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And Evie wanted children. A family.

She had so much love to give, so much happiness she could bring to the world. If she remained married to him, his darkness would consume them both until there would be nothing left of her light.

He would take and take and take until there was nothing left of her.

“Then you are a fool, Daniel,” Hudson murmured, sounding tired. “You are a fool for letting a foolish man—a dead one, at that—dictate your future and your happiness, and by doing so, you have damned her with you.”

Daniel watched as his friend stood up with a cold expression on his face.

“If you had known this was going to happen, then Colin was right—you should have stayed the hell away from her.”

It was the most that Hudson had ever said to him in recent times, and the truth of his words gutted him.

As he sat there alone in his study, his head in his hands, Daniel honestly wished that he at least had the decency to leave Evie alone.

But he damned well did not, and that was his greatest sin.

CHAPTER 33

“You look as if you need some rest.”

Daniel looked up from his documents and glared icily at the Dowager Duchess, who serenely took the seat closest to his desk. In return, she simply smiled back at him.

“Caroline,” he seethed. “I am currently not in the mood to play along.”

“Oh, I would not dream of it, my boy. I know better than to poke the bear, so to speak.”

“So, you should be well aware that I do not want to seeanyoneright now.”

Last night, it had been Hudson. Now, Caroline was intent on seeing just how far they could test his patience.

Truthfully, he was losing his grip on both his tolerance and his sanity.

“Well, I had the most delightful afternoon at Blackthorn Estate,” she said with a slight laugh. “The new Duchess is a nice young woman. Your friend is certainly very lucky.”

If Colin still considers me a friend.

They had not spoken since the day Colin returned from his honeymoon and demanded that he return Evie to Blackthorn Estate, and as much as his pride refused to admit it, he missed his old friend.

Well, not as much as he missedhis sister. But that was another point entirely.

“YourDuchess was there, too,” Caroline continued breezily, seemingly aware of the forbidding expression on his face. “She looked much better than the last time I had seen her, but I suppose you already know that.”

“What do you mean by that?” he demanded.

“I meant,” she clarified with a stern look. “That you still have her maid in your pocket and that you have been keeping watch on her from afar.”

It would seem that she was done beating around the bush. That was well and good, for Daniel was tired of playing games himself.

“So what if I do?” He shrugged. “I merely wanted to make sure she was all right.”

“So youdocare for her.”

More than you can ever imagine,he wanted to say. Instead, he bit back the words and chose not to say anything more that might only serve as ammunition for Caroline.

“Well, let me tell you something your spies failed to tell you,” she huffed. “The poor dear looks visibly well, but I can tell that she has hardly been sleeping. She smiles, yes, but only out of politeness and nothing more. There is no laughter in her eyes and in her heart.”

Daniel sucked in a deep breath at her brief summation of Evie’s current state.