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Her breath caught A figure appeared in aon the second floor She couldn’t make out any features, just a dark silhouette Still, he could probably see her in sunlit detail Serena forced her lips to curve into a smile

The Wolf of Clermont raised his hand

Before she could lose her nerve, Serena esture He stood at the , stock-still, before turning away

She received his note not twoBut there were only tords on the paper

Marry ling to make sense of it all He’d threatened her sister He’d threatened her well-being But this…this was, perhaps, thethat he’d said

It reminded her of the foolish, inexplicable sense of security that she felt in his presence, of the sense of attraction that pulsed between them Those words took her most vulnerable self and made a mockery of her desires

But then, she would not be cowed She would not be vulnerable Her child’s future was at stake, and no matter eapon Mr Marshall leveled at her, she would not flinch

Serena raised her chin, and scrawled her response

I ondering when you would start threatening ratulations, Mr Marshall I ahtened

Chapter Five

IT WAS LONG PAST DARK by the ti tunelessly

He shouldn’t have felt so ridiculously pleased with hi to do about Miss Barton Still, by the time she’d bested him--for the third time!--with that snipe about fates worse than death, he’d had an enorh the hours that passed, not even though he’d needed to stay long past his usual ti onto the street, tapping his walking stick against the ground in a happy rhyth on the bench

He’d not seen her in the dark froone If he’d known she was still present… No He wasn’t sure what he would have done, if he’d known she aiting in the dark where any blackguard ht prey upon her He crossed the street slowly

"Miss Barton?" he asked, his voice low and threatening "What are you still doing here?"

She stood at his approach Her face was gri to speak to you"

"Me?" He took another step toward her "Why?"

He couldn’t see her expression The street la her face into shadow She started toward hiood bit shorter than he was The fabric of her skirts rustled in the darkness Her strides were sure and confident; her kiss would be as certain His skin prickled in anticipation as she ca distance

Before he had a chance to think, she ht her hand before she could do it again "Never hit a man with a closed fist," he told her

He could feel her pulse

"Why? Because it gives you an excuse to o "Slap his face instead"