Too Dangerous to Desire Read Online Free PDF

it. Adam was armed. And he was strong. He was not the lean man he had been two years ago. The physical demands of monastic life had offered him an opportunity to build his strength. He was now as big as the duke. And he was a proficient assassin. He had spent the last year learning the art of death in preparation for this moment. There was nowhere for Damian to hide. No way for the duke to win the strife.
    “In memory of Tess , I’m going to take your place as the next Duke of Wembury and put an end to the dy nasty of misery you have wrought . . . or I was.” Adam looked at the glass balcony doors , at the woman rattling the knob in a desperate attempt to get back inside the room. And save the duke? “But I’ve changed my mind. I think there’s an even better way to make you pay for what you’ve done.”
    Adam lifted the gun and aimed it for the glass doors.
    The woman stumbled back in surprise.
    “No!”
    The duke pounced on his brother, and both men crashed to the ground with a tremendous thump.
    “You will not hurt her , Adam! She is as innocent as Tess. Your strife is with me!”
    Adam stopped struggling. It was true. He had not come to take an innocent life, but a guilty one.
    The pistol hit the rug with a muffled thud.
    “You’re right , ” said Adam.
    With one piercing stroke , he stabbed the duke.
    Damian gasped.
    “I think it’s time your wicked ways come to an end, brother.” Adam pushed the knife in deeper. “You’ve dis graced this family long enough.”
    The woman on the balcony screamed.
    Blood oozed over Adam’s fingers.
    The duke was on his knees. He grabbed Adam’s shoulders , but Adam shrugged off his brother’s grip and yanked the knife from his chest.
    Adam stood. He lifted the blade high above his head , ready to take another stab at the duke.
    But still Damian did not move. Prostrated at Adam’s feet , the duke looked like the lost boy Adam remem bered. The brother who had once cherished Adam in youth before their father had twisted his soul and made him a villain.
    Something snagged on Adam’s heart. A lost child hood memory. Two brothers sheltered together in the castle , in hiding from their cruel father , sharing boiled apples rolled in brown sugar and whispering about the adventures of Robinson Crusoe.
    Adam trembled. “Why won’t you fight me now?!”
    Damian gripped the gash in his chest , blood seeping between his fingers , and croaked , “Because I love you.”
    Those words . . . Damian had never said those words to him. He was a black devil ; he could not feel love , surely. He was a monster. He . . .
    Adam closed his eyes. The tears came. Fresh and briny drops that soaked his cheeks , his soul like balm.
    He dropped the blade. Grief overwhelmed him , pounded him. Grief for all he had lost : his wife . . . his brother.
    Adam sunk to his knees , opposite Damian , and brushed his fingers roughly through his hair , the need for blood slowly ebbing away.
    He suddenly grabbed Damian by the sides of the head and leaned in to whisper , “Why did it have to be like this?”
    Why?
    Why was Tess gone?
    Why was his brother his enemy?
    Adam pulled away from the wounded duke. A dis turbing truth settled in his belly. It was not his brother’s fault that Teresa had suffered a gruesome death—it was his. He had failed to save her from drowning.
    The woman on the balcony kicked her foot through the glass doors , desperate to reach the wounded duke. She would take care of Damian. She would try to heal him. Adam had no strength left. Unfounded rage had consumed him. All of him. There was nothing left.
    Adam picked up the knife and softly made his way to the bedroom door. His mother appeared , stunned. He touched her cheek. He had no words for her.
    He was a broken man.
    Evelyn breathed in the tart scent of lemon soap. She dipped the creamy bar into a bowl of water and rubbed it between her palms to work up a lather.
    She yearned to be clean, and scrubbed her cheeks with the sweet