Page 58 of Her Runaway Duke
He could not allow that to happen.
“I do not recognize them,” he said, lifting a hand to shield his eyes to try to make them out, having to fight all that was within him to stop himself from turning around and running backward into the house. “They are all on horseback.”
“There are three of them,” she noted, and then gasped, her panic a squeeze around his heart.
“What is it?”
“The man in front… is my father.”
Levi wrapped his arm around her protectively, holding her close against him, wishing that he could hide her away to keep her safe and away from any harm.
But it was too late for that.
The arrival of these men was a reminder of one thing he’d had no choice but to learn – there was no hiding. For eventually, all truth came to light, and it was better to face it head on and address it rather than live in fear.
Levi had tried to fight before – for the life of his brother, for everything that he had held dear. He had failed then, and he vowed that he would do everything he could to be strong for Siena, to keep her safe from the harm that threatened, even if it was from her own family.
“I cannot go back, Levi,” she said, her voice just above a whisper. “Please, don’t let me go back.”
“I won’t,” he vowed, keeping her tucked into his side while they walked together to meet her father at the front of the drive. He wished that instead of just enjoying his time with her and forgetting all that could threaten, that he had done this the right way and had made her his wife in reality and not just in his dreams.
“There he is!” came the cry of her father, his arm outstretched toward the two of them as the men thundered up the drive. “Unhand my daughter!”
He rode stiffly, almost fighting his horse, his chin raised, exuding an air of superiority. His thin lips were pinched together, his gaze accusatory. Levi instantly hated him.
He came to a stop in fromt of them, and Levi took the moment to stand on the bottom stair and tower above him, showing him that he was not afraid and would not back down.
The men behind Lord Sterling appeared less confident, and Levi reminded himself that no matter what else was true, his title was higher than any of those before him could be.
“You,” Siena’s father said as he climbed the stairs toward the two of them. “You…beast. Killing your own brother wasn’t enough? You also had to kidnap my daughter?”
“Father, he did no such thing,” Siena said, trying to step in front of Levi, but he held her back. He wasn’t going to have her put herself in any danger, and he was certainly going to make sure that she stayed safe.
“I would never kidnap a woman,” Levi said, his voice low and steely, hoping that this man would understand that he was not a man to cross. “Nor would I ever take the life of anyone in my family.”
“No?” Lord Sterling sneered. “I have heard many things about you. The Duke of Death, they call you.”
“I did my duty in war,” Levi returned. “That has no bearing on my life now that I have returned.”
“You should be thanking him, Father,” Siena intervened. “Not only did he fight for our country, but he fought forme. If it wasn’t for him?—”
“Then you would be married to Lord Mulberry right now, where you belong,” her father finished.
“I most certainly do not!” Siena exclaimed, and as much as he hated this entire situation, Levi was proud of her for voicing her opinion, for standing up for herself.
“I will see you tried, and I will see you hanged,” Lord Sterling said, pointing a finger in Levi’s face. “The magistrate has accompanied me to see that all is returned as it should be and that you face the consequences you deserve. Grant, take him into custody.”
Levi reached up and wrapped his hand around Lord Sterling’s finger, squeezing it as he pushed it down between them.
“Show some respect,” Levi said, before turning to challenge the magistrate. “Well?”
The rather portly man stood behind Sterling, shifting from one foot to the other nervously. “My lord, you never told me the man in question was a duke.”
“He kidnapped my daughter!”
“Perhaps, but he is aduke. This is not a case for me. This is for the House of Lords.”
“But until then?—”
