Page 24 of The Duke's Second Bride
“Ava,” he said, his voice low. “Kindly ask His Grace to leave, so that you and I can finish ourprivatediscussion. This is not a matter for the public. We don’t want to make a scene, do we?”
Ava was shaking too badly to respond.
Brandon, displeased with her silence, took another step forward. “Ava?—”
Only to be met with the Duke’s fist once more.
Brandon let out an anguished cry as the duke struck the part of his face that must have already been sensitive from his previous blow. When he looked up again, his fearful expression had been transformed into one of outrage and indignation.
“How dare you?” he hissed. “Ava! Tell him to leave this instant.”
When Ava said nothing, he tipped his head back and laughed.
“Fine,” he finally spat, backing away from her and the duke, and walking towards the exit of the estate. “You have made your choice. You are going to regret this deeply, mark my words. You’ll have plenty of time to think over your decision from your new home in the gutters.”
“Leave. Now,” the Duke said, his voice deadly quiet, somehow even more intimidating than when he growled.
Brandon’s face contorted. “You impertinent—” he snapped, taking a step forward.
But he immediately froze when the duke matched his step inwards.
“Very well,” he hissed. “So be it.”
And with that, he stormed off.
They let a few moments of silence pass over once he had gone. When the air had been free of his footsteps for a moment, the Duke turned to Ava.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Ava had to fight to catch her breath. Finally, she nodded, though she was still trembling.
“What did he mean by saying your new home would be in the gutters?” the Duke asked.
“Nothing,” she muttered. “It was nothing.”
“It was most certainly not,” he persisted. “I ought to have struck him again. What did he mean?”
Ava bit her lower lip. “He is my brother-in-law,” she said, “and the new Lord Dunfair, since my husband died. As expected, he has taken full control of the inheritance and organized our finances so that I live on his generosity alone. As of late, his behavior has been …”
“Barbaric,” the duke growled, his gaze darkening.
Ava swallowed. “Yes,” she said. “Erratic. And then the last time he sent my allowance …”
She hesitated.
“What?” the Duke pressed.
She sighed, “He … he sent barely enough for me to run the household. And then tonight … if I didn’t give in to his … whims…” Here, her voice nearly broke. She cleared her throat, fighting back tears. “He has the power to take it all away, you understand. The house where I live. The money I live on.”
The duke went deadly silent for a moment.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.
Ava furrowed her brow. “What?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
A laugh escaped her, unbidden; a shocked, half-outraged noise. “Why on earth would I do that?” she asked. “We are strangers.”
