Page 82 of Her Duke in Shining Armor
“He loves you, Eleanor,” Lady Darcy smiled. “A blind man can see that and no one can deny that you love him.”
“I do,” she added while moving away from the window. “I apologize for coming so late and…putting you, Mr. Wilcox and Aaron in danger.”
“There is nothing to be sorry for,” Lady Darcy replied. “Oberton can take care of himself and from what I have sensed, he will move the earth for you.”
Eleanor had to agree.
“Well, he’s off,” Mr. Wilcox stomped his boots. “Unhappy to leave, I must say but then, Oberton knows when to see the sensible side of things, well, most times, and knows not to push his luck.”
“Most times?” Eleanor asked.
Mr. Wilcox lips pressed together for a moment, “Oberton…he trusts his gut sometimes more than his head but he is rational when it counts.”
Will he and my father fight? Will they kill each other? Will I lose someone else in my life?
The worries were reflected on her face, and Lady Darcy could see it, “Let's get you to bed, Eleanor. You must be tired.”
Still worrying, Eleanor shot a look over her shoulder while Lady Darcy took her hand and led to a room down the hall. The gruesome image of Aaron, stiff and dead, made her soul go cold.
Be safe, Aaron, please be safe.
* * *
The clock struck three o’clock as Aaron stepped into his townhome and navigated the dark corridors by memory. He climbed the stairs and entered his bedroom with his body tired but his mind too active to let him rest.
Removing his cloak, boots, and waistcoat, he sank to his chair and though he yearned for a large glass of whiskey, knew he had to be level headed the moment Brisdane showed up at his door. Then the trepidation of Wyndrake was lingering at the back of his mind. Sighing, Aaron lifted his hand to rub at the back of his neck and felt the stiffness there.
Massaging the lines out, Aaron felt that Eleanor’s hands would be much more capable of releasing the layers of tension that were trapped in his muscles. He laid his pistol on the table and eyed it. If, God forbid, he had to use it on Brisdane then that was what he would have to do.
He would prefer for the Duke to be removed from his and Eleanor’s lives legally but if he was forced to play his hand, nothing would stop him. Making sure the gun was primed, Aaron disrobed fully and went to bed, only make plans and contingency plans for those plans. Finally, he slipped off to a fitful sleep a mere hour before dawn.
The single knock on his door woke Aaron before the other came. Instantly, he knew exactly why he had been woken…Brisdane. He had to have a level head but with less than two hours of sleep—Hell’s teeth—he was fit to be tied.
With no care to be ‘presentable,’ Aaron tugged on a robe and splashed some water over his face. There was no need for the security of arms so Aaron left the room without his pistol. Brisdane would not dare attack him. From the top of the stairs, he could hear Brisdane’s voice, rumbling like a boulder avalanching down a mountainside and his anger grew.
Aaron had barely stepped into view when the man spun on him. He was too sophisticated to snarl or hiss, but his dark glower was laden with promises of pain. “Where is she?”
“Care to be more specific?” Aaron asked glibly.
“Do not provoke me Oberton,” Brisdane said coldly. “Where is my daughter?”
“Lady Eleanor is not here,” Aaron said just as frostily.
“Where did you put her?” He snapped. “I know you had something do with her disappearance. She claims you love her. If you dared take her from my home, I swear to you, I will see you hanged.”
“Lady Eleanor is a grown woman,” Aaron said tightly as he advanced on the other duke. “She has a mind of her own, Brisdane, unlike the hundreds of sheep-like women you and your fellow old tyrants seem to choose and then walk over.”
Brisdane’s eyes boiled over with hate and his fingers formed a tight fist, “If she is here and you refuse to give her over to me, I will have this house broken down brick by goddamn brick and raze what is left to the ground.”
Aaron had enough and his tone was arctic, “The only thing you have on me Brisdane is your age and as I hold the same office, leverage, and power as you, I am not afraid of your bark or your bluster.”
“Let me tell you something—”
“No,” Aaron’s temper was at its limit. “Letmetell yousomething. You come into my home, unprovoked, at this ungodly hour, and abuse my unwilling hospitality and then,thenyou threaten me in my own home. If you dare accuse me again of any so-called crime or question my honor, I will have you meet me at dawn.”
“What can you do?” Brisdane’s voice was laden with contempt. “You are a mere boy.”
“With a proven gun hand and a bullet that never misses,” Aaron’s voice had gone deadly calm. “Now I suggest you reconsider your next words and act with the bare sliver of humanity I assume you still have so you can walk out of my home of your own volition. If not, I will have you manhandled and thrown out. Consider your options, Brisdane.”
