Page 105 of His Grace, the Duke
“I’m serious,” he said, flopping by her side on the sofa. “Cabbage, you were brilliant. You really held your own... but I must know what you said. I really think she was ready to kill you.”
“You exaggerate.”
“Men on the battlefield have witnessed less malice,” he countered, his tone one of awe. “You turned her feral with a word. What did you say?”
A fresh wave of embarrassment flooded her cheeks. “I, um... I may have said something rather crude. She took offense...”
“I am quite literally on the edge of my seat,” he said with a grin, leaning forward.
His eagerness made her smile despite the surge of embarrassment flowing through her. “If you think I’m going to reveal my disgrace to you, you’re wrong, sir.”
Before he could protest, there was a knock on the door that had them both turning. The footmen swung it open, and Tom pressed in, eyes wide as he locked his gaze on her. He looked as though he ran the length of the house. “What the hell happened?”
Rosalie couldn’t bear to look at him. She bolted off the sofa, slapping the glass of port down as she crossed to the other side of the room.
“Rose, what happened?” Tom pressed, moving around the sofa towards her.
She spun around, holding up a gloved hand. “Stop. Don’t come any closer.” She couldn’t bear it. She didn’t trust herself.
Tom’s heated gaze swept over her, his eyes narrowing with shock, then anger. “Christ, are you hurt?”
“Your little lioness got herself into a bit of a scrap,” the duke explained.
“What?” Tom barked, eyes darting between them. “With whom? Why?”
She held his gaze, her emotions burning through her chest. Anger, want, shame, need. How could she feel so much at once? Her heart was pounding so loud she was sure they could all hear it.
The duke just chuckled, shifting around the sofa. He passed a side table and plucked a shiny black piece off a chess board, holding it up in the candlelight. “Because in chess, as innature, my dear Renley, a queen must always protect her king.” Smirking, he tossed it.
With the deft reflexes of a sailor, Tom snatched the queen piece from the air, glancing down at it with a frown.
The duke cuffed his shoulder. “I mean to see that my ward gets whatever she wants. And for some unknowable reason, she wants you.”
Tom’s eyes shot up to Rosalie, his gaze blazing hot enough to burn.
The duke cast a wink over his shoulder at Rosalie before glowering at the sailor. “Ruin this chance, and I will personally see to it that the grandest ship you ever captain is a dinghy.” With that, he left.
Rosalie stood alone in the room with Tom.
“Rosalie, please tell me what the hell is happening.”
49
Rosalie
Rosalie paced away.She couldn’t bear to look at Tom. She couldn’t breathe. This torrent of emotions threatened to tear her apart. Since these men came storming into her life, she felt each bar that made up the cage of her heart rattled and tested for weaknesses. If she wasn’t careful, the right word or look or gentle touch would become her undoing.
“Rose,” Tom growled, slapping down the chess piece on the side table.
She ignored him with a shake of her head, pacing to the other side of James’ study. She had to stay strong. She had to stay safe. She wanted more than bars on a cage. She wanted walls, walls, higher and higher walls.
Safer alone. Always alone.
“Christ, Rose,talkto me.” Tom was quiet for a moment, watching her pace. “Oh shit...” And then she knew he knew. “It was Marianne... wasn’t it?”
“Don’t say that name in my presence again,” Rosalie snapped, her eyes locking on him as she swept around the chairs. “It is unspeakable between us now. Do you understand?”
Tom snatched her arms at the elbows and pulled her close. His intoxicating scent enveloped her—salt and sea and sun. She bit back a whimper, even as she tensed at his touch.
