Tried for Love (TSATD)

Chapter 47

Leah

  "Feel any better yet?" Jon's voice was clear with worry from the side.. The silence the room offered settled deep in my bones and clutched there, making me nearly tremble with angst. With doubt.

  This was the plan. This was my plan. And I— I was halfway through it. In minutes, it could all be over. I could make sure Gabriel never left home tomorrow morning to go on a killing spree just so he could ruin Tallo. No, I could finish that job myself. Here. Now.

  Rising the crystal glass to my lips, I took a healthy sip of cognac. The crude liquor slid down my throat with a distinct burn that I rewarded with another gulp. Earlier that evening, I had barely touched my champagne, for this purpose particularly. Still, my head spun from the mere scent of alcohol.

  "Oh, yes." My own voice was muted by the determined thumping of my heart.. The rude rushing of my blood in my ears.

  Putting the glass down on the table beside me, I warily stood up, seemingly more unbalanced than ever. Still, I made my way towards Tallo. "Thank you, Jon. I don't know what I would've done without you. Had you not been there.."

  To say that I saw doubt behind his eyes would've been an understatement. No, it was far more than that.. Far stronger than that. I saw puzzlement and shock. Longing and denial.. And something else. Something so powerful that he barely managed to mask.

  Blinking a few times, he scolded his expression into a frown. "I do not like it, Leah. Valentine should've been there to look after you. Hell, especially if he knew this was something that happens often, he should've—"

  Placing a hand on his chest, I gazed up at him. "I insisted I could take care of myself. Really. It's hardly his fault."

  Once again, contemplating the look behind those intense blues felt closely like betrayal. The things he said about Gabriel caused anger to boil through my veins. Caused revolt to turn in my stomach and panic to seize my bones. This scheme did not only risk doubts of betrayal, but my very life as well.

  Tallo must've seen the angst behind my eyes for his hands were suddenly over one of mine as he leaned closer, trying to comfort me with words that only had me nearly quivering with dread.. Dread for what this meant.. And wrath. Hatred towards a man, this man in front of me, that I had once trusted with my life.

  "I've seen them kill.." He said. "I've witnessed them slaughter many men." His hands moved to my shoulders, his face close, and I was on the verge of slapping his hands away.. At the verge of running right then from his manipulative words.

  He shook his head as if clearing his mind. "And let me tell you something, dearest.." One of his hands moved towards my face, putting away a strand of my hair and making me reconsider the reasoning, the worth of this entire thing. "They don't kill because they have to.. They kill because it is a sport to them."

  My blood ran cold with sudden loathing. What he said.. It wasn't true. Gabriel worked against criminals. Those men.. They had to be stopped. And though I hated violence in any form, I understood what it took to survive in this world of ours.

  Destroying Tallo was one of them. Hopefully the last one before my revenge on Dows.

  I managed a tight smile. "Gabriel Valentine has sworn to protect me with his life. Even before he became my husband."

  He let go of me, frowning as if I'd struck him. "You seem to think you've tamed the beast inside him. And perhaps he is willing to protect you now.. But what when he gets tired of you, Leah? He is a well-known rake.."

  His words clenched something in my chest. Truly, I hated my weakness at that moment. I hated the defeat that throbbed with panic in my gut. I hated the possibility behind his words.