"How dare that ruffian!" Selina spat through clenched teeth, her shoes striking the pavement with fury as she stormed ahead. Her fury simmered beneath every step, each word laced with venom as she marched beside Edward, nostrils flaring.
"Selina, you need to breathe. Don't let him get under your skin," Edward offered, his voice even but cautious like a man walking a tightrope over fire.
"Easy for you to say!" she snapped, not sparing him even a sideways glance. "Did you not witness the way that vermin taunted me?! By the LORD's, if Fiona hadn't been standing there, I would've ripped that arrogant mongrel to shreds!"
To Selina, Aldrich was less than nothing, a stain on the fabric of nobility. A man with neither the pedigree nor the prestige to justify the gall he displayed. The very notion that he had the audacity to speak to her not only without reverence but with mockery was, in her eyes, a travesty of cosmic proportions.
And in her mind, Fiona bore the blame.
