Page 65 of Bound to the Heartless Duke
Summer laughed softly. “No. But maybe you can decide something for yourself. Maybe even tell your brother in public. No more hiding.”
Lily didn’t answer right away. Instead, her gaze drifted to the window, to the clear sky beyond.
“I wish Cecilia were here,” she whispered. “She’d know exactly what to say. She always does.”
Summer offered a sad little smile. “You have me instead.”
“And I’m grateful,” Lily said softly, truly meaning it.
She took Summer’s hand in her own. In response, the maid gave her hand a gentle squeeze before slipping out of the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
Lily sat in the quiet for a while, busying herself with her embroidery long enough that the fire died down and the sky darkened.
Suddenly, a small knock sounded at the door, disrupting the silence.
No, it wasn’t at the door, but at the window.
She froze.
Another knock followed, sounding more like a click.
Eventually, she stood up and slowly moved to the window, drawing the curtain with doubtful fingers.
Below, in the moonlit garden path, she saw him.Magnus.
He looked up just as she saw him, one hand holding a stone, the other holding a folder tucked under his arm. His expression was unreadable, but he didn’t move until her eyes met his.
Lily’s breath caught. What was happening?
Without thinking too hard, she turned around, grabbed a cape, and left her room, moving quietly down the stairs, her slippers barely making a sound against the wood.
She slipped outside through the servants’ entrance and crossed the short distance to the garden. By now, the moon was casting silvery light on the stone path, the scent of lavender thick in the air.
When she reached him, she folded her arms tightly, not because of the cold, but out of restraint.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, her tone sharp out of habit more than desire. “Throwing rocks like a schoolboy?”
“I needed to speak with you privately,” Magnus said simply, before holding out the folder. “It’s the marriage contract.”
Her eyes widened. “You already had it drawn up?”
“I figured”—he stepped slightly closer—“we didn’t need to wait for Nathan.”
Her pulse jumped immediately.
Lily hated that her body still reacted to him like this, the way heat bloomed in places it shouldn’t, the way her breath caught at the sight of his sharp cheekbones.
He was devastatingly attractive.
But then she remembered his words that morning, and her heart rate slowed just as fast.
“You were right,” she said coldly. “Nathan didn’t ask my permission when he gambled away the house. Why should I need his now?”
Magnus studied her face but said nothing.
Lily looked at the folder, then at him. “I’ll sign it.”
His expression didn’t change; there was no satisfaction, no warmth. Just a curt nod.
