Page 69 of Seduced By the Rakish Duke

Her sarcasm was not appreciated.

David stood with his hands on his hips, anger and frustration rolling off him in waves. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Jenny walked ever so slowly towards him. She kept her voice low and soft as if she was approaching a caged animal. “For weeks I could not understand you. How could you go from touching me the way you did to dismissing me like an old maid the next?”

David stood motionless, only his shoulders moved from his heavy breathing. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

“You made me feel seen, understood,wanted, only for you to kick me out of not only your home but also your life, with your next breath.” Jenny shook her head. “I thought it was me. But it wasn’t, was it? It was you.” She stopped and searched his eyes. “It has always been you.”

David dropped his head. “I told you I?—”

Jenny raised her hand and cupped his cheek. “No,” she cut him off. “You’ve had plenty of chances to explain yourself. It’s my turn to talk now.”

She dropped her hand and slowly circled him. She controlled the situation, and the power was intoxicating. He did this to her. He made her feel she could control the world, and she wanted it to last as long as it could knowing what tomorrow would bring.

“I knew you were pushing me away. I just didn’t understand why.” She placed a finger on his shoulder and traced it over his back, from shoulder to shoulder.

David shivered under her touch.

“That is until I learned what actually happened to your sister that night.”

David’s shoulders went taught with tension. “Please, stop.”

His voice was broken, and she felt it calling to her. She stood in front of him, and this time, she cupped his face in both of her hands. She caressed his cheeks with her thumbs as she looked into his eyes.

For the first time, she saw emotion. She saw heartbreak, grief, sadness. She willed it to flow into her. She wanted to absorb all his pain and take it away from him.

“You tried to save her.”

“No.” His voice was soft.

“You raced out of the house when you found the ransom note and ran to her aid. You took men with you.”

David began to crumble into her arms. He leaned into her hands as a single tear fell from his eye. “I killed her.”

Jenny shook her head, her own eyes filling with tears. “No, David. He did. You tried to rescue her.”

“I was young, naive. Stupid. I didn’t think of her safety. I lunged at him and forced his hand.” His voice cracked, and another tear fell.

She pulled him in her arms, cooing words of comfort.

How odd it was that all this time, she thought him emotionless and immovable. It only took hearing what happened to finally understand why he constantly pushed her away, saying he was a bad man. Why he played into the horrible things people said about him.

He thought he was responsible for his sister’s death.

“Shh, David. No. None of that is true. The man responsible for her death was punished. He is dead. Your men were there. They corroborated what you said. Plus, the man himself admitted to the kidnapping plot and the murder.”

She pulled away to look into his red-rimmed eyes. “Look at me, David. You did not kill your sister.”

David pulled away and swiped his hands over his face, wiping away any evidence of tears. “No. I was responsible for her safety. I failed her, and I failed my mother. My mother barely survived the death of my father—she did not survive my sister’s passing. I am not only responsible for my sister’s death but my mother’s as well. If they couldn’t have a happy ending, neither can I.”

Jenny sucked in a breath. She thought her heart could not shatter more than it had, but now it lay in a million pieces at her feet.

“David.”

He threw his hands up. “Enough. No more of this. You do not understand. You are too naive. Like Heather. Like I was. I will not cause another’s loss of innocence. Go. Marry Dovegrove. He will protect you.”

Jenny let out a mirthless chuckle. “I doubt that.”

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