Hold Your Breath 02 - Unmasking the Marquess by K.J. Jackson Read Free Book Online Page B

know of your father?”
    Reanna blinked at the sudden change in topics, then couldn’t stop the fear that gripped her at mention of her father. She couldn’t let Killian see. She forced her voice light. “I am afraid not much. My father did spend more time at our home in Suffolk when my mother was alive. After she passed, he was rarely around. I have only recently come to know him more since he moved to Suffolk last year. He is a good man. He has always treated me well.” She treaded carefully. “But I do know that he left London in some kind of scandal.”
    “Do you know what the scandal was?”
    Her chest tightened. This conversation was too odd. “No. He never mentioned it, and about six months after father returned I was sent to Aunt Maureen in London. She alluded several times to his disgrace, but never expanded on the subject in front me.”
    Hands clasped tight in her lap, Reanna paused. She didn’t want to ask the next question, but she forced the words to come out past her pounding heart. “I believed you knew about the…the situation. I would not want anything he may have done to mar your name. If under false pretenses, you must annul—”
    “I will never hear the word ‘annulment’ from your mouth again. We are married, and it will remain thus. Do you understand?”
    Reanna relaxed, relieved. She emphatically nodded, her previous happiness flooding her once more.
    Yet something in his posture was off. Was there something else about her father that was bothering him? She wanted to ask the words, but couldn’t bring herself to push the topic of her family’s shame. Or what she guessed was her family’s shame. If only someone had told her what had happened.
    Her relief quickly shifted to apprehension as Killian continued to stare at her with his sharp brown eyes. He looked more serious than she had ever seen him, as though he were weighing something of enormous consequence.
    With a sigh, he casually leaned back in his chair, his hands cupped beneath his chin. He contemplated her for a long moment, and Reanna tried to hide her need to fidget away her anxiety at his odd stare.
    “You will be leaving within the hour. The coach will be ready, do not be late.”
    She smiled at the surprise, for she had hoped Killian had planned a bridal tour. Of course he had wanted to surprise her. He was always so thoughtful. “Where are we going?”
    “I am not going anywhere. You are going to Holloton.”
    “What do you mean?” Confusion filled her face. “You will be joining me in a few days, then?”
    “No. I will not.” Hands still under his chin, he didn’t move.
    “But Holloton…that is your estate in Northhamptonshire? Is that not days away?”
    “It is.”
    “And you will not be joining me?” A deep fear began to ferment in the pit of her stomach, but Reanna ignored it. This was Killian she was talking to, after all. She must not understand something.
    “No.”
    “Ever?” Her voice escaped meek.
    “No.”
    Obviously, there was some reason he needed her away from here. “How long will I need to be up there?”
    “I have not decided.”
    The fear that pitted in her stomach began to spread throughout her body. “But Killian, I don’t understand.”
    “You don’t need to.” His clasped hands went to his lap, but his countenance didn’t change. His face was an emotionless mask. A mask that gave Reanna no clues as to what he was thinking.
    “What? I don’t need to?” She couldn’t stop her voice from taking on a high pitch. “You are sending me away and you will not even tell me why? Just tell me why, maybe I can—”
    “You can do nothing.”
    “But is this something I did?”
    “What you can do is leave quietly.”
    “Quietly? What…” Her hand reached out at him, grasping the edge of the desk. “But after what happened last night.”
    “What happened last night was nothing more than what happens in a thousand brothels, a thousand times a day.”
    His words cut into her, cut