to pick up Teague, who was taken quickly by Janet. “You will come with me.”
With both children off of her, Kenton grasped Nicola by the arm and pulled her up from the chair, practically dragging her across the chamber and slamming the door. Nicola, nowbeing pulled down the steep stairs behind him, tried to catch herself from falling but it was difficult when he was tugging so forcefully.
“What on earth is the matter?” she demanded. “Stop pulling me!”
Kenton ignored her as he dragged her down to the third level. Nearing the bottom of the steps, she slipped in her struggles and plowed right into the back of him. Kenton had hold of her enough so that she didn’t fall, but when they reached the landing, she began to fight ferociously.
“Let go!” she demanded, smacking at his hand. “By what right do you treat me like this? You will release me immediately!”
Kenton didn’t say a word. He utterly ignored her demands and the hand that was hitting his wrist as he pulled her into the chamber that used to belong to her children. Once inside the smaller chamber that was oddly vacant and quite dusty, he shut the chamber door and released her. Nicola stumbled away from him, furious, and ended up on the opposite side of the chamber. Torn between fear and outrage, she glared at him.
“Why did you do that?” she hissed.
Kenton faced Nicola with more patience than he felt. He wasn’t entirely used to losing his temper, at least not with a woman, so he struggled to calm the rage that was burning in his chest. He would tell her why he had dragged her down to this chamber before he blistered her undoubtedly lovely backside. But first, he had to try to explain his position without yelling at her. It was a difficult struggle.
“You,” he said, pointing a finger at her, “are very close to being put into the vault permanently. Did you think I would not be told of your actions?”
Nicola was now confused as well as furious. “What actions?” she asked. “What are you babbling about, le Bec?”
Kenton’s eyebrows lifted. “Babbling, am I?” he said, his jaw ticking as he came one step closer to losing his temper. He might even wring her lovely little neck if he was angry enough. “Did you truly believe your actions against Warwick would go untold?”
Her sense of confusion grew. “Warwick?” she repeated. “What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean. Did you think I would not find out what you did to him?”
“But I have never met the man!”
“You will not lie to me.”
Nicola threw up her hands, bewildered. “I am not lying,” she said. “I swear that I have not met the man!”
His eyes narrowed and he jabbed a big finger at her again. “You beat him with a fire poker,” he said hotly. “He has shown me his bruises and even though he could not tell me the name of the woman who did it, the physical description was enough. It wasyou.”
Suddenly, Nicola realized what he was talking about.The evil man in her chamber!The entire incident came flooding back and, now, things made a good deal of sense. Exasperated, she shook her head.
“I did not know that was Warwick,” she insisted. “I have never met the man. How could I know it was him?”
There was some logic to that statement but Kenton didn’t acknowledge it. He rested his big fists on his hips in a gesture that just preceded him running across the room, grabbing her, and spanking her until he had satisfaction. He was already figuring out how he could cut off her escape route.
“Then if you did not know it was him, why did you beat him?” he wanted to know. “You deliberately set out to thrash the man.”
“I did not!”
It was Kenton’s turn to throw his hands up in the air. “Your actions speak otherwise, Madam,” he said. “Know that I intend to punish you so it would be wise for you to tell me the truth.”
Nicola didn’t want to go to the vault again. She moved away from him, preparing for the mad dash that would undoubtedly follow when he began to chase her around the room.