Prince of Dreams (Stokehurst #2)(31)

Nikolas watched him in the appalled silence that followed, knowing that of all the suffering Stokehurst had endured in his life, this blow was the hardest to take. Almost, Nikolas was tempted to feel a flicker of sympathy for the man. But life was full of unfairness. He himself had experienced a lion's share of it. “As I said, you have no choice,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Why are you doing this?” Stokehurst asked through his teeth. “Do you intend to use Emma as some sort of bargaining chip later on? Are you marrying her as revenge for something I've done?”

Nikolas laughed shortly and spread his hands wide in a gesture of openness. “I'm doing this for a simple reason. I want her. Dah sveedáhneeya, Stokehurst. Please inform your daughter I'll be calling on her in a few days.” He left the room without another word, satisfied that at last he would get his way.

Emma sat with Tasia in a nearby parlor, both of them occupying gilt chairs upholstered in slick rose damask. Tasia had been calm so far, but Emma could tell that her stepmother was desperately worried. She felt guilty about causing Tasia such distress, but it couldn't be helped. She would marry Nikolas, and eventually Tasia would agree that it had been the best decision.

“…I'm certain Nikolas must seem like a very romantic figure,” Tasia was saying. “He's experienced with women. He has a way of making them feel so desirable that they decide to trust him in spite of their better judgment. But he's not worthy of anyone's trust, Emma. Nikolas is a dangerous man. You don't know about the horrible things he has done, the things he's capable of—”

“Don't tell me,” Emma said abruptly. “There's no point. It's too late to change what's already been done.”

“What's already…” Tasia blanched. “Oh, Emma,” she faltered, “you haven't let him…you haven't…”

Emma's gaze lowered. “That's not important.” She didn't look up, even when she heard Tasia's swift intake of breath. “The fact is, I want to marry Nikolas. I want my own life. Whatever I'll have with him will be more than I've got now.”

“Don't be so certain. You've been accustomed to living with people who love you, and that's not something to take for granted. You're right—it doesn't matter if you slept with him. We'll never tell anyone. The important thing is to protect you, take you away—”

“I'm not going anywhere—”

“Let me speak,” Tasia said with such unusual sharpness that Emma quieted. “Nikolas is a different kind of man from any you've ever known. He'll betray you in a hundred ways without ever stopping to think about it. Everything he does is for his own pleasure, his own needs.” Tasia took Emma's hand and held it tightly. “Nikolas wasn't exiled from Russia because of treason, Emma. He killed a man in cold blood. And when he was questioned by the government officials and tortured to the point of death, I believe he lost the last part of his soul. No one can help him. Some things are damaged beyond anyone's ability to repair.”

Emma shrugged uncomfortably. “I know about the man he killed. I don't care what Nikolas has done in the past. I'm going to marry him.”

Tears sparkled in Tasia's eyes. “Please don't go through with this. You don't have to throw away all chance of happiness when you're still so young, when you have so much to give—”

Emma pulled her hand away. “I don't want to talk anymore. I've made my decision.”

Tasia's pale eyes were so intense that Emma almost flinched from their brightness. “You're doing this to punish Luke, aren't you? You want to pay him back for keeping you apart from Adam. But you'll end up hurting yourself more than anyone else.”

Emma hardened her jaw. “Papa made a mistake about Adam.”

“What if he did? Oh, Emma, you have so much to learn about forgiveness. Only the young can afford to feel so betrayed, so self-righteous, when their parents make mistakes. What if your father was wrong? Can you claim that you've never hurt or wronged him?”

“I never denied Papa someone he loved. I never took away the one person who would make him truly happy.”

“By removing yourself from his life, that's exactly what you will be doing. If you don't know how necessary you are to his happiness, then you don't understand anything about him.”

“All Papa needs is you, Tasia. Everyone knows that.”

Shock crossed her stepmother's face. “You know that's not true! Emma, what in heaven's name has happened to you?” At Emma's mulish silence, Tasia shook her head and sighed deeply. “We'll talk again later, when we've both had a chance to think.”

“I won't change my mind,” Emma said defiantly, watching Tasia walk out of the room.

Tasia returned to the library and saw that Nikolas had left. Her husband was standing at the window, staring out at the bright summer day. Sensing her presence, Luke spoke in a voice stripped of emotion. “He said I couldn't stop the marriage without losing her. He was right. If I don't allow it, they'll elope.”

“What if you send her away for a while?” Tasia suggested. “Perhaps she might stay with your sister in Scotland. Or your mother could take her on a tour abroad—”