A Forbidden Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

need for such a large bed. And she suddenly remembered that she was lying in his large bed.
    She couldn’t stay here. Her life was no longer in peril, so there was no need to hide. If what Anthony said was true, then her attackers had no idea where she was, and that meant it was safe for her to return to her caravan. There was no trail left for the mongrels to follow and therefore no risk to her family’s well-being. Her only concern over the last few days was that her relentless aggressors would uncover her camp and harm, even kill, some of her people in order to capture her. Knowing her fellow gypsies would band together to protect her, she wasn’t willing to jeopardize anyone’s life. It’s why she’d left so abruptly, without a whisper of her intentions to anyone.
    She knew her absence would cause her people much grief. How could it not? But she also knew her disappearance was the only reasonable choice. The men chasing after her were determined to find her, whatever the means. They had already proven that. Persistent as a pack of hounds, they’d not given up their pursuit of her in days, and would likely still be nipping at her heels had Anthony not interfered.
    That brought another question to mind. Why had Anthony come to her aid? A man of his rank bothering to interfere on behalf of a gypsy? She’d never had a gajo’s help before and didn’t know what to make of the situation. From what she could remember, her attackers had been armed, and Anthony must have seen their swords as clearly as she had. Then why risk his welfare? He claimed it his duty, but Sabrina wasn’t so convinced, which left her all the more mystified.
    “I have to go home,” she said again, her voice weak, and pressed the sheets to her chest once more, trying to sit up. “My family will be worried.”
    But he nudged her back against the cushions. “You are in no condition to travel.”
    Too lethargic to struggle, she didn’t protest, and tried instead to subdue the throbbing spasms in her head by remaining perfectly still.
    A light rap at the door diverted both their attentions.
    Sabrina’s eyes widened at the knocking intruder, but a reassuring gesture from Anthony put her skittish nerves at ease.
    “Don’t fret,” he said. “It’s only my sister, Ashley. She’s here to help with your recovery.”
    Another caring soul? Sabrina found it difficult to believe in such kindness, especially coming from a pair of aristocrats, and as profound an instinct to run as she had, she was just too sore and dizzy to move.
    Anthony left her side to unlock the door.
    The gaji hastened into the chamber, a large ceramic bowl, crammed to the brim with supplies, nestled between her hands.
    “Anthony, I hope you realize how difficult it was to amass all this with no one the wiser, especially with so many bustling bodies below.”
    “I appreciate this, Ash.” Bolting the door behind her, he instructed, “Set everything on the desk.”
    The lady did as directed and began to arrange the articles on the table: a cloth, a bottle of liquor, small vials, a spoon.
    Sabrina focused on the emerging ingredients, wondering what the duo were brewing.
    When Anthony casually informed his sister that the patient was awake, Ashley whisked her head over her shoulder to stare at the bemused invalid, and Sabrina couldn’t help but notice how very much she resembled her brother, with that same ash-blond hair and those same deep green eyes. The woman was by no means as tall as her sibling, but she wasn’t short by any standards either, reaching a few inches past Anthony’s shoulders. She wore a pale peach frock, the waistline circling just under her breasts, and her hair was tucked beneath a ruffled white cap, a few carefully positioned curls draped by her ears.
    “How do you feel?” inquired Ashley.
    Sabrina remained quiet. Those weren’t the words she’d been prepared to hear. Rather, get out of this house! rang more sensible to her ears.
    To curtail the