Page 63 of Red Masquerade

Until it became clear to him the difference of our sexes. Until he realized he was an heir to our family name, and with that came power, and more money, and control. With that, came everyone’s scrutiny, and if he was held in society’s good graces, his power could exponentiate tenfold.

And I, his meager sister, would be the property of another man. Out of his control.

His lip pulled over his teeth. “Youdisgustme.”

My heart dropped at the words, though they were not a surprise any longer. After so many years of hearing them, I thought perhaps I would have hardened to his scorn, but that little girl that used to yearn for his company felt every slice, every stab of pain.

“You can repeat that all you want.” I forced my voice to remain strong. “But it will not change my mind.”

Lucas’ hand raised in a claw, as if to grab me, but it stalled mid-air, his fingers curled around an invisible neck. “I wish you were like Lucille. Submissive.Pliant.”

There was a bitterness in my mouth.

I knew Lord Highsmith was being consoled by my mother, ensured that I would come out of the room with a smile and an apology. I was just nervous. I was just a girl with flighty emotions.

“Lucyhatesyou,” I hissed, wishing the words were the strike I wanted them to be. Ihate you.

“Her feelings for me are irrelevant. She has done what she is meant to do.” His voice dripped with so much venom. “Perhaps you are toostupidto understand the role of a woman.”

As if I was not living it, not fighting against it.

He had advanced on me, and I had not realized it until I was a few feet behind where we had started our argument, the backs of my calves pressed against the velvet upholstery of the settee.

His face came closer to mine. His face, so like mine—our eyes the same hue, our cheekbones inherited from the same mother, the same complexion as our father—yet so twisted and distorted. I could feel his hot breath on my face as he loomed over me. And suddenly, his hands braced my shoulders, and he pushed me.

I suppressed a cry as I lost my balance and fell upon the couch, and before I knew it, he was leaning over me, one knee on the couch next to my leg. An instinctual part of me, deep in my chest, felt like an animal cornered, and I moved to lash out, to get him off of me. “Luc—” The shout died in my throat as he covered my lips with his hand, the other gripping one of my wrists so tightly I thought he may break it.

Our noses almost touched. I wrenched my head back as far as I could.

“Youwillmarry, if not to save your own reputation then to prevent the ruination ofmine,” he seethed. “Once you are another man’s problem, I don’t care what you do. You can continue to whore around and ruin yourself. But until then, youwillstay in line.”

With my free hand, I pulled his grip away from my mouth. “Go to hell.”

He laughed darkly, grabbing my face with both hands, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of my cheeks, my neck. His nails felt like talons, and I had the sudden thought that he was worse than any monster my mind could conjure.

“What makes you think that you have the power to say no? What makes you think that you can defyme?”

He pushed my head down roughly. I felt my brain rattle against my skull, gasping for air, like I was being suffocated, and he was sucking all the air out of the room.

“I have tolerated you enough. I should’ve sent you away all those years ago. Girls get sent away all the time to learn subordination. Maybe I should do it now, just so you can see what it’s like to disobey. Or maybe Wright will do it himself.”

As he spoke, spittle flew onto my cheek.

“You arenothing, Helena. That is the difference between you and me. This world is for me, for good men like your husband, andyouare only here to keep it going. To breed the next generation of men.” His eyes shone with frenzy, his face so close to mine I could taste his breath.

My blood boiled.

“Lucy knows it, Mother knows it, butyou’vebeen deluded into thinking you can do something different. That you are comparable tome.”

My hands were free, but I was too stunned to realize I should push him off of me.

What if someone barged in? Would a maidservant even bat an eye? Would Mother do much else than wag her finger at her son?

Hot tears lined my eyes, and it was only fuel for Lucas’s fire.

“There it is!” he cried as if I was proving him right. “This acting out, thishysteria—I should tell Wright to send you away so we can all be done with you.”

His hatred was like a brand, and I couldn’t stop the blurring of my vision, the gathering of tears in my lashes.