Page 122 of Bound to the Heartless Duke
Nathan winced. “Was that truly necessary?”
“No,” Magnus said, “but it felt rather satisfying.”
Dragging Nathan forward with little regard for his protests, he moved back to the carriage waiting at the mouth of the alley. The driver stared openly, his eyes wide with concern.
“Open the door,” Magnus ordered.
The driver jumped down and opened the door without missing a beat.
“Get in,” Magnus said.
Nathan hesitated at first. Then, reluctantly, he climbed inside.
Lily followed silently, but she didn’t sit beside him. Instead, she sat across from him, her spine stiff and her hands clasped inher lap. Once the door shut behind them, the carriage lurched forward.
During the ride, Nathan didn’t dare meet her eyes. The silence that fell over them was thick… too thick, it was almost unbearable.
And then, when it was least expected, Nathan cleared his throat.
“I suppose a thank you is in order,” he muttered.
“Don’t,” Lily said quietly. Not with anger, but exhaustion.
He clamped his mouth shut before looking at the couple. Lily had her gaze fixed on the window while Magnus was watching him quietly, as though waiting for him to attempt to escape again.
Minutes passed, the clip-clop of hooves and the light drizzle being the only sounds.
Eventually, Lily turned to look at her brother.
“I want to forgive you,” she began, her voice low. “I want to remember you as my brother. The one who gave me the last slice of cake when we were children. The one who snuck me out of Father’s study when I’d broken his inkpot.”
Nathan looked down at his hands.
“But you didn’t just disappear,” she continued, her voice shaking slightly. “You watched it all burn and walked away with the matches.”
He winced. “I didn’t know?—”
“Don’t lie to me.” She scowled at him. “You made your choices, Nathan. Now, you’ll live with them.”
He opened his mouth to reply, but Magnus reached over and knocked twice on the wall.
“Not now,” he said firmly. “Let her be angry. You earned every bit of it.”
They rode the rest of the way in silence.
Nathan didn’t speak again. Lily didn’t look at him. And Magnus sat between them like a wall neither dared try to breach.
But beneath it all, there was still something else. Something yet to be broached.
CHAPTER 30
Once back within the familiar walls of Blackmore Manor, the storm that had followed from the carriage seemed to pause. However, the atmosphere was still far from peaceful.
Nathan stood just beyond the threshold of the grand entrance hall. There was a mud stain on the hem of his trousers, his lips were cracked, and desperation flickered in his bloodshot eyes.
He had never been to Blackmore Manor. For all his bravado and recklessness, he looked no more than a boy who had run too far into the woods and only just realized he’d lost his way.
And then he did something that surprised them both—he dropped to his knees.
