She gave him a hard look. “What is it you have to say to me?”
“I . . . ah, I want you to come back to live with me.”
She continued wiping her face. “Of course you do. I knew you would. You lost Edan, too, didn’t you?”
“Damn it, Houston, what do you want me to do, beg?”
“I want absolutely nothing from you. Right now, my only wish is to go home and take a bath.” She started to rise, struggling over the suction of the mud and her torn skirt.
“You can’t forgive nobody for nothin’, can you?”
“Like you can’t forgive Mr. Fenton? At least, I don’t use others to get what I want.”
Even through the rain, Houston could see Kane’s anger staining his face. “I’ve had enough,” he said, advancing on her and pinning her against a wall. “You’re my wife and by law you’re my property. I don’t care if you respect me or love me or whatever else you think you gotta have, you’re returnin’ to live with me. And, what’s more, you’re gonna do it right now.”
She looked at him with as much dignity as she could manage, considering the state of her face. “I’ll scream all the way through town, and I’ll leave your house at the first opportunity.”
He leaned toward her, bending her backward.
“You know that brewery your stepfather owns? A year ago, he had some money problems that he didn’t tell nobody about. Two months ago, in secret, he sold the place to an anonymous buyer, somebody that lets him remain manager.”
“You?” Houston whispered, her back against the wet brick wall.
“Me. And last month, I bought the Chandler National Bank. I wonder who’d be hurt if I decided to close the place?”
“You wouldn’t do that,” she gasped.
“You just said that I do whatever I want, no matter who gets in my way. And right now, I want you to move back into my house.”
“But why? I never meant anything to you. All I ever meant to you was something to further your revenge on Jacob Fenton. Surely, someone else would be better—.”
He ignored her words. “What do you say? Will you martyr yourself to save the whole town? My house and my bed bein’ the stake you’ll burn at, of course.”
Suddenly he grabbed her chin in his hand, his fingertips roughly caressing her damp, gritty skin. “Can I still make you burn? Can I still make you cry out in pleasure?”
He bent his head as if he meant to kiss her but stopped a breath away from her lips. “You ain’t got any choice at all as far as I can see. You either come home with me right now or I foreclose on a whole lot of people. Are your uppity morals more important than the food in people’s mouths?”
She blinked at the water in her eyes, whether from tears or the rain she wasn’t sure. “I’ll live with you again,” she said, “but you have no idea how cool the Lady of Ice can be.”
He didn’t answer her but lifted her into his arms and carried her to his waiting wagon. Neither spoke on the way up the hill to the Taggert mansion.
* * *
Houston didn’t have a great deal of difficulty remaining cool to her husband, and only once was she tempted to falter. She remembered too well why he’d married her and what a fool she’d been to think she was in love with such a selfish man. At least Leander had been honest when he’d told her what he wanted of her.
Houston did the bare minimum of what was required of her to run the house and no more. She rehired the servants but planned no entertainments, and she spoke to Kane only when necessary and refused to react when he touched her—which had been the most difficult part.
The first night she was in his house had been the worst. He’d come to her bedroom and slowly pulled her into his arms. Houston had refused to let her body betray her. She’d stood as rigid as a steel pole and thought about Sunshine Row at the mining camp. It was probably the most difficult thing she’d ever done in her life, but she wasn’t going to fall into bed with him after the way he’d used her. Nor had she let her reserve break when he’d moved away from her and looked at her with the eyes of a sad puppy. She thought he’d used his good looks to advantage to get what he wanted.
The next morning he came to her room and lifted a small chest from the floor. Houston knew that it was his wedding gift to her, and she’d always known what was in it, but she’d waited for him to present it to her. And now, when he dumped about a million dollars’ worth of jewels in her lap, all she could think about was that they were so cold—about as cold as her insides felt.
Kane stood back and watched for her reaction.
“If you mean to try to buy me—,” she began.
He cut her off. “Damn it, Houston! Was I supposed to tell you about Fenton before we were married? I had a hard enough time as it was, what with you tryin’ to get Westfield even when we were standin’ at the altar.” He waited a moment. “You ain’t gonna deny that you wanted Westfield?”
“It doesn’t seem to matter what I want. You are an expert at getting your own way. You wanted a house to impress Mr. Fenton, you wanted a wife to impress him. It doesn’t matter that the house cost millions and the wife is a human being with feelings of her own. It’s all the same to you. You have to have your own way, and look out, anyone who tries to thwart you.”