Hearts compass, p.73
Heart's Compass, page 73
Okay, he’d shocked her with that answer, and from the smirk on his lips, he had known she had made her assumptions about his friend’s family. He gave her a wink and picked off a bit of his pastry and held it out to her mouth.
That was how they passed the rest of the time, him sharing his food with her while the children carried the conversation.
* * * *
All four of them were in the process of putting her kitchen back together when Cara and Elonne showed up. The air thickened with tension and Fyre hated it, for the children’s sake. Her brother had made his decision and she would get over that loss, but the children did not need to be exposed to such hate and anger.
“We need to go.” Elonne’s words were short and sharp.
It didn’t look like he had gotten any sleep, but she kept her thoughts to herself. She wasn’t responsible for his actions.
Making sure the children only saw her smiles, she hugged them all.
“When can we come see you again, Aunt Fyre?”
She cupped Elonne II’s face. “Soon. I know it has been a while but I will do better about spending time with the lot of you. I miss you all so much.”
He hugged her once more. Making sure they had their things, she waved as they rode away in the back of the wagon that her brother used to go back and forth to the fields he worked, picking up a lot of the workers on the way so they didn’t get exhausted on the longer walk.
As the wagon went out of view, Phillip slid his arm around her, tucking her close. She didn’t fight him on it, just allowed the embrace. He turned her into his chest and rested his chin on her head.
“You cannot just show up early in the morning, my lord. It is not proper.”
“Why not? I missed you and I thought you would like to know what we found out last night.”
He was right about that. She pulled back and went to make them drinks as he sat at the table. She wanted to change clothes but figured he had seen her in this old dress before anyway.
Once the tea was ready, she placed his cup before him, and he held on to her wrist when she went to move back.
“Yes?”
He cupped her cheek with his right hand. “Good morning, Fyre.”
The heat in his gaze melted her resistance. Their lips met and she whimpered as their tongues twined.
“Hi,” she muttered when it ended.
He stroked her skin, encouraging her to get closer. She would have been fine with crawling into his lap and going from there, but she refrained. Somehow.
When she took her seat, he pulled her closer to him and turned so her legs were between his.
“What?” he said when she’d watched him for a while.
“The way you look at me.” Her words were soft.
“How do I look at you, Fyre? Like you are my everything? My world? Because you are.”
Mr. Caulfield’s words echoed in her mind, their grip unrelenting and deep, about how she wasn’t special and this man before her was using her.
Phillip’s words… They were a dream she’d never thought she would hear directed at her. She wanted to believe him so much her heart actually ached.
Especially at the thought of never hearing this man say anything similar again.
Phillip found a way to inch closer to her, surrounding her with his rich scent she loved having around her. “What is going on in your head, baby? Talk to me.”
“Why are you doing this?”
He pulled back slightly and she struggled not to reach out, clasp his shirt and yank him closer once more. All she wanted to do was snuggle up into him.
“What is the ‘this’ you are talking about?”
“Pretending you want to marry me? Are you trying to get the Blacks on the island to trust you more? I am not the best person to do that with, they already think I am different because of my illness, scars, and love of numbers.”
Thunder grew in his gaze but he didn’t say a word. Just watched her.
She forged ahead. “I see you in town, you know. When you come in. Miss Asherford is always near you, no, not right beside but near your vicinity, and you invited her to the party. Yet she isn’t a business owner, or married to one.”
“Finished?”
One word, cold and clipped.
No, she wasn’t.
“No, but if you want to speak, you are the earl. I am nothing in comparison.”
“Stop it,” he snapped. “Right now, Fyre. What the fuck are you talking about and what brought this on?”
“Mr. Caulfield said—”
He reared back, chair skidding as he shoved away from her. “Mr. Caulfield? You are fucking listening to anything Caulfield says? Why? You know he wants you in his bed and will do anything, say anything, to drive a wedge between us.”
Tears of frustration and fear lined her eyes and fought to escape. She blinked them back, furious at their determination to be free.
“I have known him most of my life.”
“And because I am the outsider, his words suddenly hold more sway than my actions to you since we met?”
“I see her,” she cried. “How she pushed against you. Touched you. She even sat by you at the meals. That is what you should have as your wife. Your countess.”
He righted her chair but didn’t sit again, instead he paced. Back and forth, shoving a hand through his hair.
“If I wanted Miss Asherford as my countess I would have pursued her. I do not want her and I will never want her.” He slammed his hands on the table and she squeaked as she jumped from the loud noise. “Why are you shoving me to another woman? I want to be with you, Fyre.”
“You do not see this from my position.”
“I think I do.”
