The question startled Celia. She stared up at him, her lush bottom lip clenched between her teeth. “Perhaps my parents did not care to see me married to a cruel beast.”

“Who. Was. It?” Gabriel bit out in a voice that made men tremble in their boots upon hearing it. He was the most feared man in all of London’s underground, and yet the look in this girl’s eyes shifted from fear to stubbornness in a matter of seconds.

“You do not get to ask me that, my lord. Before I agreed to marry you, you said the past did not matter. It still does not matter. I will not tell you the name of the man because it will change nothing. You knew my secret. You knew I was not pure before you dragged me into Ravenswood’s chapel.”

“Celia, what I have discovered just now changes matters. I want the man’s name. Otherwise, I shall conduct my own search, and I won’t care who I hurt or kill in discovering his identity.”

Celia scooted up in the bed, unsuccessfully hiding a wince of pain. “You will not, my lord. You will abide by the terms of our agreement, or I shall petition the queen for an annulment.”

“Don’t be foolish,” Gabriel scowled.

“No. You are the one being foolish,” Celia snapped back, moving until she leaned against the bed’s headboard. “You are the new Marquess of Rosenthorne. You have a mountain to conquer in proving yourself worthy of the title. Will you jeopardize everything over a matter which cannot be altered or erased? Will you have others know I did not come to this marriage a virgin? More importantly, will you shame my family? My parents have no knowledge of what occurred to me, nor does my brother or anyone else for that matter. You are the only one to whom I’ve revealed my secret, and I only did so because… because…” Her fierce statement broke off in a choked sob.

“For what reason did you tell me, Celia?” Gabriel demanded. “Did you hope I would reject you? Did you tell me for the sole purpose of avoiding marriage to a bastard only to have your efforts fail?”

Celia’s eyes narrowed, even as a tear slipped down her cheek. “You are not a bastard, Gabriel. And I told you because I could not bear to witness your disappointment upon discovering your bride had already served another man’s pleasure.”

Gabriel’s jaw clenched. Heaven help him, but she was right. He had insisted it did not matter who she’d been with before him. It still did not matter, but the entire situation had become rather murky now. He wanted the name of the man who’d harmed her, and he wanted Celia to willingly provide it.

More than anything, he wanted her trust.

Celia’s jaw tilted as they stared at one another, and Gabriel growled with frustration. With quick, jerky motions, he tucked in his shirt. Forgoing the cravat, he shrugged into his dark burgundy-hued coat.