Hopeless Heart

There was a malicious glee in his eyes that was unnatural.

“You can say whatever you like,” Georgiana replied carefully. “People will realise you are a liar eventually, especially when I tell them that you have been spying on me.”

This seemed to incense Simeon, who slammed a fist into Will’s jaw so swiftly that Will didn’t even see it coming for him until pain exploded in his head.

“She is no lady,” Simeon smirked. “Do you think I don’t know why you are in this hotel as well? Here to get a bit for yourself are you?”

“Georgiana and I are to be married,” Will replied once the pain had eased. “While it is no concern of yours, we are here to choose rings and spend time with her aunt before our nuptials.”

In spite of the trauma of the situation she was in, Georgiana positively yearned for Will to mean that. It was so strong that it stole her breath. She daren’t think about it at the moment, though, because Simeon’s face had turned puce with rage. There was now something almost lethal in the cold, hard stare he levelled upon Will that bordered on evil.

“Get inside the room, Georgiana, and lock the door. Don’t open it again until I tell you too,” Will commanded.

Georgiana hesitated. He wanted her out of the way where she would be safe. While her self-protective instinct warned her she should do just that, she still daren’t leave him. If anything happened to him because of her she would never forgive herself. This was her problem; something she had allowed to happen by accepting Simeon’s invitation to dinner. It didn’t seem right that she should simply abandon Will to deal with the situation all alone.

Simeon dismissed her as insignificant and turned his fury on Will. “I am sure she has you convinced that she is holier than thou. Just take a look at the way she dresses. Only a common whore wears red and black dresses while staggering around like a drunkard. You didn’t waste any time getting her onto her back, though, did you?”

“God, just how long have you been stalking her?” Will was more than a little disturbed, not at being seen making love with Georgiana, but that someone had been spying on them and he hadn’t noticed.

“I don’t stalk her,” Simeon protested with no small air of arrogance. “I merely saw her parading around in a brilliant red dress as I was walking past.”

There was furtiveness in the eyes that darted everywhere that warned them he was lying.

“But you drive a curricle. Why are you walking in the village?” he demanded.

Before Simeon dodged him, Will landed a punch on the man’s cheek that made him stagger back several paces. Will followed him.

“You certainly weren’t walking down the main street like a normal person when you happened to see Georgiana,” Will continued. “You weren’t because I was there. If you loitered at the front of the house you would draw attention to yourself. That means you had to be around the back–in the bushes.”

“Are you stalking her yourself?” Simeon challenged unaware of the condemnatory nature of his statement.

“No, I merely have a more long-standing acquaintance with her unlike you,” Will replied. “I have full authority to order you to stay away from her.”

“You are no authority over me,” Simeon replied and landed a heavy punch in the centre of Will’s abdomen.

The air rushed out of Will’s lungs. He instinctively bent over but looked up in time to see the second fist Simeon threw at him early enough to sidestep it. He didn’t hesitate to punch Simeon on the jaw in return. The bone-crunching crack of flesh meeting bone was strangely satisfying. So much so that his punch was followed by a second thump to the man’s solar plexus.

“Will!” Georgiana cried.

Will refused to listen and kept the focus of his attention firmly locked on his opponent.

“Get inside the room, Georgiana, and stay there,” he growled without bothering to look at her.

Georgiana saw the raw fury on his gaze and, for once, did as she was told.

“All I have to do is wait,” Simeon said, his face contorted in a twisted smile that was a mixture of cruelty and mirth. “She will come running to me once you have gone home to marry your future bride.”

“Georgiana is my future bride,” Will replied. “So you have been finding out all about her, but your information is wrong. I am going home and taking Georgiana with me.”

Georgiana stared at the door in dismay. She certainly had no intention of going home anytime soon no matter what Will said. The only place she was going was back to Aunt Ruth’s. Suddenly desperate to get there, Georgiana began to pack.

Out in the corridor, the men landed several more punches. Blood flowed as cuts and bruises were created but neither was willing to be the one to concede defeat.

“You are strange,” Will snapped. “But that’s your problem. Mine is making sure you keep your grubby hands off my future wife.”

Will shoved Simeon roughly down the corridor, away from Georgiana’s room, and pummelled him with a series of volleys that left Simeon dazed and struggling to stand upright. Will yanked him around and planted a fist in the middle of his face, hoping to floor him. Blood immediately began to seep from Simeon’s nose, but he still refused to drop. Instead, he seemed to gather himself because he suddenly snarled and ducked low before surging forward in an attempt to tackle Will. Will side-stepped him and took advantage of the man’s imbalance to yank him around again. He placed a solid punch to Simeon’s gut which doubled him over and, with an upper cut to his jaw, finally watched Simeon collapse into a heap on the floor.

“You will stay down there,” Will urged as he wiped his bloodied mouth with the back of his hand.