He took a deep breath to try to calm himself. She was pretending he wasn't there. She stood by the side of the bed, folding a gold-colored gown. Her satchel was open and nearly filled to the top.

"You might as well quit packing," he said, amazed that his voice sounded so forceful. "You aren't going anywhere."

Jade turned to confront him. She was determined to give him a piece of her mind before taking her leave, but when she caught his expression, her heart fell to her stomach and she couldn't remember any of the words she wanted to say to him.

He was so furious, the muscle in the side of his jaw flexed. She stared at it in fascination while she tried

to find her courage again.

"I'm never going to let you leave me, Jade," he said. "Never. Do you hear me?"

She thought everyone in the village was hearing him. Her ear rang from his roar. It took all her strength

to stand up to him. She slowly shook her head. "You called me a whore," she whispered.

The anguish in her voice got through to him. Some of his anger eased away. "No, I did not call you a whore."

"You thought it," she countered. "You were about to shout it to the world."

"I wasn't," he returned. "Jade, we have more important issues to discuss now."

She let out a gasp. "More important than calling me a whore?"

He moved away from the door and started toward her. She immediately backed up a space. "Don't

come near me. I never want you to touch me again."

"Then you're going to be damned miserable for the rest of your days, Jade. I'm going to be touching

you all the time."

"You don't really want me," she shouted. "You want the vulnerable, weak woman I pretended to be, Caine. You don't know the real me. No, you don't," she continued when he shook his head at her. "I'm really very strong, determined, too. I just pretended to need you, you daft man, so that you would feel honor bound to stay by my side. I used all the ploys a weak woman would use, too. Yes, I did! I complained at every opportunity, and I wept whenever I needed to get my way."

He grabbed hold of her and jerked her up against him. "I'm leaving," she cried out. "Can't you get that through your thick…"

"You're staying."

"I hate you," she whispered before she burst into tears.

He rested his chin on the top of her head. "No, you don't hate me," he whispered.

"I hate everything about you," she wailed between racking sobs. "But most of all I hate the way you contradict me."

"Jade?"

"What?"

"Are your tears a pretense now?"

She couldn't quit crying long enough to give him a clear answer. "They most certainly are," she stammered out. "I never, ever cry," she added a moment later. "Only weak women cry."

"But you're not weak, are you, love?" he asked. His smile was gentle, his voice as well, but his grip continued to be as strong as iron, even after she quit her struggle to get away from him.

He wanted to hold her in his arms for the rest of his days. "Jade?"

"What now?"

"I love you."

She didn't respond to his vow, but started trembling. He knew he was terrifying her. "You're the most confusing woman," he whispered on a sigh. "God help me, I do love you, though."

"I won't love you," she stammered out. "I don't even like you. I won't trust you either." She ended her

list of what she wouldn't do with a loud hiccup.

Caine wasn't the least upset by her denials. "I love you," he said again. "Now and forever."

He was content to hold her while she wept. Lord, she did have a store of tears locked inside her.

They must have stood there a full ten minutes before she was able to regain her composure.

She wiped her cheeks on the lapels of his jacket, then pulled away from him. "You'd better go back downstairs," she whispered.

"Not without you," he countered.

"No," she replied. "Nathan and Harry would know I'd been crying. I'm staying here."

"Jade, you can't put off…" He stopped in midsentence, then asked, "Why does it matter if they know you've been crying or not?"

"I wouldn't be what they expect me to be if I cried," she answered.

"Try to explain what you meant by that remark?" he asked gently.

She gave him a disgruntled look. "Appearances have to be kept up, Caine."

She walked over to the bed and sat down. "I don't want to talk about this." She let out a sigh, then

added, "Oh, very well. I'll meet you downstairs…"

He was shaking his head at her. "I'll wait for you."

"You don't trust me?"

"No."

He waited for her temper to explode. She surprised him, however, when she merely shrugged. "Good," she said. "Don't trust me, Caine. I'm going to leave at the first opportunity. I won't stay here and wait

for you to leave me. I'm not a fool."

He finally understood. She couldn't hide her fear or her vulnerability from him now. "And you're absolutely certain I would leave you, aren't you, Jade?"

"Of course."

She replied with such candor that he wasn't certain how to proceed. "Even though I've just told you that

I love you, you still…"

"Nathan and Harry love me, too," she interjected.

Caine gave up trying to reason with her now, guessing it would do his cause little good. He decided he'd have to wait and find another way around her shields.

Caine suddenly wanted to go downstairs and kill both Nathan and Harry. He sighed instead. He couldn't undo the past for her. No, he could only give her a secure, safe future.

"I would never abandon…" he stopped himself, then said, "Very well, Jade. You may leave me whenever you want."

Her eyes widened over that announcement. She looked like she was going to start weeping again, too. Caine felt like an ogre. "Any time you want to leave, do so."

She turned her gaze to her lap. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he drawled out. He walked over to her, pulled her to her feet, then tilted her head up. "Just one other little detail," he added.

"Yes?"