Page 61 of Bad Duke

“What's wrong?” I shift myself into a more comfortable position on the floor.

“It’s Lewis.” She sighs. “Rachel called me last night because she was concerned for you.”

“For me?” I’m surprised that I have anything to do with this. I haven’t seen Lewis since the day Alex made him apologise to me.

“She said he’d left his glasses behind after rehearsals, and she was driving past his place so she thought she’d drop them into him. When she did, she noticed something.” Harriet picks her little girl up and lifts her onto her shoulder.

“What did she notice?” She’s got me intrigued now.

“Maybe it’s nothing, but after all he said about the work party, it just doesn’t sit right.” Harriet looks worried.

“What did she see?” I repeat, starting to worry myself.

“There was a picture in the hall of the two of you together, she recognised it as the one that was taken the night your little ones did that Nutcracker production he directed last Christmas.”

“And that's strange why?” I laugh at her, clearly, motherhood has made her paranoid.

“Because the photo had been cropped, the kids were cut out, and it was made to look like one of just the two of you.”

“That is strange.” Unease stirs in my chest as I try to come up with a reason why he would have done that.

“That's not all.” She takes another deep breath.

“He’s been calling me, asking me how you are. It used to be once a week, conveniently after we’d met. He made it sound like he was sorry for what he did, and that he was worried about you. But now, it’s every day. He’s obsessed with you, Olivia,” she warns me.

“Quiet,” I whisper, making sure Alex’s guard doesn’t hear her. She has no idea what my husband is capable of, all she sees when she comes here is the Duke of Hatherly, a playboy who settled down when he got his title. She doesn’t know there's another side to him. I can’t risk him finding this out about Lewis, he’d kill him this time for sure.

“Aren’t you freaked out? ‘Cause I am.” Harriet whispers.

“Of course I’m freaked out, but come on, this is Lewis, he’s weird and he’s a liar but he’s harmless.”

“Olivia, he lives with his mother, she will be seeing that photograph every day in her hall. Is that normal?”

“It’s just a photo.” I play it down, maybe we’re all overreacting to this.

“Displayed in their hallway as if the two of you are together, add that to the lie he told at Christmas and the phone calls I'm getting…”

“Okay it's weird,” I admit not wanting to think about it anymore. “ but I’m safe here, Alex has round-the-clock security and there is no way Lewis can hurt me. Block his number. Don’t speak to him anymore. But Alex can’t know about this, not right now, it’s only been a few weeks since he found out about his mum and this would send him crazy,” I remind her.

“I get that, and it must be hard for him, but you're my friend and I care about you. Lewis may seem harmless but you can never be too careful.”

“Well, careful, is all I can be these days.” I glance over my shoulder at the guard who’s standing by the front door hoping that it’s enough to assure her.

ALEX

TWO WEEKS LATER

“So, you still have no idea who this Fox person is?” Marina looks up at me as if I’m inadequate after she’s finished going through all the stuff I found at Nicolas’s cottage. I told her weeks ago about what was happening, but I haven’t shared this with anyone yet. I’ve been obsessing over it. I need someone with a logical brain, who doesn’t start to get palpitations whenever they think this through, to figure out what I’m missing.

“If I did I wouldn’t be here talking to you. And Fox wouldn’t be a problem anymore,” I assure her. Olivia is just eight weeks away from having our baby. This should be a happy time for both of us. She’s starting to pick up on my tension and it’s not good for her.

“Well, whoever it is, is clearly someone with a link to Nicolas. Did you check his phone records?”

“All clean.” I take the whisky she passes me, not caring that it’s my third. I’ll call Will and ask him to pick me up. I’d rather my staff stay at the house where Olivia is.

“I have to admit Alex, you're losing your touch, you could have tortured all this information out of Nicolas before you killed him.” She retakes her seat.

“If I’d found this before I killed him I would have.” I shake my head.

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