Page 48 of Duke of Chaos

She was so incredibly happy to hear Juliet continuing to rattle off more of her elegant wedding ideas, but somewhere in the distance, Lydia heard the shout of a familiar voice. She ignored it at first, thinking it was her imagination, but as they continued to stroll down the street, it got louder to the point that Juliet stopped talking, and they both paused to look toward the commotion.

Lydia felt a deep hurt spring in her gut as she put the familiar voice with the familiar face, and she watched with shock as a strikingly beautiful noblewoman struck Ezra's face with a force so great that it rang throughout the street. Though it was a warm late summer day, Lydia felt a cold trickle over her, starting at the top of her head and traveling like melting ice down to her feet.

Ezra had been slapped so hard that his head had swiveled toward them, and though they were a good thirty paces apart, Lydia could see the fury in his eyes. She watched, frozen, as he slowly began to turn back to the woman, but he paused as his eyes settled on her and Juliet.

She had told him she did not care about his paramours or his needs. She had told him that he was welcome to them if he did not touch her. And yet, as she saw him there withher,this woman was so obviously enraged by the way he made her feel, it felt like a knife to her chest.

“Who is that?” the woman asked, raising her voice louder as she noticed Ezra’s stolen attention.

She peered through the gate at Lydia, so close to Ezra that their foreheads nearly touched, and she smiled. It was a wicked smile; poisonous. It made Lydia take a step back and pull Juliet close.

“Ah,” the woman sang, “Your wife. Hmm. She seems rather…shocked, Ezra. You did not tell her about me?”

Lydia felt another slice of hurt pass through her chest as she dropped her gaze to the ground and took another step backward. From the woman’s patio, she heard Ezra growl, “You will stay away from her. You and your friends. I do not believe you, not for a moment.”

Lydia looked up blankly to see Ezra jump over the waist-high patio railing and march toward her. There was a terrifying look on his face, but she felt nothing as she looked up at it. In fact, a numbness she’d never felt before had swallowed her whole.

Ezra stopped just a few paces away, looking like a trapped bull ready to charge. He then took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and gave a rigid bow toward her and Juliet.

“Wife. Sister-In-Law. What a surprise to see you.”

Lydia stood as still as a statue as he raised up to his full height once more and focused his deadened gaze directly on her.

“My deepest apologies, Miss Juliet, but I am afraid I must cut this impromptu visit short. May we escort you home?”

Juliet looked worriedly toward Lydia, but she could only muster a blank stare. How,howcould catching Ezra hurt so much? Is that not what she had known he would do?

“My carriage and maid are just up there,” she heard Juliet reply, “But I am not sure my sister is…”

“Your sister is in safe hands, I promise you,” Ezra replied curtly, then offered her his elbow. “We shall escort you to your carriage.”

Juliet looked toward Lydia once more, and she managed a silent nod. Without another word, her little sister took Ezra’s arm and stepped into place beside him. Ezra turned to Lydia and offered her his other arm, and she took it numbly. He gave her a short nod of approval, but his blue eyes were devoid of emotion.

“Your whore?” The question came spilling out as they walked away from Juliet’s carriage.

She had never used such a word before. It felt raw and guttural in her mouth and she regretted it immediately. Beside her, she felt Ezra stiffen, but he continued to say nothing as he walked them toward his London house. In the hazy afternoon, gray clouds had rolled in, and a light sprinkling of rain began to fall on them. It was fitting, she thought, since everything else seemed to be collapsing around her.

“Do not use such language again,” Ezra warned a while later.

“Why?” she asked quickly, “It is a term I am sure you use.”

“I am a debaucherous lech, and you are a lady,” he sneered.

Tears sprang in her eyes, but instead of sobbing, she let out a laugh.

“And what is a lady that is married to a debaucherous lech?” she asked bitterly.

Ezra halted, stopping them as the rain began to fall harder.

“What are you saying?” he asked, his ice-blue eyes darkening warily.

She hated him then. Hated how the raindrops amplified the carved, handsome features of his face, and how it made her want him even now. Because she did, didn’t she? She wanted him, and she had thought he had wanted her. But he clearly had been toying with her. She had just been another victim of one of his heartless games.

“I am saying that if a wife inherits her husband’s title, perhaps it is time that I, too, participate in some debauchery.”

Anger finally spiked through her numbness as she broke out of his hold and stood defiantly before him in the empty street. Ezra looked back at her with a sneer but shot forward and reached for her wrist. She slid out of his way, throwing him a glare as she took a few more paces backward.

“Are you saying you want to take a lover,wife?”he barked, marching straight toward her.

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