To Have and to Hold by Nalini Singh Page B

pulling?”
    â€œStunt?” Something in Jess broke at that moment. She slammed her fists into his shoulders. “I came to visit the only place that’s ever been home to me! To be close to the only people who ever loved me! Can’t you even allow me that?”
    â€œStop it.” He pulled her into a tight embrace to restrain her pummeling hands. “Be still, Jessie.”
    She struggled to escape but he was holding her so tightly, she could hardly move. “Damn you, you’ve never loved anyone in your life! How would you know what it feels like to lose everything?” His body went as still as ice, but blinded by her own anguish, she paid no attention. “You don’t even put flowers on their graves!”
    â€œShut up. Shut the hell up before you say anything else.” Quiet, frighteningly calm, his tone cut through her pained fury to chill her on the inside.
    â€œWhy?” she challenged, refusing to be bullied. “Don’t you like hearing the truth?”
    He released her so suddenly she almost her balance. “What do you know about the truth?” The words were razor-sharp, edged by blades of contained rage.
    â€œI know your father changed the name of Dumont Station to Angel Station because your mother loved angels and he loved her.” Everyone in Kowhai knew that story.
    He swore, harsh and bullet-fast. “Yeah, the great Dumont romance.”
    His flippant response bruised her and she didn’t quite understand why. “Just because you’re made of stone doesn’t mean you have the right to mock their love!”
    â€œI have every right!” His voice rose for the first time and he shoved up a shirt-sleeve to bare the faded burn scars on his arm. “I earned that right.”
    Shocked out of her self-absorption by the sheer depth of his anger, she frowned. “What are you talking about?” Her eyes fell to his scars. “What do your burns have to do with your parents?”
    â€œEverything.” A grim statement.
    â€œBut, the fire was an accident.”
    His entire demeanor changed in a millisecond. It was like watching a wall descend over his face. Pushing down the sleeve, he jerked his head toward the cars. “Get in. We have to drive back before the rain hits.”
    She gripped his arm. “Gabe? What did you mean?” He’d come close to telling her something important.
    His answer was to remove her hand and say, “I’ll go in front. Follow as close as you can—the tracks can be difficult at night.” None of his earlier fury was now evident but she’d felt the tension thrumming beneath the surface of his skin.
    â€œYou can’t do this,” she protested. “I’m your wife. I have a right to know about your past.”
    â€œWhy do you keep making me remind you of the terms of our marriage?” he asked almost conversationally, eyes black in the darkness. “The only thing you have a right to know is that I can provide a good home for you and the child you agreed to bear me. If you have any doubts about that, I’ll show you the accounts tomorrow.”
    She knew he was being purposefully cruel in order to block her questions but that didn’t make it hurt any less. What she didn’t stop to consider was why it hurt. “You’re calling me a gold-digger?”
    â€œNo, Jess. I always thought it a fair deal. How else could I have found a woman willing to agree to never make any waves in my life?” He opened the door of the Jeep. “So concentrate on doing a better job of keeping up your end of the bargain. I don’t want anything else from you.”
    * * *
    That night, Jess lay awake in her bed, waiting for Gabe to come for her as he always did. But the hours passed and the door between their rooms remained shut. An odd feeling clawed through her veins. Surely she wasn’t disappointed? No, of course not. It was simply that she’d wanted