That Perfect Someone (11 page)

She threw her plate at his head. It didn’t hit him, of course. The plate, which was too big and heavy to even get close to him with her meager strength propelling it, clattered on the floor. But his eyes narrowed on her. Her intent had been clear. He actually started coming around the table to get his hands on her. She screeched and ran around the other side of the table and out the door. She didn’t stop running until she was back upstairs, safe in her room.

But he followed her! He burst inside before she could even think of locking the door, and within seconds he dragged her out to the little balcony off her room and shoved her over it. She thought he was throwing her to her death! She was too terrified to scream. But he’d latched onto her ankles and dangled her upside down over the railing.

She’d never known rage before she’d met Richard Allen. But she’d never experienced this before either. Pure fear. She was paralyzed with it as he held her over that railing. He didn’t have the strength to do this! She was sure she was going to die!

When he finally dragged her back up, he laughed before her feet were back on the balcony floor. “You’re as skinny as I thought!”

Her loose frock had settled back over her body, but it had turned inside out when he’d dangled her over the railing, covering her face and exposing her bare legs and underclothes. But the very second her feet were solidly back on the floor, all the terror he’d just subjected her to turned instantly into the worst fury she’d experienced yet. She didn’t even know how she broke his nose. Her fist? Her palm catching him just right? But suddenly he was backing away from her into her room, a hand holding his nose. He ran out of there, but not before she saw the blood escaping below his hand.

She stood on the balcony panting, and crying great sobs now that she was safely alone. She could see Richard running across the lawn, then disappearing into the woods at the other side of the house.

She didn’t mean to break his nose, it had just happened, but she was fiercely glad of it, after what he’d done to her. At least it got rid of him. He’d run off with his bleeding nose into the woods like a wounded cub, or maybe just to pout. But she didn’t even wait to see if he’d come back. As soon as her parents arose, she convinced them to take her home. She didn’t tell them what had happened. She didn’t think Richard would ever mention it either.

She flatly refused to ever go to Willow Woods again, and she was sticking to it this time. Six months later Richard came to London to visit her instead. It was too soon. The horror of that last visit hadn’t faded yet. There would be no more talking to him or trying to become friends again. She utterly despised him now.

He kept coming to London though. His father forced him to. He even brought his dog with him and used the animal as an excuse to spend most of his time in the park instead of visiting her. Which was a good thing, because with each of his visits, the animosity between them grew worse.

She would attack him anytime they found themselves alone, immediately, viciously. She had a fear of heights now, thanks to him. But he always held the advantage because of his superior strength, so attacking him normally rarely got her anywhere, he’d just laugh at her and hold her off, which only infuriated her more. So whenever she did get close enough, she’d been rather quick and vicious. Yes, vicious, and she wasn’t even ashamed about it. He deserved it!

She bit his leg until she tasted blood and was glad of that, too. He locked her in her own attic for an entire day for that! No one had heard her screaming to be let out. He’d waited until the maids who might have heard her were done cleaning upstairs. When he finally let her out, he had the gall to tell her he’d gone to the park, got distracted by his dog, and simply forgot about her.

She couldn’t even recall what he’d done to provoke her on what turned out to be his last visit, but instead of holding her off at arm’s length, he’d been angry enough to toss her over his shoulder and march off with her. She didn’t know where he was taking her, but still remembering being locked in the attic all day, she reared up and bit his ear. Because of his strength, biting seemed the only way she could hurt him, and she wanted to hurt him! He dropped her to the ground.

“You make me bleed again and I swear I’m going to kill you!” he shouted at her.

Her ankle twisted in the fall. She didn’t even feel the pain, she was so furious. “Not if I kill you first! I will if I ever see you again. See if I don’t!”

She’d been ten that day, he’d been fifteen. Two years later her mother told her that he’d left England. How she’d rejoiced! Until she found out that the earl still wouldn’t tear up the marriage contract. He was confident that Richard would come home. She was only twelve then, still a long way off from a marriageable age. But even when she turned eighteen, the earl wouldn’t give up the contract. Probably because he was still angry about failing to get guardianship of her after her father’s accident. Thankfully, her solicitors had thwarted the earl’s attempt since he couldn’t produce the groom.

