Page 88 of One Night

Duke’s presence was palpable. Against my better judgment, my eyes slid to him, and I shot to my feet.

He was stoic, shoulders slumped, as he stood just inside the doorway. A defeated man stood in the shoes of my strong, resilient Duke.

My heart clenched. I sucked in a gentle breath after he lifted his head to meet my gaze.

Shock washed over me.

Bruises on his face were blooming an angry reddish purple, and one eye was dangerously close to swelling shut. A small cut in his eyebrow was actively leaking blood.

I hurried to face him and grabbed the lapels of his jacket. “Who did this to you?”

His sad, dark eyes lifted to mine, and a smirk lifted his lip. “That’s supposed to be my line.”

I clamped my jaw shut, fighting the surge of tears that threatened to break free. I had never seen Duke look so...broken. I was confused and hurt and angry at all of them—at the whole damn town for perpetuating a rivalry that had stopped making any sense a long, long time ago.

When my eyes trailed over his slumped shoulders and battered face, my heart softened. I gently tugged him forward. “Get over here.”

Duke followed quietly as I led him to the couch and forced him to sit. Quickly, I gathered the small medical kit he kept under the kitchen sink and kneeled before him. With two fingers, I lifted his chin to examine the small cut that slashed through his eyebrow. It was superficial, but even after a few dabsof a peroxide-soaked cotton ball, I could tell it would leave a small scar.

“Which one of them?” I wanted to know exactly which of my idiotic brothers was going to be on the receiving end of the hellfire I planned to rain down on them.

“Doesn’t matter.” Duke’s gravelly voice felt more intimate in the hushed atmosphere of his quiet living room.

“I’m going to guess Royal,” I mused with a sigh. “JP typically uses his words or his money to cut people down. Whip has a hard-on for Lee, and I’m hoping Abel wasn’t dumb enough to get involved. That leaves Royal and his hotheadedness.”

Duke only grunted, cementing my belief that Royal was slated to get a gargantuan ass-chewing when I was finished here.

Anger mixed with frustration as I continued to clean up a solemn Duke. My breath exited my nose in a sharp sigh. “How is this the world we’re bringing achildinto?”

I gritted my teeth, willing myself not to cry because I wasn’t sad. I wasfurious. The helplessness that burrowed into my chest was a knot I couldn’t unfurl. I hated to see the man I loved in pain. Hated that our miracle would be born in the midst of family hatred.

So that’s the kind of man you’re tying yourself to?

My father had no idea the kind of man Duke Sullivan was. None of them did.

When I finished cleaning him up, I used his knee to push myself to standing. His eyes tracked me, the chocolate brown swirling with intensity. I hated seeing his perfect face marred with bruises and blood.

I stomped away, throwing the cotton balls into the trash with an unsatisfying plop. I braced myself on the counter and tried to breathe evenly as my anger simmered before fully bubbling over. “Going over there and leaving me at the hospital was a mistake.”

“It wasn’t.” Duke’s deep voice was closer, and I turned to find his feet planted in the threshold between the living room and kitchen. The soft glow from the kitchen light danced off his handsome features, and I hated that my body warmed to him so swiftly.

“I’mpregnant.” My arms swung wide to display my very visible baby bump. “And youleft me in the hospital!”

A muscle flexed in his jaw as his body went rigid. “The doctors were releasing you. I made sure you had a ride home. My brothers were about to make things impossiblyworseso... yes, I made a decision.”

Duke Sullivan, ladies and gentlemen, always fixing problems and producing results.I swear, that man should getDo something or get out of the waytattooed on his damn forehead.

I crossed my arms like a petulant child to keep from strangling the man I love. “So your genius decision was to chooseviolence?”

“I didn’t choose any of this!” His voice boomed into the darkness, and my chin tipped up in defiance.

My eyes flared. “Exactly! Neither of us choose this. So why?Whywould you put yourself through this? How is any of this worth it?” My voice cracked.Damn it.I swallowed past the lump that made it hard to breathe.

“Because of you!” His voice rattled through the kitchen. He gestured toward me. “Becauseyouare worth it!”

My mouth popped open at his admission, but no words came out. In two steps, Duke was crowding my space. He cupped my face, tilting my head so I could look at him and take in the emotions roiling in his dark eyes.

“You are stubborn, woman, but you will hear me. You may have gone your whole life without people prioritizing you, butthat ends with me.” His eyes moved over my features as my lip quivered. “Sylvie, it’s you or no one. It hasalwaysbeen you.”

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