Page 6 of Duke of Diamonds
Isaac’s jaw tightened. The last man he wished to encounter tonight, or ever, stood mere feet from him, and though Aaron wore his usual veneer of civility, Isaac could read the disdain beneath it like a ledger.
Lady Fiona hesitated only a fraction before placing her hand into the earl’s. The moment she did, Canterlack drew her to his side with just enough force to rouse Isaac’s ire.
“Easy with the lady,” Isaac said, his tone low, edged with warning.
“Oh, I must have stumbled on my hem,” Lady Fiona said quickly, her voice light, followed by a nervous laugh. “How clumsy of me.”
But Isaac wasn’t fooled. There had been no stumble. Only discomfort.
His eyes swept over her—no bruised pride or twisted ankle, but something had shifted. The spark she’d carried during their dance, the subtle defiance and wit—it had dimmed the moment her hand touched Canterlack’s.
“You heard her,” Canterlack said, that same smug challenge dancing behind his calm exterior. “She stumbled, Craton.”
Isaac’s gaze remained fixed on the earl, unflinching. “It seems the years have not burdened you with any newfound compassion,” he said evenly. “Nor shame, for that matter. Particularly where the treatment of ladies is concerned.”
That landed. Briefly, Canterlack’s eyes narrowed.
“I do not see you for years,” the earl replied with a snort of disdain, “and yet the first time I do, you are making wild accusations and attempting to order me about.”
Isaac’s silence was sharp, seething beneath a mask of civility.Nothing changes. Not the lies, not the arrogance, and certainly not the way he handles women.
Lady Fiona looked between them now, brows furrowing, her mouth parting as if she meant to speak but thought better of it. Uncertainty clouded her features, as though she wished to intercede yet understood that whatever lay between them stretched far beyond a single evening.
The tension in the air was near suffocating. Isaac could feel it crawling beneath his skin.
He gave a curt nod. “Enjoy the remainder of your evening, Lady Fiona.”
And with that, he turned on his heel and walked away, leaving the stifling atmosphere behind. But even as the crowd swallowed him once more, a single question lingered in his thoughts, pressing insistently:
What is she to him, that she should look so subdued?
The Lady Fiona who had sparred with him mere moments ago had vanished the instant Canterlack laid claim to her hand. Isaac could not help but find that change… unsettling.
What on earth had that been?
Fiona’s thoughts spun in quiet disarray as Canterlack led her from the dance floor with a grip that bordered on firm. The lingering tension between him and the Duke clung to her, leaving her unsettled in a way she could not name.
The chill in the air between the two men had not been imagined, nor had the glint of long-held resentment she’d seen in the Duke’s eyes. She had half a mind to ask Aaron about it, to inquire into the origin of such animosity, but thought better of it.
It would do no good to invite another lecture or thinly veiled dismissal.
“I daresay I ought to give you more of my attention at these events if it shall keep you away from unsavoury company,” Aaron said lightly, his chuckle thin as he guided her toward the floor where the quadrille was forming.
Fiona blinked at him.Unsavoury company?
“I beg your pardon?” she asked, her tone dipped in polite confusion.
“Craton,” he said smoothly, as if discussing the weather. “He is not a man you should find yourself speaking to. Let alone dancing with.”
There was a warning in his voice, subtle yet unmistakable—like the blade of a knife concealed beneath velvet.
“But he approachedme,” Fiona replied, trying not to sound defensive. “And requested the honour of a dance. Am I to scandalise the room by refusing a duke’s invitation?”
Aaron’s smile remained, though it hardened at the edges. “Of course not. Perish the thought.”
She watched him closely. The lines of his mouth were still, but something cold had crept into his eyes.
“I only wish for your safety, Fiona dear,” he added, as if that explained everything.