Julia’s memories of Richard were horrible. She’d kept them locked away in the back of her mind for so long it was no wonder she hadn’t recognized him immediately. But those memories were all fresh now, and she realized that every single time they’d met, they’d ended up fighting.

Their parents should never have introduced them when they were so young. If their parents had waited another few years, Richard might have been more mature and not so nasty and snobbish. Another few years and she might have been able to restrain herself, instead of reacting so angrily to his rudeness. It was the worst sort of luck that the animosity between them ran so deep that it was still there after all these years! If they’d met under different circumstances, they might have made the perfect couple, like Carol and Harry, instead of the worst mismatch imaginable.

Chapter Seventeen

R
EASON RETURNED! AND IN
good time, too, Julia thought, since a few hours of daylight were still left. Not that nightfall would have stopped her now that she had a course of action in mind.

She’d simply needed to remind herself that she was a woman of business. She knew how to make deals. She’d been buying new businesses and directing her solicitors in negotiating contracts for five years now. Of course those contracts merely involved people’s livelihoods, not the intimate aspects of their lives, but a contract was a contract, and she was going to make a new one with Richard Allen.

After she’d calmed down, she’d realized that dealing directly with Richard instead of leaving their circumstances to chance was a brilliant idea. He would agree, she knew he would. The plan she had in mind would sever all ties between them, and that’s what they both wanted. She just had to suffer his presence briefly once more, long enough to propose that he stay hidden a few more weeks until he was officially declared dead, then he could reveal himself or not, but he’d never have to worry about hiding again to avoid marrying her.

So she returned to Coulson’s Hotel and once again found herself approaching the desk. She did so decisively this time, now that the end of his dominating her existence was within sight once again. But when she requested that he be asked to join her in the lobby, the clerk told her, “They’ve left, ma’am. Both gentlemen are no longer guests here.”

Julia didn’t panic, she was actually relieved, surmising that Richard was wasting no time in leaving England, probably because of his run-in with her. She much preferred his disappearing over her having to deal with him. But just to be sure he’d left the country, she had her driver take her to Boyd Anderson’s house, where she hoped to find Gabrielle. No luck there. The butler informed her most of the Andersons were at Georgina’s house again. So on the way home she stopped there, too. Well acquainted with the crusty, old sea dog Artie, who opened the door, one of James Malory’s two unusual butlers, she asked him if he would just fetch Gabrielle for a brief word, rather than ushering her inside.

Which he did, and then the panic set in again. No, Gabrielle said, Jean Paul wouldn’t leave the country without telling her. No, she hadn’t seen him since yesterday when they both went to his hotel, nor did she even get a chance to talk to him there, so she had no idea why he and Ohr would change hotels when the one they were at had already been paid for. Julia thanked Gabrielle and hurried off, probably leaving the young woman quite confused. But Julia was sure by then that Richard hadn’t merely changed hotels to be out of her reach again. She got the maggoty thought that he was on his way home to visit his brother before he left England again and was terrified that his father would find out.

But she might still be able to stop him before he reached Willow Woods and ruined both of their lives even worse than they’d already been ruined. If she could find him.

She almost left town immediately, but she still had enough presence of mind to know she couldn’t race down country roads in the dead of night. With his injuries, surely Richard wouldn’t be traveling as fast as she could. So she sent her cousin Raymond a message that she needed him as an escort for a quick trip to the country.

They left at dawn the next morning, traveling the swiftest way possible, on horseback, which was why she didn’t take a footman along instead. Raymond, at least, was as adept on horseback as she was. The day-and-a-half trip was reduced to half that time with her stopping five times to quickly rent rested mounts so they could continue on at her grueling pace. She’d never galloped such long distances before. Raymond complained all the way. Her backside did, too, and was quite numb by the time she neared her destination.

Her panic hadn’t lessened much. She’d hoped to find Richard on the road, though that had been unrealistic as she’d galloped by so many vehicles. But they’d passed through numerous towns and villages, too, and he could have been in an inn in any one of them. She couldn’t afford to waste time searching on the way. But with their swift pace, she was at least reasonably certain that she was ahead of him now and only had to stop by Willow Woods briefly when they arrived late that afternoon to be sure. Hopefully, she wouldn’t even have to speak to the Earl of Manford. She could then simply wait down the lane to his house and stop Richard before he went any farther, even if it took the rest of the day.

