Page 89 of Make Mine a Marquess

Alarm made her heart race and she felt uneasy. She donned her nightgown and quietly cracked the door. Both men were within view. They faced each other, tight fisted and glowering. Menace radiated off Landon’s shoulders. From the side, she could see both men’s harsh expressions.

Willard scoffed. “You can’t stop me. Just as you can’t prove I had anything to do with that ship going down and me plotting your demise.”

She gasped. Had the baron somehow been involved in the ship’s fire to kill his own cousin? She clapped a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from crying out.

“Not just my demise, remember. You killed twenty-three innocent sailors and the ship’s captain in your greed to become the next Marquess of Landon.”

Oh, my God. Twenty-three sailors and the captain? Had Willard attempted to murder Landon just to gain his title and the wealth that accompanied it? He’d been the trustee of the estate while Landon had been missing. He’d wanted more than that, hadn’t he?

He wanted everything.

His greed knew no bounds. The thought that she had agreed to marry such a ruthless man made her blood run cold. Gooseflesh rose on her arms.

“I know your murderous intent and that you plan for my future ‘accidental’ death. You should know by now that I’m a hard man to kill.”

“You can’t prove anything.”

“Your arrogance will be your downfall, cousin,” Landon said.

“You planned to this all along, didn’t you? The gambling debts. The mine. Seducing my bride-to-be,” Willard spat.

Landon’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, and I relished each one with great pleasure.”

A sickening sensation spread through her veins. She should have known, should have suspected. There was more history between these two men. Much more.

And some of it had to do with her.

“I may be guilty of wanting you dead, but you’re just as guilty.” Willard pointed to Landon’s chest. “You used the lady, an innocent, to get to me.”

“So? What red-blooded man could resist your betrothed? Miss Dawson was a ripe means of revenge.”

Phoebe wavered. Her hand clutched the door handle, her heart thudding in her chest. The way Landon spoke of her…like she meant nothing to him… He’d seduced her for the simple act of revenge. She’d given him her body and, worst of all, her heart.

She wanted to throw up.

“You used her and seduced her beneath my nose,” Willard said.

“You intended to use her for her money,” Landon countered.

“Yes, but I would have married her. You, on the other hand, have no intention and have deceived her in the worst way.”

Landon’s eyes narrowed and his lips curled away from his teeth. “Perhaps. But know this, I have the satisfaction of you not getting her or her money.”

Phoebe’s breath caught in her throat as panic spread through her veins like ice. The cold, cruel words struck her like a blow, and her fingernails dug into her palms. She wanted to burst from the room to confront both men. Both had betrayed her in the worst way.

Willard was a murderer who had planned to murder again to gain a title.

Landon was a liar. A betrayer of her heart.

Which was worse?

Both. Both were reprehensible, and she wanted nothing to do with either of them. Landon’s betrayal was different and horrid. His kisses still lingered on her skin. Good God, she’d been fooled by the worst type of man.

A liar.

A nauseating despair settled low in her stomach. Stupid, Phoebe. You did it again. Hadn’t she learned her lesson when she was sixteen? Her heart could never be trusted.

This was why she’d agreed to the betrothal. But now, knowing what she knew about the baron, she was repulsed. Marriage to a murderer was impossible.