He should have tried harder rather than getting hard.
He should have teased and tormented until she’d told him her name.
“Is that you there, Meredith? Or is it finally Rosemary?”
The figure did not move immediately. The pause, he decided, was the woman stalling for time to come up with a story to explain her actions. Hiding wasn’t something an honest or fearless person did.
She rolled to her feet and danced back several steps. Her skin was pale and shone with perspiration, but her eyes were fierce and defiant. She did not look the least bit happy to see him. “My lord, what a pleasure to see you again, and so soon. I was not anticipating your return.”
“You were going to disappear again?” He took a pace forward. “Did you not think I would search for you, too?”
“The vicar hasn’t seen her for hours,” Leopold called as he strode through the graveyard, glancing left and right.
“There was no harm in asking,” Tobias stated as the brothers hurried toward him.
Rosemary tensed, her hands curled into fists.
Could the brothers not see their prey? Constantine glanced around swiftly and guessed Rosemary was hidden from view by a very large mausoleum. A few more steps and she’d be discovered. Panic tensed her body until Constantine feared she would run for the distant forest and never look back.
He didn’t want to lose her. Not when she might be carrying their child. Not when he loved her despite the lies. “Please,” he whispered. “Be as brave as you have always been, Rosemary, and stay.”
CHAPTER 26
CONSTANTINE HELD OUT one hand. “Just meet your brothers. Give them a chance to prove your fears wrong. If not for me, then for my daughters. They need you.”
Her eyes filled with pain, but it was too late for further pleas. Leopold saw her standing still and started to run. It all happened so fast. One moment Randall was poised to embrace his sister, the next moment he sailed through the air and crashed hard into the ground, breath leaving his lungs in a pained groan. While Constantine struggled to believe what Rosemary had just accomplished so effortlessly, Leopold staggered to his feet and faced Rosemary again. “Is that the best you can do, imp?”
Rosemary’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits and her head jerked around to keep track of the approaching men. Her posture was battle ready. All she needed were two daggers in her hands to make the image complete. When her gaze landed on him, her expression was so hostile that he took a cautious step back. This was a side of the woman he loved that he’d never imagined existed. Where was the woman who’d sung lullabies to his infant daughter? Had he known this woman at all?
Her eyes clouded with disappointment and then she straightened her shoulders and faced off with Leopold. “You’re one of them now, are you?”
“There is only us, Rosie,” Oliver said as he stepped between her and Leopold. “We are all that is left and there is no one to hurt you anymore.”
Her hands lowered marginally but then she jerked them back up. “There is still the boy. Don’t think I could forget he exists. If you take me back, I’ll punish him for the sins of his father and grandfather.”
“Then you would be punishing me and our father. He’s my boy.” Leopold sidestepped Oliver and surged forward to catch Rosemary.
But she was too fast. She ducked beneath his reaching arms, jabbed him in the ribs with her curled fist and danced behind a headstone, well out of reach of either brother. “Too slow.”
“I’m not.” Oliver vaulted the grave to reach her, but instead of trying to catch her, he swung his fist straight toward her face.
As Constantine lunged forward to save her, an arm clapped around his chest, preventing him from moving. Constantine struggled against Tobias’s hold. “Let me go.”
Rosemary avoided the hit, just barely, and found a large headstone to place betw
een them. “That’s new.”
“It’s a special occasion,” Oliver told her as he shrugged his shoulders. “One must always try to throw one’s opponent off-balance. Elizabeth will never forgive me if you come home sporting a black eye.”
Tobias’s grip firmed around Constantine’s chest. “I wouldn’t get between them if I were you. I learned my lesson when I was twelve. He’ll be fine, I promise.”
Rosemary eased forward. “What if you go home with the black eye?”
“Then I will have deserved it.” Oliver lunged, caught her swinging fist, and forced her backward. Rosemary stumbled even while landing blows to his ribs with her other fist.
Constantine struggled. “I’m not worried about him, I’m worried about Rosemary. She could be hurt.”
“She won’t be, I promise. Oliver would never hurt our sister. Haven’t you noticed he’s only fighting with one hand? Makes it fairer that way. His longer arms give him an unfair advantage.” Tobias sighed. “This bout is long overdue and probably a necessary salve for her pride. Admitting defeat is something she was never good at.”