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He was so deep in thought that he didn’t notice Joana had walked up to him.

“Oh, Edward.”

That was all the warning he got before she planted her lips on his.

He froze for less than a second and then pushed her off him, glaring at her. “Don’t ever do that again,” he warned, wiping the taste of her off his lips.

“Why not?” she asked, pouting as tears filled her eyes. “I just want to help you forget her. See how she’s hurt you?”

Edward stared at her, wondering when she’d become such a cunning woman, using tears to get what she wanted. It was a clear contrast from Arabella, who didn’t play such paltry games.

He wondered why Joana would even think to do something as absurd as kissing him when he’d never shown any romantic interest in her.

“Because, Joana, I am married,” he explained, choosing to believe perhaps she was confused.

“But she doesn’t even want to be married to you!” she cried, trying to put her hands on his chest. “She has deceived you and hurt you. Let me help you forget her. You and I were meant to be together from the beginning.”

He grabbed her hands before she could touch him and pushed her off him, not caring how her face crumpled.

“I never had any intentions of marrying you or anyone else,” he told her. “I see you as nothing more than a sister.”

“But you married her!” Joana cried, startling him. “I’ve known you longer than she has. I know everything about you and have kept your secrets. I have seen your secret smiles and how you watch me when I walk. How can you say you don’t love me?”

She looked so unlike herself that he couldn’t believe it. Neither did he care. His skin crawled where she’d touched him, and he couldn’t believe she’d even kissed him.

He was still having a hard time believing that Arabella had truly said she wanted their relationship to end and was determined to get the truth from the source. He was tired of hiding and burying things. He wanted to know—no,neededto know if they were going to remain married.

“I did marry her, and I hope you remember that,” he warned her. “I will forget what you did tonight, but I warn you never to attempt such folly again.”

“What does she have that I don’t?” he heard her whimper as he stepped out the door, heading towards Arabella’s chamber.

He couldn’t help but recall how his wife’s eyes crinkled at the corners when she laughed, or her uncontrollable love for sweets. He loved how polite she was to the servants and how she’d immediately integrated herself into his family.

He loved how, in just a few days, she’d turned his whole world upside down and wrecked the self-control that had been his pride, making him feel so many confusing things all at once.

He’d written bloody poetry about her!

He loved…

He loved her.

And he didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing that he had fallen in love so quickly, when he’d said he wasn’t capable of such a paltry emotion. Yet, it had crept up on him like a slow stream, knocking down the walls he’d built around his heart.

“Fuck,” he breathed, drawing to a halt.

He loved her.

Somehow, he’d come to love his wife, and he didn’t know how to feel about it.

Fear snaked down his spine as he wondered if she’d really said those things, but he pushed forward.

He needed to know the truth of her heart. If she did want to end things, he’d make a good case for them. There was no way he would let her go so easily now that he realized how much he wanted her.

ChapterSeventeen

“Mmh,” Arabella groaned as she started to regain consciousness and pain began to creep into her awareness.

She tried to move her hands to the sore spot that throbbed at the back of her head, but she found she couldn’t move, as her hands had been tied behind her back. Her eyes popped open, barely registering the unfamiliar room as she flailed.