She was going to have to get rooms for herself and Raymond though. She was sure it would be dark before she was done dealing with Richard, and she refused to stay at Willow Woods even for one night. A hamlet was closer to Willow Woods than the town of Manchester, just down the road, really. She even knew it had a hostelry.

Her family had passed through there on each of their visits to that area of the country, and her mother had once mentioned stopping there just to freshen up before they arrived at Willow Woods, which her father had laughed about. But that wasn’t a bad idea in her present situation, since she was covered in dust from that mad dash across country. It was almost comical, the dust cloud she created as she tried to get rid of some of it before she entered the hostelry. Raymond had told her not to hurry and went directly into the tavern next door.

She didn’t get more than a step inside the door before she froze, her eyes latched onto the tall oriental man coming down the stairs into the main room. Richard’s companion. What had Gabrielle called him? An oar, or ore, or whatever, something odd like that. His presence meant she was either too late or just in time. She was almost afraid to find out which.

He had stopped, too, upon seeing her and stood there like an unmovable barricade to those stairs. She had to wonder what Richard had told him about her. He certainly didn’t seem very approachable at the moment with his arms crossed over his chest.

She marched over to him anyway and stated the obvious. “This is too close to Willow Woods for Richard not to have gone straight home.”

“He’s not going there.”

“Then he’s here?”

He wasn’t going to tell her. He just stared at her without expression. How annoying. She didn’t miss that he hadn’t asked who Richard was, so he knew Richard’s real name. Did Gabrielle know it, too, but just hadn’t mentioned it to Julia when she’d referred to him as Jean Paul? How embarrassing if they both knew why Richard had gone into hiding.

Impatiently she told the man, “Never mind, I’ll just knock on every door. There can’t be more than a few.”

“First one at the top of the stairs, but if you have a weapon on you, you’re not getting past me without handing it over.”

She flushed bright red. So the man did know about her. She was sure Richard had put all the blame on her. She did have a weapon, but she certainly hadn’t intended to use it on Richard to get her point across.

She might dress like the veriest lady and was often mistaken for one because of it, but she only traveled with chaperones if she was going to an upper-crust party, since the
ton
expected it, or on long trips like this one. Otherwise she often moved about London by herself or with her secretary when she was merely attending to business. But in either case, she’d got into the habit of keeping a pistol close to hand in case it might be needed. She kept it in the small valise she was toting, which also contained a change of clothes.

Too impatient to rummage through the valise for the weapon, she shoved the bag at him, then slipped past him to go upstairs. She was relieved that he didn’t follow her. Only two rooms were up here, both on the same side of the short corridor. On the other side, three windows were open, letting in a warm breeze.

She knocked briskly on that first door. It opened within seconds, but she only caught the briefest glimpse of surprise on the face of the man standing there before the door was slammed shut again with Richard’s snarl “No way in hell.”

Julia gritted her teeth and pounded on the door more loudly. All fear gone that she wouldn’t find him in time, she was her usual indomitable self. The racket she made resulted in the door’s opening again and her being yanked inside the room.

“We are not causing a scene here,” he said angrily. “If you draw notice to me, I’ll—”

“Shut up, Richard.” She turned to face him. “I’m just here to stop you from making a mistake we’ll both regret.”

His cheek was still scratched, and bruising was still on both sides of his nose, but he was behaving as if nothing was wrong with his ribs.

“Mistake? You thought I was going home?” He laughed harshly. “Not a chance. But I bet that’s where you’re going. Get out.”

He was still holding the door open. She shook her head at him. “I’m not leaving until we discuss our options and come to an understanding. That’s the adult thing to do. We can even put it in writing.”

“Another contract?” he said incredulously. “Are you out of your mind?”

“One we can both agree on.”

“You and I will never agree on anything, Jewels, so do us both a favor and get out!”

“No.”

“You see? We can’t even agree on something so simple as your not being welcome here!”

“Relax, my teeth are sheathed.”

She was trying to put him at ease, but apparently her comment only reminded him of their violent encounters in the past. His face turned livid with anger and he reached for her. She squeaked out a protest, but didn’t get out of the way in time. But after he grabbed her, he only threw her out of the room. Before she could even turn around and express her indignation over the way he’d just treated her, the door was slammed shut again.