Delilah forced herself to refrain from reacting.
“No,” her stepmother said with a weary sigh. “We could not have you die before Everley got your dowry, otherwise all that money and the land Everley needs would end up being passed along to your father’s heir.” She leaned forward. “Even if you’d died, I would still not get what I deserved.” She narrowed her eyes. “Your father never knew what he had in me. He married me and then treated me like I was the hired help. I was your nursemaid and then his.” She trailed off with a sound of disgust.
“If you did not intend to kill me…” Delilah started.
“Well, we could not have you prodding about and stirring up trouble, now could we?” The baroness made it sound so normal. So reasonable. Like they were discussing what dessert to serve at their next soiree. “They would not have killed you, dear.” Her lips curved up slowly. “Though they might have ruined you.”
Delilah fought a shiver at the sheer delight in her stepmother’s eyes.
She’d never fooled herself into thinking her stepmother loved her. She’d never even believed she liked her.
But she’d had no idea the baroness hated her.
“I’ll admit, it would have been a treat to watch the spoiled, perfect daughter be ruined in society…” She sighed regretfully before leaning forward eagerly. “But perhaps you were?” Her eyes lit with an eager glow. “We never did find out who saved you that day, only that he looked like a ruffian.” She clasped her hands together gleefully. “Your precious Miss Grayson might have lied on your behalf but my spies told me you never returned to the school that night. So tell me, princess…” She sneered the nickname that her father had given her as a child. “Did my dreams come true? Did the precious princess finally suffer?”
Finally? Finally? She swallowed down a wave of rage that felt blessedly good after being so frozen in fear. Did this woman truly think she’d never suffered?
She’d spent a lifetime in a household that held no love, and yet her stepmother believed that she’d gone through life without hardship?
She might have been spoiled with material goods, but she’d have given all of that up for a kind word from her stepmother. For a hint of attention or affection from her father.
She shoved the bitter thoughts aside and focused on what mattered.
Rupert.
She might have been caught by her stepmother, and she held little hope of escaping with her stepmother’s men on the prowl. But Rupert was out there, and he would stop Everley, and more than that…
Her stepmother did not know who he was.
He was not in imminent danger so long as he stayed at the docks and dealt with Everley.
Her spine stiffened as she faced down her stepmother as she had a million times before. Delilah could handle the baroness, just so long as Rupert was safe.
Her stepmother was waiting for an answer. “I hate to disappoint you, but the man who rescued me proved to be a gentleman at heart. Far more of a gentleman than the man you’ll be marrying upon my demise.”
She said it sweetly, serenely. For once her sharp tongue and haughty manners served her well.
Delilah caught a flare of fury before her stepmother could cover it.
Had she always been this angry behind that cool façade?
Had she always been so…insane?
She suspected yes. Although, perhaps this was the result of years’ worth of mistreatment at the hands of her father. She, too, had been ignored and undervalued.
Even so, Delilah couldn’t quite summon up any pity, what with her life being threatened and all.
“You have no idea what sort of man Everley is,” her stepmother said once she’d regained her composure. “He is a true nobleman—he takes what he wants, and he uses his power to help those he loves.”
The way her eyes shone made it clear that she believed he loved her.
Delilah leaned forward. “Tell me, my lady, has it ever occurred to you that your precious Lord Everley might just be using you to get to me?”
Her stepmother blinked and then that cold façade slipped so fast Delilah stiffened in shock. She didn’t move away quickly enough though, and her stepmother’s instant fury came out with a swift slap to her cheek that left her head reeling. The side of her face throbbed but even so, a stab of satisfaction had her grinning.
“How do you know he will keep his promise and marry you?” she continued as if she hadn’t been interrupted with a slap. This time she moved back, out of her stepmother’s reach. “How do you know he will not leave you even more desperate and alone than you already are?”
Her stepmother’s face turned a motley red as she lunged out of her settee—the composed baroness nowhere to be seen as she reared toward her. “You ungrateful little—”
Her words were cut off with a screech and Delilah lowered the hands she’d held up in defense as she watched her stepmother be unceremoniously picked up off her feet, her arms and legs swinging wildly as she shrieked.
“That’s enough of that,” Rupert said mildly.
Delilah’s jaw went slack and her eyes grew wide at the sight of Rupert towering over her, her stepmother dangling from beneath one arm like she weighed nothing at all.
His furrowed brow and darkened eyes were filled with a devastating fury. “Are you all right?”
She nodded quickly. “Y-yes.”
His gaze fell to her cheek and his eyes narrowed. He seemed oblivious to the shrieking going on just beneath his arm as her stepmother cried for help.
“I wouldn’t bother,” Rupert responded. “Your men have been dealt with.”
Delilah let out a sigh of relief and pointed to her guard. “Your man, is he…?”
With one foot, Rupert rolled him over and the man groaned. “He will live.”
“And
