Page 58 of Duke of Chaos

He let out a growl of anger, tossing the papers onto the floor before shoving the box off of his desk, creating another loudthunkthroughout the house before he stomped off into the adjacent room where he had once let her work.

He cannot hear me,Lydia realized, taking a timid step toward the adjacent office. She had seen many of Ezra’s personalities thus far, and while some had their challenges, this was the only one thattrulyfrightened her.

Ezra slammed another old box onto his desk and ripped open the lid. When he had begun his search he had suspected that he would find his proof easily, but as he scanned paper after paper his task became more difficult. The nameWhittlerhad indeedbeen familiar. Ezra had seen it more times than he’d realized, but verification of the earl’s signature was exceedingly hard. Growing more frustrated when he again came up empty-handed, Ezra flung the box off the desk and immediately grabbed another.

“Come on,” he said aloud, shuffling through the next folder of papers, “you must have had to sign your real name on something pertaining to Father’s businesses on at least one occasion; something that required the authority of your title.”

Ezra flung the next paper away but froze when his eyes finally landed on the legible cursive signature of the one and only George Nicholson; Earl of Ridlington. Hurriedly he reached for one of the letters that had been signed by Whittler, but as he grasped for the pages, he felt them being pulled from his fingers. Startled, Ezra looked over to find Lydia standing before him with a look of grave concern in her eyes as she held the papers he needed.

For the briefest of moments, his manic condition was stilled by the relief of seeing her, but the balm was quickly washed away by the need to secure his proof.

“What are you doing?” he snapped, holding out his hand to her for the papers. “Give them back to me immediately.

“Ezra, I have called your name thrice and you did not comprehend that I was here!” Lydia replied, holding the papers behind her back.

Through his fervor to find the truth, he could blearily see the worry in Lydia’s eyes, and for a moment he almost stopped to take a breath and calm his frazzled nerves.

“Ezra, you do not look well,” she said next, her tone softer now, “Something is wrong. Your eyes are bloodshot.”

The space around them ebbed and blurred, and he felt his heart begin to hammer faster.

“Give me the papers,” he rasped, taking a step toward her.

Suddenly she was on him, capturing his face in her hands and pulling him toward her. His body rebelled at the demand to bend to another’s will,particularlyat that moment, and he shoved her hands away. Lydia gasped and stumbled backward, and Ezra’s vision suddenly became crystal clear as hurt filled her eyes. Not fear or a bruised ego, but a deep, emotional hurt.

Guilt sliced through him as he took a step back to scan the floor for the papers she had taken from him.

“I told the guards I did not wish to be disturbed,” he choked out, but even as he said it he heard how pitiful the excuse sounded.

Perhaps I am turning into something worthy of pity after all. He forced himself to look at her, not yet willing to accept the title of coward.

The hurt in Lydia’s eyes had grown deeper, so much so that it made him want to gag.

“So, youdidintend that order to include me, Your Grace?” she asked, her tone cold but polite as she straightened her shoulders and raised her chin.

A different type of panic suddenly arose in Ezra. Lydia had not called him by his title since they had discussed it nearly a month ago.

“This is not the time, Lydia,” he spit out, fighting to deaden the onslaught of his emotions. “Give me the papers back,please.”

“You married me to help you,” Lydia insisted, stepping away from him as he grabbed for her. “I have done nothing but succeed in that, so why not let me help you now? Why, after making love to me, are you pushing me away?”

The question hit Ezra like a brick. He had been away from her to see to their safety, but he knew that there had been another reason for his sudden departure. Some things he just had to do alone. However, this was not the time for a discussion, not with him being so close to having proof. HeneededLydia to give him those papers.

Suddenly, as if finally answering his call, he felt his old, familiar numbness cloak him in its protective shell. He welcomed it with a deep breath and turned a cold stare toward Lydia.

“As helpful as you may be at times, you are nothing but a hindrance to me right now. Give me the papers andleave.”

The gold and bronze flecks illuminated Lydia’s widened eyes, but this time Ezra did not let himself feel anything. He reached out his hand again, taking another step as a blush spread across her cheeks.

“Is that what you want?” she asked, her voice frosty and low.

Through his numbness, Ezra felt a shiver of alarm, but he shut it out and nodded.

“As you wish,Your Grace,”she answered icily, throwing the papers at his feet.

His shield of numbness cracked and shattered as Lydia slammed his study door shut behind her, and for a moment Ezra nearly stepped over the papers to go after her. However, when his eyes dropped to the floor and he saw Whittler’s elegant signature, he forgot everything else and picked up the document to examine it more closely. As he compared the signature with the one on the letter signed by George, he discovered that the two were a perfect handwriting match.

“Got you, you bastard,” Ezra proclaimed, folding the two papers together. He shoved them into his back pocket as he walked away from his mess and threw open the study door.

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