Page 51 of Bound to the Heartless Duke
“You are not funny.”
“I’m not joking.”
She paused to stare at him in disbelief. She wasn’t sure what to do with him.
“You are…offering to marry me?”
He nodded once, solemn as a vicar. “Seems a better option than Bailey, doesn’t it? I may gamble, drink, and lack basic civility?—”
“And own a gaming hell.”
“Yes, that too.” He nodded.
She stared at him for a long moment, waiting for his serious expression to crack with his usual smirk. But it didn’t.
“But I don’t call myselfRonald the Remarkable, so that’s something,” he added.
Her lips twitched despite herself—a small crack in the wall she’d built.
“You’re not serious.” She simply refused to believe him.
“I am.” He stepped toward her like a man who had decided something and would not be swayed. “And don’t pretend the idea hasn’t occurred to you.”
“It hasn’t.”
“Liar.”
Her lashes fluttered briefly. “I am not a liar.”
“You are,” he said, his voice lower now, teasing but laced with something else. Something charged, almost aching. “Because you’re standing here, clearly bothered. Not because you find Bailey distasteful—which you do—but because I’m right.”
“Your confidence in your delusion is very much infuriating,” she snapped, before turning away from him and to the fire, as if the flames would help her situation.
But Magnus followed after her. Of course, he did.
“I don’t need your help,” she insisted, though her voice shook slightly.
If he meant what he said, then he probably wanted to gamble with her as well. He definitely wasn’t doing it because he?—
“Oh, you certainly do. I’ve seen the guest list Nathan has drafted. Each suitor is worse than the last.”
“And yet none as bad as you,” she fired back, spinning back to face him. “Do you honestly think I would marry the man who took my home?”
He raised an eyebrow, unbothered. “You’d rather listen to the man who lost it?”
She froze at that, her breath caught somewhere between fury and pain. The silence stretched out longer than she wanted. But it was long enough for what she needed.
“That was cruel.” Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“That washonest.” Magnus tilted his head, his voice softer now but no less firm. “You don’t hear lies from me, Lily. Remember?”
Silence settled between them again. But this time, it was charged.
“I know what you think of me,” Lily said finally, her voice low and raw. “That I’m just another foolish girl looking to be saved.”
“No,” Magnus assured, stepping close enough that she had to tilt her head back to meet his gaze. “I think you’re the first woman who’s ever seen through every façade I wear and still insists on pretending she feels nothing.”
His words hung between them, dangerous and intoxicating. Something unsaid pulsed there, just beneath the surface.