The anger in his words pushed her and she snapped her gaze to his. “Do you? Really?” She rose and put her hands on the table as well, squaring off with him. “You know what it is like to still have to worry they will burst into your home at night and take you away to wake in chains? Or hanging from a tree? You know what it is like to go into a house to work with you or do other things, knowing full well that women and men were held captive there, they were slaves and had no say in what happened to them or their families? Do you know what it is like to be ostracized from your own people because you are too weak to work in the fields and help bring in money that way, but to thrive in something that is typically a man’s domain? And do you know what it is like to have the richest man on this island ply you with attention, steal your heart and make you fucking scared to breathe because you worry one morning you will wake up and it will have been nothing but a memory?”
He stared at her.
“Because I do!”
“I did not know where I live was such a sore spot for you, Fyre. I do not see a slave when I look at you. I see the woman I will do anything to fucking protect. That is why I paid off your brother’s debts and put the money back into your account, because you should not have to take care of him at the expense of your own security.”
“You did what?” Her voice hit a high note.
“I want to take care of you, Fyre. I want to buy you things, take you on trips. See the world with you at my side.”
“You had no right to interfere in that.”
“Yes, I did. You are my fiancée and I will do as I see fit to keep you safe.”
“I doubt I was even your fiancée when you did that.”
“Not officially, perhaps.”
Her heart tripped. “What does that mean?”
“That I knew I wanted to marry you from when we met. I saw you working in the store and my heart was yours.”
“How do I know this is not just a way to get my people to see you in a better light?”
“You do not think that of me, Fyre. I refuse to believe you do. For whatever reason you are allowing that bastard Caulfield’s words to have meaning. In turn doing exactly what he wants them to do. Split us apart.” He walked to the door and out. He didn’t slam the door but closed it with a final click that shattered her remaining composure.
She sank to the floor, the tears having escaped, and sobbed at the loss of everything.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Anger pumped through Phillip as he made his way through town to Caulfield’s shop. He hadn’t seen Fyre since this morning but his rage hadn’t lessened. Not in the slightest. Taking two deep breaths before he walked in was the best he could do.
There was no one in the front and he didn’t even slow, just marched through to the door leading into the back. Tossing the door open, he paused as he watched Miss Asherford on her knees sucking Caulfield’s cock, her breasts hanging out of her shift, red lines over them, indicating they had been caned or something like that.
Caulfield blanched, a feat for a man who seemed allergic to the sun, and gulped. “What the hell are you doing, my lord? This is a private room.”
“I do not give a fuck who you are sticking your dick into as long as you stay away from my fiancée. And stop trying to fill her head with lies.”
The grin on Caulfield’s face was diabolical. Caulfield pumped his lean hips, driving his cock all the way into the woman’s face, his fisted hand holding her there as she choked and sputtered around him, but he didn’t allow her to move back.
“I only told her the truth. You want the access she gives you to the Blacks on the island.”
Did it matter that duels were outlawed in England? Phillip didn’t give a fuck.
“I want Fyre because I love her and she will make me a perfect countess. The fact it accomplishes you do not get her makes it all the more pleasing for me.”
A gasp came from behind him. He whipped around to see Fyre standing there, eyes wide as they looked at him then moved to the sight of Caulfield and Miss Asherford, whose face was turning a fiery shade of red.
“Fyre.”
“Leave me alone,” she snapped. “Both of you.” She stepped away from his touch. “And for Christ’s sake, Mr. Caulfield, let her breathe.” Fyre bolted.
Phillip turned and went after her but damn, she was lightning-fast. When he reached the front door, she was gone. Nowhere in sight. The heat of the day blistered down and he didn’t even see puffs of dust indicating where she had headed.
“Fire! Fire! The fields are burning!”
The chilling cry reached him and he was moving to his horse right away. He rode toward the cries and found a smaller farm on the other side of the town from his property had a burning field.
He hopped off his mount and jumped in to help try to save what they could. As he got into the motion of the shoveling, he thought about Fyre’s concerns and realized she’d had a valid point. Something he hadn’t even considered.
Where he lived held some harsh memories for a lot of the people on the island. And she was an anomaly, an amazing one, but for a woman doing the work she did, again, he’d looked beyond what doing those things would be like for her.
Christ, he was an idiot.
Add into that a sneaky bastard dropping these lines in her ear about how he was just trying to build up his empire no matter the cost. Apparently that could mean sleeping with her while he was supposed to want a woman like Miss Asherford.
And while that couldn’t be further from the truth, he couldn’t deny how Fyre could see things. He had some damage control to take care of, after this.
* * * *
It wasn’t until later in the afternoon, when they were good with the containment of the blaze, that he stopped working with those who’d come help fight the fire. It was Mr. Colton, a Black man who he had not had at his party but realized he needed to include in the alliance. This island could be a force to be reckoned with if they worked together. Accepting the ladle of water offered, Phillip thought about how he was going to do another gathering, with everyone this time.
“Thank you, my lord.”
“Glad we got it stopped and you are welcome. When you have some time next week, I would love the chance to speak with you about your farm.”
“I am not selling, my lord. I know there was a fire, but this is all my family has.”
