Page 10 of Trapped with the Forbidden Duke
“No! No, we must stay here. Your Grace?—”
“I will not sit and play the fool,” he spat.
He took hold of her wrist, pulling her easily out of the room.
She continued protesting, but he was already leading her down a back staircase, the one the secretary had led him through earlier. He ducked out of a back entrance only used by staff, where they found a line of nondescript carriages.
He handed her into one and then told the driver his address.
“Where are we going?” Lady Edwina asked, her voice tight with panic as she looked around as if fearing Lord Stockton would follow them.
Lucien sat down next to her. “My townhouse.”
He glared out the window, his eyes also searching for the conniving Earl.
“But—”
“Enough,” he said. “Just be grateful I am getting you away from the Earl of Stockton.”
With that, he rapped his knuckles on the roof of the carriage, signaling for the driver to take off.
Chapter Four
“You have kidnapped me,” Edwina protested, her voice high-pitched with disbelief as she turned to look out the back of the carriage.
The Raven’s Den disappeared behind them as the wheels rolled forward.
Edwina tried to ignore the tremors coursing through her body. Whether it was from the shame of her terrible seduction, fear of Lord Stockton catching her, worry over her brother being under the stress of knowing she had gone out today to help him with his debts, or fear of the Duke sitting beside her, she did not know.
The handsome Duke with rich, green eyes and a rough-looking beard that she felt was at odds with his appearance and would prove to be soft and?—
Heavens,why am I thinking of the softness of his beard?
Instead, she redirected her thoughts to where they needed to be.
Her stomach twisted with anxiety as she turned back to face the Duke of Stormhold. His jaw was clenched as he seemed to fight the urge to answer her.
“Oh, please,” he muttered, casting a withering glance at her. “You are the one who attempted to swindle me.”
“It was for my family’s sake! My brother’s sake,” she protested. “You know Nicholas—the man you used to be close friends with.”
Her voice dripped with sarcasm, and she was intrigued to know why his eyes had darkened at her mention of her brother.
The Duke scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Ah, yes, myveryclose friend, who betrayed me.”
“He betrayed you? Excuse me, Your Grace, but you have the nerve to accuse him of such a thing whenyouabandoned him in his time of need.”
He laughed sardonically, fixing her with a look that suddenly made her feel off-kilter.
“Nicholas is the one who cut ties with me upon returning from the war. You know, your brother used to be a man of honor. Now, I see that he is a coward who sends his sister to clean up his mess while he hides behind his title.”
Edwina was shocked, but she fought the urge to snap at him.
The Duke could not know about her brother’s addiction. She would not tell him about the sleepless nights she’d spent when her brother had chased London’s darker streets for another hit of laudanum. When he had found solace in the back streets among other addicts. She would not tell him about the mornings when her brother had stumbled into their home, his eyes dark with exhaustion, and yet a horrible, delusional grin on his face moments before he had collapsed.
It had been Edwina who had hauled her brother off the floor through all of that. It was she who had done her best to care for him and keep his addiction a secret. If she had to endure Lord Stockton, then she would have seen that through, too.
Now, the Duke of Stormhold had ruined that, and that terrified her. For now she had nothing else to offer if he decided not to trust her again.
