Read Brenda Joyce - [Francesca Cahill 05] for Free Online Page A

look.
I intend to make you my wife
.
    Francesca realized she was filled with a new and rigid tension now. It was hard to be reassuring when she herself was not reassured. “It doesn’t matter what Julia wants, or what Hart wants.” She forced her tone to be light just as she forced Hart’s dark, sardonic image away—no easy task. “Remember? I gave my heart to you—forever.” Her tone was odd and she cleared it. Hart now loomed between them as Leigh Anne had done so recently. “No matter what happens, Bragg, no matter what happens, even with Leigh Anne, you will always have my heart,” she whispered, meaning her every word. “And I will support you in your quest for reform forever, Bragg. In whatever way I must.”
    Their gazes locked. Bragg finally tore his gaze away, gripping the steering wheel, his hands gloved. She felt certain that his knuckles were white. “You make this very difficult,” he finally said. “I do not deserve such loyalty. Francesca, I have been thinking about you all night, even with the new murder on our hands. Until I have resolved my marital affairs, I will be the best friend that you have ever had, but I will not, ever, lose control as I did the other night.”
    His words somehow hurt. They signaled the end of romance and the beginning of a new road that they must somehow travel. She was very, very grateful that they had not consummated their love before Leigh Anne’s arrival in the city—and his control had been far greater than her own. “It was my fault,” she said truthfully. “I threw myself at you.”
    He did not rebut. “It is over with, and not too much harm was done,” he said, glancing sidelong at her, as if he regretted the encounter, too.
    And how could she not? She shifted uncomfortably. She felt guilty for that interlude, as well as ashamed. Calder Hart instantly intruded upon her thoughts again, his impossibly dark and handsome face mocking her, them.
There will not be any happy endings, my dear. You may trust me on that
.
    Francesca certainly believed him now. But he had warned her for some time that the love she felt for his brother would soon blow up in her face. She had refused to heed his warnings.
    It is Bragg you want for a husband, but it is me that you want in your bed
.
    She felt her cheeks’ heat flame. She wished, desperately, that she could forget Hart’s damnable words. And this was certainly not the time to recall that particularly arrogant statement.
    “The last thing I wish for you to do is become martyr over my cause,” Bragg said firmly, cutting into her dismal thoughts.
    Francesca managed to jerk herself solidly back to the present. “I am hardly a martyr, Bragg.” She rubbed her temples.
    “Are you all right?” he asked quickly.
    “I’m fine,” she lied.
    Francesca let him open her car door for her and assist her to her feet. They started slowly up the walk. At the door, he paused, finally taking her gloved hands in his. Her heart tightened.
    “Francesca, my personal future is now hard to predict. I’ve said this before—I would never ask you to wait for me.And I’ve said this before as well—stay away from Hart. He will break your heart if you do not.”
    Francesca stiffened impossibly, tugging free. “We are only friends,” she said. “As I have said before, his friendship is very important to me, no matter how insufferable he can be.”
    “He is pursuing you,” Bragg said, his eyes suddenly flashing. “It is so terribly obvious! And I know he would love nothing more than to steal you away from me.”
    “You are so wrong. That is the one thing he would never do, not out of malice or envy or lust,” Francesca said. She knew Hart would never take his rivalry with Bragg so far. He would never use her to get at Bragg. Nor did she add,
I am not yours, so how can he steal me away
?
    Bragg stared. “Anyone but Hart, Francesca. Should you come to me and tell me that you were in love with Mr. Wiley, I would give you my