His Blackmailed Bride

Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. ‘No,’ she said quickly. ‘You’re nothing like Alan. He’s kind and considerate, and…’

‘And he’s no match for a bitch like you.’

She twisted against the steely strength of his hands. ‘Don’t call me that, damn you. I…’

‘Come on, Paige, don’t give me that nonsense. We both know what you are.’

‘You don’t know anything about me,’ she whispered.

‘I know everything about you. It’s only Alan who doesn’t. You came on to me like…’

‘That didn’t bother you when you thought I was engaged to someone else, did it?’ she asked defiantly. ‘“The hell with your fiancé”, you said. “Forget him,” you said. But when you realised I was engaged to Alan…

‘When I realised you’d deceived him into thinking you were something you weren’t, you mean.’ A muscle moved in his jaw. ‘I know how to deal with a woman like you,’ he said softly. ‘Alan doesn’t. The innocent need someone to protect them. That’s why I had to take you from him.’

Paige looked into his face. ‘Very touching,’ she said. ‘Quinn makes a sacrifice for his little brother.’

‘Meaning?’

She smiled coldly. ‘Is that the reason you’d like to believe?’

His eyes grew dark. ‘What the hell kind of question is that?’

‘Just listen to yourself, Quinn,’ she said in a venom-filled voice. ‘All that talk about “protecting” the innocent. Is blackmailing women into your bed part of the “protection” you so generously offer?’

‘Damn you, Paige…’

‘Why don’t you try being honest with yourself? You didn’t marry me to protect Alan. You did it because you wanted me for yourself.’

His hands dug into her as he drew her to him. ‘You’d love to believe that, wouldn’t you?’

‘I don’t know why I didn’t see it before,’ she said, reckless with the desire to hurt him. ‘Were you trying to fool me or yourself? Not that it matters—we both know the truth, don’t we? I’ll bet you used to take Alan’s toys away from him, too.’

He laughed at her. ‘I’m almost nine years older than Alan, Paige. The only things I’ve ever taken from him were things that would hurt him.’ He paused, and a smile that was no smile turned the corner of his mouth. ‘Like you, for instance.’

‘What do you know about me or Alan? You’ve been out of his life for years, playing at living abroad, toying with computers…’

His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. ‘I hate to disappoint you, but that’s not quite the way it was. I haven’t “played” at anything. I’ve had to work damned hard for what I’ve got.’

‘It’s Alan who’s worked hard, shouldering the whole burden at Fowler’s after you walked out.’

His hands fell from her shoulders. ‘You don’t know a damned thing about it,’ he said softly.

Watching his face, she knew she’d somehow cut through the cool surface and touched some hidden vulnerability. She spoke quickly, searching for words that might wound him.

‘I know enough. You left your family…’

‘I sure as hell did.’ He laughed at her expression of distaste. ‘I left by request—didn’t Alan tell you?’

Paige stared at him. ‘You mean, your parents asked you to leave?’

He smiled. ‘I couldn’t have phrased it better myself.’

So much for wounding him. ‘You sound—you sound proud of it.’

‘Damned right, I’m proud. What I’ve done…’

‘Poor Alan. “My big brother”, he calls you. And he talks about you as if… as if you were special.’ She looked at him and then turned her face away. ‘I’m glad he doesn’t know the truth.’