Page 49 of A Virgin for the Duke of Depravity
“Where do you think you are going?” Leo demanded when she did not speak.
He crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at her. He did not need to ask the question to know the answer.
“To my grandfather,” Margaret said.
He knew from her red-rimmed eyes that she felt this was inevitable. She had been crying because of what her grandfather had done, and he felt compelled to save her from him.
“You forget yourself,” he told her. She looked up at him, startled. “We have a deal, remember? You are stillmine.”
Margaret shook her head. A lone tear slipped from the corner of her eye and trailed down her cheek. She reached up quickly to wipe it away as if she did not want Leo to see how much this decision pained her.
“No,” she said firmly. “I was never yours to claim. And now, I never will be.”
She turned back to the wardrobe and started to flip through the remaining dresses hanging on the rack. Unable to take another moment of this unimaginable refutation of his claim on her, he crossed the room in two large strides and grabbed her arm, turning her around to face him.
“You mean to say that you were not mine when you moaned my name?” His eyes glinted in the light streaming through the window, his grip tightening on her arm as he thought about the way she writhed beneath his touch. “You were not mine when you came on my hand?”
She narrowed her eyes at him, and her skin flushed pink, though he was certain that it was not from embarrassment. The fire he had stoked was anger, not shame. She yanked her arm out of his grasp and took a step back from him.
“That meant nothing, Leo,” she snapped. Then, her expression softened just a bit. “They were good moments, and I will always cherish them. But those moments cannot protect me from my fate.”
“Yourfate?” Leo echoed, incredulous. “Three hours ago, you were prepared to pledge your life to the Lord and thought that was your fate. How can you be sure now that you must go to your grandfather?”
“This is how it was supposed to happen,” she said. “All I know is that the Lord works in mysterious ways. If there is one thing I learned, it is that. My time is up. It is time I embrace the situation I’ve found myself in.”
This type of talk made Leo’s blood simmer because he knew that she did not truly believe it. Instead of arguing with her, he reached out and grabbed her wrist. Pulling her along, he marched out of her chambers and into the hall.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To show you who really controls your fate.”
CHAPTER 13
Margaret blinked, willing her eyes to adjust to the light so that she could get her bearings. Leo marched purposefully forward. His fingers were still wrapped around her wrist, his touch rougher than usual.
She did not mind nearly as much as she protested.
When they left the gardens and turned onto the main street, he finally dropped her wrist and picked up his pace. She scrambled after him, still not sure where he was leading her after their confrontation in her rooms.
“When will you tell me where we are headed?”
“To the one place you have begged me to let you in,” Leo said, glancing back at her.
His eyes were darker than usual. Even though his expression was often severe, Margaret could not help noticing the firm set of his mouth now.
The one place I have begged him to let me in?
Margaret could not think of any place. They had walked through the orangery and gone to the opera. Where else could he possibly be taking her?
They walked in tense silence through the streets. Leo walked with a sense of purpose, and she could see why so many people feared him. But she could not bring herself to be afraid of him. She could not find it within her to worry about where they were headed.
Finally, he paused at the entrance to the building she stumbled upon that fateful night they met. He had brought her to Olympus.
He took the key out of his pocket and opened the large door for her, ushering her inside. He closed the door behind them and locked it, ensuring that no one would be able to follow them inside.
Margaret felt a small thrill of anticipation run through her veins. Shehadwanted to be a part of his life here at Olympus, but now she was not as sure that she was ready for it. The Earl would claim her life.
Olympus felt like it existed in another world.