He understood the mistrust. “I am not looking to buy you out, Mr. Colton. I want to discuss with you what I have talked to others about. Choice is yours of course. I have to get home. Let me know if you need anything.”
Phillip found his horse had been looked after as well. He swung up into the saddle and wiped off his forehead before he touched his heels to his gelding and moved out.
As he reached town again, he saw James bent at the waist, sucking in air.
“James?”
“My lord.” He gestured around. “Bad. Very bad.”
Phillip looked around and shrugged, not quite sure what James was talking about. Off in the distance, he saw dark clouds gathering, but the rain was too far away to be of use in dousing the heat they were suffering from.
“Are you okay, James?”
“Yes, my lord. I will be. Running messages.”
“What kind of messages?”
He shrugged. “Not sure. I do not read them, I just run them.”
“Who are you running them for?”
“Mr. Olden.”
Shifting in the saddle, Phillip didn’t look in the direction of the man’s sweet shop. “To whom?”
“A shack. I do not know who. I leave them and pick up the message that is waiting.”
Alarm bells rang in his head.
“Where is the shack?”
James’ description of the location was close to where he had been and he figured it may be the same place. Digging in his pocket, he pulled out some coins and tossed them to the boy. “Get a drink.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
He didn’t move until the boy had headed off again. Around him wind swirled, reminding him that it was still hot and dry out.
With a groan and an exhausted body, he nudged his mount toward home. Even so, he still swung by Fyre’s, needing to see her and talk to her again. He had to explain his comment at Caulfield’s to her. But the place was empty, no sign of her at all.
Phillip frowned as the acrid scent of smoke reached his nose on the winds that had been steadily increasing. While there were storm clouds in view, there were all out to sea.
It was dry and crops were suffering. So were the people. His horse snorted and sidestepped.
Without much conscious thought, he brought his mount back under control. He gazed around, unease skipping up his spine.
Something was wrong.
Setting his heels to his gelding, he thundered up the road, and realized as he got closer to Hawk’s Cove that the smoke grew infinitely worse.
Keating stood on the porch, issuing orders to all as people worried about.
Phillip jumped off before his horse had fully stopped. “Keating?”
“Crops are burning, my lord. The men are doing what they can but…”
Phillip bit his lower lip, not at all pleased with this. “Where is Fyre?”
Keating shook his head. “We’ve not seen her all day, since she stopped by after you.” He pointed a maid in a direction. “She was not here long, then left.”
His gut rolled. “Find her. I am going to the fields.”
“My lord.”
He shook his head, refusing to budge the slightest bit on this. “Keating. Find her. She is my everything. Make sure everyone is ready to leave if the wind shifts. Everyone.”
“My lord, she will not listen to me.” A wave of shame crossed his features. “She does not trust me.”
Possessiveness hit him but he had no time for postulating. “Are you one of those betraying me?”
Keating looked positively disgusted by the possibility. “Absolutely not, my lord.”
“Then find her. I have to help the men. Keep her safe.” With that, he swung back into the saddle.
He leaned forward over the horse’s muscular neck, urging the creature onward. Men ran, sweating and hauling water as fast as they could. Some were digging. It was organized chaos. Same as before, he was off before the horse fully stopped. Philip tossed the reins to Amand, one of his workers, and strode toward Everett, the man who oversaw the workers.
“Where do you need me?”
Everett finished speaking with another and wiped the sweat from his face, smearing the soot on his dark skin.
“We are losing the far field.” A coughing spell for a moment before he got himself back under control. “I pulled the men to try and save the other field. It was my choice not—”
“I put you in charge because I trust you.” Phillip realized these words were true. These people were becoming his family. “You would not let it burn for no reason. Are we sure everyone is out of that area?”
Everett nodded. “I sent Otis to double-check.”
“Good. Now, where do you want me?” Everett had a horrified expression on his face. “You know better than I, Everett. I just arrived. You have doled out resources. That is what I am. A resource. Use me.”
A moment’s pause.
“There.” He pointed off to the left. “Bernie is heading the trench digging. We hope to stop the flames from jumping.”
“Got it.”
Long strides took him there and he skimmed the area for Bernie, heading to him the moment he located him.
Sooner rather than later he was once again drenched in sweat as he worked beside his men, and this time the land they fought to save was his own.
* * * *
It hurt to breathe.
Fyre tried to gather some moisture in her mouth but she wasn’t able to do so. And she couldn’t call out for she had been gagged. She struggled, but that didn’t do anything for her.
How the hell did she get here? Why was she stuck out in one of the fields? God, her mind was so muddled. Her head ached and her mouth was dry. Sure, the scratchy burlap shoved in her mouth wasn’t helping any. The last thing she remembered was leaving Phillip after overhearing him and Mr. Caulfield.
God, had she gone from one hellish situation directly into another? Considering her plight… Yes, the answer would most definitely be yes.
Someone walked up beside her, she could hear the crunching of their boots against the ground. The covering on her eyes was removed and she blinked to take in Cara standing over her.
