Reese's Bride by Kat Martin Read Free Book Online

still standing next to the desk when Reese walked back into the room.
    “I couldn’t help overhearing,” Trav said. “You have a lady houseguest, I gather.”
    Reese nodded. “The Countess of Aldridge and her son. That was her brother-in-law, Mason Holloway. Elizabeth’s afraid of him. She’s asked me for sanctuary. I couldn’t turn her away.”
    “Elizabeth…That wouldn’t be the same Elizabeth you used to curse in your sleep? I seem to recall she married a man named Holloway.”
    A muscle flexed in his cheek. “That’s her.”
    One of Travis’s sandy brown eyebrows went up. “I see.”
    “No, you don’t. You couldn’t possibly because I can’t figure it out myself. I only know she preyed on my honor as a soldier and I couldn’t refuse her request. She’s here until I can figure out what to do with her, then she’s on her way. It couldn’t happen soon enough for me.”
    Travis looked as if he might say I see again, but wisely refrained. “Female problems. They’re always the worst.”
    Reese lifted his crystal goblet and took a deep swallow of brandy. “You can say that again.”

Five
    Several days later
    B eginning to feel more her old self again, Elizabeth made her way up to the third floor where Mrs. Garvey and Jared shared adjoining bedrooms. The withdrawal symptoms had faded completely and though she still felt a little tired, she was ready to get out of the house, at least for a while.
    She listened at the door a moment, then turned the handle and silently pushed it open. The bedrooms connected to a third room, a lovely little nursery she had admired when she had come to the house with Reese years ago.
    At the time, she had imagined seeing their baby lying in the white-ruffled bassinet that still sat empty in the corner. When he had shown her the room, she had smiled up at him and told him what a wonderful father he would make.
    The notion twisted her heart. If only her son had been raised by Reese. If only he’d had a loving father instead of one who was distant, even cruel. Jared had yearned fora father’s love, but Edmund had pushed the child away, treating him little better than one of his servants.
    If only she had known what her life would be.
    But her father had admired the young earl and he had been determined she have a title. Edmund will make you a countess. He won’t exile you to a life in the country while he goes off adventuring with the army .
    It was only one of dozens of speeches he had made. In the beginning, she had simply ignored them, certain that in time she could convince her father to accept the man she loved, the man she had chosen to marry.
    In the end, she had succumbed to his words, his dire predictions, and finally his unbending edict, and agreed to his demands. By special license, just a little over two months after Reese had left for London, she had married the Earl of Aldridge.
    She closed her mind to what came next, looked across the nursery to where Mrs. Garvey read to Jared. He loved listening to stories and was becoming a very good reader himself.
    “Mama!” He rose when he saw her and raced toward her.
    Elizabeth lifted him into her arms. “Good morning, sweetheart.” She pressed a kiss on his forehead. “You’re getting so big. Soon I won’t be able to lift you.”
    He smiled as she set him back down on his feet, always happy when she mentioned how big he was getting. She thought that in time he would grow into a tall, strong man, but at seven, he was small for his age, and withdrawing into himself as he often did made him appear even smaller.
    “So what are you two reading?”
    Jared looked over at his silver-haired nanny for an answer.
    “It’s called Peter Wilson’s Journey ,” Mrs. Garvey said with a smile.
    “What is the story about?” she asked Jared, forcing him to speak when he would have kept silent.
    “It’s about…about a little boy who finds treasure in his garden.”
    Elizabeth smiled. “That sounds marvelous.” She