Page 25 of The Duke's Impossible Deal
Eight
“Stay where you are. I will see to this,” Tobias called out, moving before he was really aware of what he was doing.
As soon as he had seen Rowen step into the aisle, he had known something was wrong. The grace and control he was so used to seeing, the strength that she seemed determined to flaunt before him, had vanished.
Her movements were fragile, each step more uncertain than the last. Her expression had lost its usual sharpness, instead softening and seeming younger, more innocent. And then she had turned on her heel and fled.
He followed her, deliberately moving at a brisk walk rather than a run. His instincts screamed at him to move faster, but he forced himself not to.
It would not help things.
“She looked like a deer before a hunter,” he murmured to himself.
Some woodland nymph, fleeing from a monster.
He shook himself, pushing the thought out of his mind as he caught sight of his bride-to-be leaning against a nearby headstone. Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself, and her bottom lip was trembling.
She glanced over at his approach, and he expected to see anger or her usual combativeness. Instead, he saw resignation and, beneath it, an almost animalistic panic. It made his blood run cold.
“I know what you are going to say. We had a deal; I am well aware of that. I expect you are here to say you will drag me into the church if you have to, that I will keep my promise to you no matter what.” She hugged herself tighter. “You are going to tell me to get a hold of myself and get in there and endure the damned ceremony.”
“Is that truly what you think? That I will throw you over my shoulder and carry you back into the church against your will?” Tobias’s jaw tightened, and his heart clenched.
What kind of monster does she think I am?
“Perhaps nothing that dramatic,” Rowen admitted. “But I doubt you are going to let me get away with this. I embarrassed you—I embarrassed myself. You will give me a dressing down, remind me of my place and who I am marrying.”
She bit her lip, a tear rolling down her cheek.
Tobias realized that he had been reaching for her as though to wipe the tear away. Catching himself, he instead reached into his pocket and fished out a handkerchief.
“I suppose such assumptions about my character are warranted.” He gently placed the handkerchief in her hand, bending her fingers around the cloth and trying to ignore their warmth.
Her eyes flicked to his face, narrowing in suspicion even as her lips parted. He met her grey gaze steadily.
“I am not going to force you back into the church, and I am not going to call you names or belittle you. That is not the kind of man that I am.” He shook his head. “I will never do something like that to you.”
“But you will not let me walk away.” The note of defeat in her voice broke something inside of him.
“Is that what you want?” His voice was barely above a whisper.
“I do not know. I just… I had been here before, Tobias. As soon as I stepped into the church, it was like I could see everything laid out before me, like I was simply reliving my past. All I couldsmell was sandalwood, all I could think about was him.” She shook her head and dabbed her face with the handkerchief.
“I assume you are speaking of your late husband.” He cocked his head.
“Yes.”
“Some men would be jealous if their wife were thinking of another man on their wedding day.”
The thought of the late Earl belittling or hurting Rowen stirred the urge to break something, and his fingers flexed unconsciously as though closing around someone’s neck.
“From what your brother said, I imagine he was not a particularly good husband.”
“Would you think less of me if I told you that you were right?” Rowen let out a shaky breath.
Tobias furrowed his brow. “Why would I think less of you?”
“Because I was foolish enough to marry him.” Rowen threw her arms up in the air and shook her head, biting her bottom lip hard. “I was silly enough to be fooled by his charms. I believed him when he said that he would love me, that I was the only woman for him. He promised me everything, and I thought he meant it. But he was a liar.”
