Romancing a Stranger by Shady Grace Read Free Book Online

money building his shipping business. You were destitute.”
    Milli burst off the chair, startling Samson. She paced around the room, fitting the pieces of her past together, or, at least, the pieces of the other Millicent’s past. She spun around, her eyes wide. “Are you saying my father sold me to Mr. Blackwood?”
    He cleared his throat and looked down. It was all the answer she needed.
    The heat of anger and resentment flared in her cheeks. “Did Warden know about this?”
    Samson stood up and faced her. “Mr. Blackwood married you because he loves you, child. That is all that matters.”
    Tears pricked her eyes, and her shoulders slumped. Poor, poor Millicent. Forced to marry a man she didn’t love. Maybe she loved another…
    Her head snapped up as it dawned on her. “The note. The note said by dawn on the fourteenth day you must give your love to the right one, or everything will be as it was.”
    Samson frowned, looking lost. “I beg your pardon, Madam?”
    “The night of my birthday celebration, was I acting strangely?”
    “Well, you did swoon—”
    “No, before that.”
    Samson thought for a moment then his eyes widened. “Why, yes. You asked for your luggage because you were going on a trip. I never did understand what you meant, and then during the party you fainted.”
    “So she was leaving him.”
    “Who are we speaking of now, Madam?”
    Realizing Samson had no clue what she meant, she waved her hand in the air. “Nothing important. But I know what happened now.”
    The old Millicent Blackwood gave her true love to someone else.

Chapter 5
    Warden walked along the harbor docks near the warehouse, his thoughts drifting to Millicent and their argument three nights past. He thought throwing himself into work, ensuring the liquor import and export was running smoothly, would gain him some measure of peace. He was wrong.
    Yesterday morning, he had picked up the Boston Globe and nearly choked on his coffee. A team of horses had been electrocuted on Boylston Street.
    Millicent was right, and it made him uneasy. How could she have known that would happen?
    His thoughts drifted back to the day his father told him to marry Millicent Bishop because her father’s ties to the Middle East would be beneficial to the business. Then, shortly after the wedding, Mr. Bishop took his own life, leaving Warden and Millicent to care for her younger sister, Josephine.
    He never knew why Bishop did what he did, but he was happy to save two others. Marrying Millicent was a duty, but he never expected to fall in love with her.
    His anger and frustration over her unexpected actions the other night had simmered down, but he still did not understand why, after ignoring him for so long, she would suddenly act with scandalous abandon. Accusing her of being unfaithful was wrong, yet it was how he felt in the moment. It had nearly driven him to Vivian St. Claire.
    Now he knew not what to do. He was not sure that he could trust her, though he had to admit her change in behavior was welcome and refreshing. At least she wanted his company now, but why? Had she had a change of heart? Did she simply lose her mind at the party and somehow transform into another woman?
    He could not be sure of anything anymore. And her knowledge of those horses being electrocuted only deepened his curiosity tenfold. Was she telling the truth? Could she really have come from the future? But how was it possible? And why did she look exactly like his wife, if she was truly another woman?
    Waves from the harbor lapped against the docks with a sound that soothed his soul some small degree. His cloak flapped against his legs as the wind picked up. A streak of light shot through the air and burst a few hundred yards away.
    What the hell—?
    He halted mid-step, staring at the spot where he had seen the flash. The sky was dark, the air quiet, as if nothing happened. What was the matter with him? First, the amethyst globe glowed on his desk and now fireworks