Page 14 of Keeper of Secrets

The possibility wasn’t ideal.In fact, it was the opposite of what he’d sworn he’d wanted, but even Rome had had to fall eventually.Considering the situation in which he found himself…

“There’s no need to involve the king.”

One of Mildred’s brows rose as she assessed him.Chloe sat with her arms wrapped about herself.

“You’re certain?”Mildred asked, her head cocking to the side.

He didn’t dignify the question with a response.“Aunt Mildred, Chloe and I need to have a word.”

Mildred’s eyes flashed with indecision as she looked down at her new charge.It was Chloe who answered.“It’s all right.”

Mildred paused for a moment longer before she gave a quick nod and then turned toward the door.“I shall be just across the hall in the dining room should you need me.”She turned to go, her skirts swishing about her legs as she made her way to the door.But just before she left, she stopped and gave him a narrow-eyed glare over her shoulder before she finally disappeared.

Silence fell as he crossed to the mantel, staring into the flames of the fire.

“Your Grace?”Chloe finally whispered, breaking the silence.

He looked back at her then.Scared, vulnerable, alone.A little country mouse.Didn’t she know, she’d entered the lair of a predator?

“We are going to wed.”

“Oh,” she gasped, her eyes widening.

He straightened up.His chest broadened as he drew in a deep breath.“But if I’m going to make you my duchess, we need to make a few points clear.”

“Points?”

“I don’t intend to go public with our marriage right away.I’ll need time…” If he played this right, he could pacify his aunt and the King without changing his life.

Chloe struck him as the sort of woman he would be able to control.To dictate the terms.It would be his aunt who might be problematic with the arrangement he had in mind.

“I see?”Her brow furrowed, her teeth nipping at her bottom lip.

“Don’t worry.You’ll be well cared for financially.I’ll see to your every need from here on out.”

Desire coursed through him at the idea of meeting one need in particular, but he tamped down the thought.There was no room for it here.Now.

Her features relaxed, her shoulders slumping.“That is a relief.”

“I won’t require much from you in return.Your cooperation, of course.”

Chloe nodded, her hesitation evident, in the quaver of her chin.“Of course.”

He would quietly tell the King he’d wed.His aunt should be happy with the match.But to the rest of the world, he’d remain as he’d always been for as long as he could.

“Is there anything else you require?”Chloe asked, her trembling hands clasping in front of her.

“Such as?”

She shook her head, the soft strands of her blonde hair catching the morning sun.His eyes followed the movement and then slid down the delicate column of her neck.

Her mouth opened and then closed.“When do you think we would tell others we’d wed?”

Did she want a timeline?That wasn’t likely to happen.“When I see fit.”

Her head cocked to the side as she stared up at him.“But what if I become pregnant?Surely then…”

His jaw clenched as he stared down at her.He didn’t even want a wife.He most certainly didn’t wish for a child.He knew what everyone else in the world expected from a duke, but that was their problem.He’d not create an heir.There would be no exception.“You won’t become pregnant.”

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