Page 26 of A Bride for the Wicked Duke

“Just a question,” Victor said, smirking as he loved to see this side of Gerald. “Were you not telling me you had been searching for a husband for her? Can I not ask, as a friend?”

Gerald fixed him in a glare. “She is not your concern.”

“Clearly,” Victory chuckled. “Next time I have a question concerning her, I will leave it be.” He leaned back, pulling his shirt collar free of Gerald’s grasp. Then he straightened it and flashed his eyes wickedly. “I would hate to see you... snap.”

Gerald glared at him once more and then turned away.

His sister was another problem which he was yet to deal with. Although, and he was also aware of this, helping Lady Hawkins had the added benefit of helping his sister also. He did not like them spending time together. He did not like the influence Lady Hawkins had on his sister. A tad hypocritical, perhaps, but that’s just how it was.

Gerald planned on finding his sister a husband, but he reasoned he could not do it so long as Lady Hawkins was a part of her life. What decent fellow would marry a woman with a friend like that?None who my sister deserves, that is for sure.

If he wanted to find a suitor for his sister, first he had to find one for Lady Hawkins. She was what mattered right now... but only as it concerned her debt to him, and his sister. He had to control himself around her. He had to be proper. He had to be the gentleman everyone saw him as and not let the darker side of him out.Easier said than done...

“There is one more thing,” Victor then started. “I thought I best run it by you, as I know how much you like to pretend to care.”

“What?” Gerald said with warning, sensing still the man’s desire to antagonize him.

“Lord Grayhill,” Victor said, which had Gerald’s stomach twisting. “His debts have become… a problem.” He looked flatly at Victor. “The man owes us more than what he can hope to pay. My feeling is that it is time that we deal with it.” He raised an eyebrow. “And by that, I mean –”

“No,” Gerald said quickly.

“Excuse me.”

He swallowed and pretended to look disinterested. “I am aware of the Grayhill’s debts, just as I am aware of the endeavors they are taking to make payment.”

“And these endeavors are…?”

“Not your problem,” Gerald said with warning. “I am keeping an eye on them. That is all which should concern you.”

Victor frowned at Gerald with confusion and Gerald worried that his friend would push the matter. Aurelia’s family’s debts had been a talking point between them for some time, and until a week ago they had both agreed the time was now to collect. But things had changed; things which he could not discuss with his partner.

“Have it your way,” Victor sighted. “You know best, I suppose.”

Gerald breathed a sigh of relief.I need this matter with Lady Hawkins dealt with at once!As to how he was going to help her – if such a thing was possible! That was why he had come here tonight, to try and puzzle out a course of action.

How to find a suitor for Lady Hawkins and as quickly as possible.How to tame her for long enough so the first man I find for her won’t turn and run screaming?An impossible take, it felt like, but one that Gerald had no choice in.

ChapterNine

For the second time in less than a week, Aurelia found herself sneaking onto the Sutherford Estate. The only difference from the last time was that tonight, she was expected.

The letter had come for her earlier today, delivered privately so that her mother and sister and brother did not see. She had known right away who the letter was from, now that she could have guessed its contents.

Tonight, my study, the same time as the last.

It was all that the letter had read. No signature. No indication as to why she was needed on such short notice, or at such a suggestive hour. Just that she was to be there. And Aurelia, where she would have loved to have denied the duke, just to prove that she could, she also wasn’t that foolish.

So it was that she hurried across the estate, using the cover of night to conceal her, making for the same side entrance that she had the last time. No idea what the duke might want, knowing it couldn’t possibly be good, both nervous and excited because of it.

Maybe he has found for me a suitor? Was that not what he told me he would do? But then why the subterfuge? Why the secrecy? And why do I need to see him alone...

Still, that kiss they had shared lingered on Aurelia’s lips and in her mind. She had been thinking about it non-stop these last few days, not wanting to – or rather, wanting to have hated that it had happened. But whenever it came to mind, she would feel her body flush and her thighs tingle. She would taste the duke on her lips and remember his hands around her body. She would bite her lip and wonder what might have happened had he not stopped... what she might have done.

It was easy to say that she wished to be done with the duke and his influence over her. It was harder to believe it.

Thus, as she reached his closed office door and prepared to knock, Aurelia made herself a promise. She needed to behave tonight. To control herself. And above all, she needed not to give the duke an excuse to rise to anger and do as he did the last time.No matter how much I want him to.

“Come in,” the duke called as soon as he knuckles brushed the wood of the door. “Quietly.”

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