Sinful Possession (14 page)

Lila helped Ash sit up in bed and offered him a glass of
water. He took it and eyed her grumpily. Considering he was used to being
bedridden with his headaches, he was a terrible patient.

She held back a yawn. They’d
moved from the upper bedroom to one of the ones on the second floor. None of
his brothers had questioned her remaining with him, and she doubted they would
dare. As much as they tried to seem powerful and intimidating, they clearly
cared deeply for each other and wanted Ash to heal quickly. If that meant her
being at his side, they wouldn’t argue with that.

Unfortunately, Ash’s slowly
healing wound meant he didn’t sleep very well and neither did she. She was
looking forward to returning to London with him and setting up house properly
once he was fully healed. A note had been sent on to her family to assure them of
her safety, but there would be a lot of questions to field once she returned.

Lila sat on the chair beside
the bed and shared a smile with Ash. A few questions would be nothing compared
to what they’d been through.

“Julian says the police are
continuing the investigation into the murders but that the chief appeared to be
acting alone.” She shook her head. “He was a sick man.”

Ash snorted. “Sick and
soulless.”

“At least he cannot hurt
anyone again.”

“I regret that he killed
Westerling. I regret I wasn’t there to stop it.”

She nodded. “I am sorry that
man was killed. But if none of this had happened we might never have found out
who this killer was. He could have continued killing and have hurt you and your
brothers.” She leaned over and squeezed his hand. “And I would never have found
you.”

He grinned. “There is that.”
He shifted and winced. “Damn it, I can’t wait to be out of this bed and making
love—”

“You bastard!”

Lila snapped her head around
in the direction of the expletive to see her uncle, followed by several of her
aunts and cousins filling the room. She stood, hands out to prevent her uncle
from coming farther forward. Eyes wide, she took in the sight of what seemed
like her entire family filling the room.

“Uncle...” she warned.

“You bastard.” He jabbed a
finger at Ash, his round cheeks red and filled with rage. “You’ll pay for what
you’ve done.”

“Uncle, he saved my life. I
explained this in the letter.”

“We could have protected
you. Now you’re ruined.”

Lila took a step back,
unable to prevent a smile creeping across her face. She took Ash’s hand, and he
grinned back.

“No one could have protected
me like Ash did, Uncle,” she said calmly.

“You’ll have to make this
right, Cynfell,” he demanded. A ripple of agreement ran around the room. “You’ll
have to marry her.”

Lila looked to Ash and his
grin widened. Then he turned his attention to her family.

“Mr Radley, it would be an
honour and a pleasure to marry your niece. I accept.”

Her uncle’s eyes grew so
wide that she feared he might swoon. Her family erupted into conversation, but
Lila could hardly make out who was saying what. And she didn’t care. Perhaps
she hadn’t found her match as she’d intended. A background of murder and
intrigue had been far from what she’d expected. But she knew what they’d been
through had shown her the sort of man Ash Cynfell was far better than sharing a
dance at a ball.

She leaned over and kissed
him on the lips. “And I accept too.”

THE END

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About the Author

Samantha lives in a small village in England with her
twin girls and a Dachshund called Duke. She has been writing for a living for
over three years now and enjoys being able to use it as an excuse to wear
pyjamas during the day. While the heroes in her books are very much fictional,
she likes to draw inspiration from the history around her. Living near several
wonderful castles, she can never fail to be inspired.