Page 32 of Keeper of Secrets

Crossing the room, she twisted the knob but it hardly budged.Then she pulled.Nothing.Letting out a cry, she pulled again, finally raising her fist and banging on the door.“Ryker!”

No response.She hit the door again.He’d not seriously closed her into this room?“Ryker!”she called again.“Let me out!You can’t trap me in a room!”

Still nothing.And then she heard it.The sound of carriage wheels.Crossing to her front window, she watched as his carriage rolled away out into the night.Disbelief and anger rolled over her, her hand coming to her mouth.

He was going to bed a widow tonight and no one knew better than Chloe just how persuasive he could be.She let out a soft sob, her hand coming to her mouth.

Her plan with Caroline had been simple.The other woman would keep an eye on Ryker, Chloe herself being too obvious.Then, when he chose a woman, they’d follow him, calling him out.

But that plan had gone to hell the moment he’d stepped into her room and realized she was going out.

She pressed her hand to her forehead, her eyes closing.She couldn’t marry Ryker.She knew that now.

Despite the security he offered and the attraction she felt, or maybe because of it, she could not be literally and figuratively locked away while he did as he pleased.

It would break her heart.

Lifting her head from her hands, she crossed to the bed and holding onto the bedpost, she sunk into the soft mattress, resting her face on the cool wood of the post.Her eyes fluttered closed.

What a fool she’d been to kiss Ryker that first night.

What a fool to allow her heart to become attached.She shook her head, feeling the buttery soft wood slide against her cheek.

Would Mildred support her after this?Would Caroline help her find one of those merchants she’d mentioned?

A rattling at the door pulled her from her thoughts.She lifted her head, staring at the door as the lock clicked and the door creaked open.“Ryker?”

But as the large wood panel swung wider, it wasn’t Ryker, but Mildred who stood in the doorway.“Tell me that boy did not lock you in your room.”

She rose from the bed, hope filling her chest.“He did.”

“Cad.”Mildred rolled her eyes.“Men think they are so smart.How could he not know I had keys made for every door in this house?I lived in this place before he was even born.”

“Smart,” Chloe whispered, looking at the floor, embarrassed that she’d been so easily trapped.

“The question is, why would he do such a thing?”

Letting out a trembling breath, she realized there was no point in keeping Ryker’s confidence if they weren’t going to marry.Sitting back down, the story of what Ryker had proposed all the way to what she’d overheard and how she’d intended to stop him came spilling out.

Mildred came to sit next to her, listening to the entirety of what had transpired without interrupting until Chloe finally reached the point where he’d locked her in her room.

Silence fell, stretching out a moment and then two before Mildred huffed.“That stupid boy.”

“He’s a man, Mildred, and far stronger and more powerful than me.”

“You can’t deny that he’s acting like a spoiled, petulant child.”

No.Chloe could not deny it.“I was the apple of my father’s eye.I must confess that it did little to prepare me for the taming of dukes.”

Mildred tapped her chin even as the butler appeared.“Countess Green has arrived, my lady.”

“See her up,” Mildred called back.“We’re going to need a solid plan here.”

“I’m not marrying him, Mildred,” Chloe whispered.“I can’t.”

“He’ll come to heel with time.Women always win the long game.”

Chloe shook her head.“I think I might love him.”

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