Page 97 of Bound to the Heartless Duke
Her breath hitched as a maelstrom of emotions bubbled up inside her. She felt relieved. And as pathetic as it may sound, she wanted to kiss him.
“Careful,” he murmured, his voice low yet tender.
She searched his eyes and couldn’t help asking, “Why do you hide from me?”
He didn’t give a reply; his jaw clenched.
The moment was broken by a sharp knock at the door.
“Your Graces! There’s a visitor at the gates!” the maid’s voice called, before her footsteps retreated down the corridor.
That was enough to jolt them back to reality.
Magnus released Lily slowly and stepped back, his usual mask slipping back into place.
“A visitor,” he muttered, his dark eyebrows knitting together. “At this hour?”
Lily followed him, her curiosity growing. “Who could it be? You aren’t expecting anyone.”
His gaze hardened. “Nothing is ever as it seems in my world.”
They stepped out of her room and hurried down the stairs, their footsteps echoing off the walls. They had barely stepped into the foyer when the front door burst open with a force that made Lily yelp.
It washim.
The tall man stormed inside, his eyes were blazing with fury and desperation.
“Where is she? Where is my bride?” his voice thundered, threatening to rattle the portraits off the walls.
Ronald Bailey.
He is back.
Lily swallowed at the thought. Right, she had not dismissed his offer properly before moving ahead with her marriage.
However, history or no history, Magnus was irritated by his brazen behavior.
“Calm down, Mr. Bailey,” he bit out, his voice low but razor sharp. “There is no need for such theatrics in my house.”
Mr. Bailey pinned him with a glare. “She promised me a future!” he roared. “A life bound by vows and hope. Yet, here she stands, like an unclaimed jewel, hidden behind these ridiculous walls!”
His accusatory words stung Lily, the burn hitting deeper than she had expected.
But Magnus’s cold gaze never wavered. Rather, he stepped in front of her, shielding her with his body. It did not escape Lily’s notice, this most subtle form of protection.
“She is my wife,” he said with such command that the walls seemed to shudder. “And no one raises their voice at her under my roof.”
Mr. Bailey’s eyes flashed with rage. “You think your title makes you her keeper?!” he sneered. “I paid handsomely for her. Money Nathan promised to return—money given in trust!”
Those words crashed into Lily like ice. But as she tried to process the meaning behind them, Magnus stepped toward the man.
“Then we shall discuss this like gentlemen. No more outbursts,” he told him in a tight voice.
Mr. Bailey threw his hands up in the air. “Gentlemen? There is nothing gentlemanly about this betrayal. She is mine, yet you stole her from me!”
Lily gasped. The longer Mr. Bailey spoke, the more his words made sense. Ironically.
The revelation made the world around spin, her thoughts racing like wildfire.
