Page 66 of Married to the Ruthless Duke

“I’ll try.”

“Good. Now go out there and make peace with your husband.”

Helen took a deep, steadying breath and opened the carriage door, stepping out with Mr. Jenkins’ help.

“If you need me to step in, don’t hesitate to call for me,” he told her with a firm look.

She nodded and turned to Alexander, trying to mask her shock at his appearance.

He looked like Mr. Jenkins had said—a bandit with messed-up hair, a partially buttoned shirt that hung loosely off him, and an old pair of breeches he usually wore to do manual work around the castle.

“Why do you look like this?” she asked in surprise.

“I rushed out of the house in a mad dash to find you,” he answered, his eyes drinking her in, and she didn’t use that phrase lightly, as his eyes ran from the top of her head down to her toes.

“Why?”

“Why?”he echoed.

“Yes. I want to know why you left your home in such a state and in such a hurry to come find me, and I want an honest answer.”

He looked stunned for a moment and then pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to her. She tried to hide her disappointment, as she’d been expecting him to wax lyrical about his feelings and not hand her a piece of paper. Perhaps it was a love letter, she reasoned, but scanning through the document, she spotted signatures and testimonials, wondering what it meant.

“What is this?” she asked, handing it back to him.

“It is a proof of ownership, darling.” He smiled. “I just purchased a cottage in the country.”

“Oh, congratulations to you then,” she said tonelessly. “If that is all you came to say, then goodbye.”

“Wait.” He rushed to pull her into his arms. “Don’t you understand? I bought a cottage in the country for us to have the honeymoon that we never had.”

“Why would we go on a honeymoon when we’re separated? Besides, ours is a marriage of convenience, not a love match.”

“You’re such a stubborn woman.” He laughed. “I don’t want us to be separated anymore, damn you. What I’m trying to say is I love you. Helen. I am absolutely and quite terribly in love with you, and I want nothing more than to have you as my wife again.”

Helen gasped as Margaret squealed behind her.

When had she even appeared?

“But it was my fault. It was I who ended us?—”

“It wasn’t you, love. It was I who stubbornly refused to admit that I’d fallen irrevocably in love with you that is to blame,” he interrupted her. “I failed to stop you from leaving, and I failed to see that you weren’t faking your concern for me. You really did care for me, didn’t you? It was why you stood up to Nathaniel for me and why you chose to forgive me even after seeing my black moods. It was why you brought up the contract because deep down, you hoped that I’d damn the contract.”

She nodded, unsure what to say.

“I truly am sorry for making you feel that you were alone in your love. The truth is, I fell for you from the very first moment I saw you breathe fire at me in your father’s home, and I fell harder seeing all the attempts you made to get me to cancel the contract.”

“You did?”

“Yes, I did.” He smiled, kissing her forehead. “I probably should have damned the contract from the start and told you I wanted a real marriage with you, but I was scared that once you saw me for who I am, you would leave.”

“I would have never done that.”

“I know that now.” He nodded, pulling her even closer to him. “Forgive me, darling wife. My life is incomplete without you.”

“My life is incomplete without you too,” she cried, hugging him.

His lips fell on hers with a hunger she reciprocated, and for a moment, they forgot where they were. At least until their audience cleared their throats when his hands started to roam up and down her body.

---