Page 99 of The Duke's Unclaimed Bride
“I will use whatever skills or excuses I have to get you to be honest with me.” James shrugged.
“Well, as of right now, I am not open to visitors, so if you could please just leave me be.”
“No,” James said, stretching out his limbs.
“No?” Laurence frowned.
“Not until you talk to me.”
“You are an infuriating man,” Laurence growled.
“And yet I am the only person you have kept around over the years,” James pointed out.
“I wasn’t exactly left with much choice in the matter,” Laurence grumbled.
“But when you had the choice to keep someone around who made you happy, you chased them away,” James said calmly.
Laurence felt a vein pulse in his forehead. “Excuse me?”
“You are excused,” James said, sitting forward. “Where is she?”
“Am I really being interrogated?”
“Until you give me an honest answer, yes!” James snapped.
“She is not here!”
“Why not?”
“I don’t…”
“You don’t know?” James scoffed. “Then let me enlighten you! You chased her away because you couldn’t handle your pride.”
“My what?”
“Your pride! If you have let her help you, shown some humility and grace, then perhaps she would still be here,” James sneered.
“That is hardly the issue!” Laurence shouted.
“Really?!” James snapped back. “Because from my standpoint, you finally had a woman who would tolerate you. More than that. Anyone could see that Her Grace and Tilly loved you deeply. Then, you have one bad night, and what? You decide you cannot love them back?”
“It was not just one night.”
“Oh, no, these things are never just a one-off. But that means you need to work harder to be a decent husband!”
“And you would know about that?” Laurence huffed.
“I seem to be the only one learning from your mistakes.”
“I am protecting them,” Laurence said.
“By making them so miserable that fleeing was the only option?”
“They are not miserable.”
“I would have thought you, out of all people, would understand the pain that having a cruel and cold father could cause.”
Laurence’s heart stuttered in his chest. “Don’t bring my father into this conversation,” he hissed.
