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It was only that things had come so far, and she really, really,reallydid not want her brother to die at the hands of the Duke of Wolverton.

But she really, really,reallydid not want to marry the loathsome Marquess of Colton either. That man simply sent shivers down her spine the way a ghastly,flyingcockroach might. If she had such visceral reactions to him in the parlor, in broad daylight, how would she react behind the closed doors of the bedroom?

Ruination by one of the most notorious rakes of England had been her only hope. She had not counted on her mama to rally enough courage to demand that the man take responsibility for the loss of her innocence.

“Mama.” She reached for her mother’s hands pleadingly. “I promise I shall explain later.”

Her mama regarded her with a suspicious look. “Five minutes,” she relented.

Scarlett balked at that. “Mama, that is hardly enough time for any sort of fruitful discussion.”

“I am not stupid, daughter.” The Dowager Countess eyed the Duke warily. “And I do not trust you alone withhim.”

The Duke looked as if he might object to that, so Scarlett quickly cut in, “A quarter of an hour! That should be enough.”

Her mama stood astonishingly firm. It was beginning to get rather frustrating that her mother, the very same woman who stood by and allowed her husband to overrule her on almost every single aspect of her life, would now find the courage to stand resolutely on her two feet.

Scarlett sighed, her shoulders dropping. “Ten minutes, then.”

“And not a moment longer.” Her mama glanced at the Wolf warningly. “Or I will come for you, and I will not be remotely discreet.”

The Duke of Wolverton looked as if he might have something to say to that threat, but Scarlett quickly stepped in before they exploded into another argument.

“You would not need to,” she quickly reassured her. “Your Grace?”

He looked as if he would rather stick sewing needles into his eyeballs than talk to her alone.

“The study,” he snapped at her, before turning on his heel and walking out of the parlor in angry strides.

Scarlett hurriedly trailed after him as her mother called after her once more, “Ten minutes, Scarlett! Or I will tear down this entire estate?—”

She sighed and followed him into the study. At least he still possessed the consideration to hold the door open for her—or so she thought.

The thud of the door behind her sounded like a nail being hammered into her coffin.

She lowered her gaze and bit her bottom lip. Now that she was alone with him, how was she to approach the matter without adding fuel to his anger?

“I am terribly sorry, Your Grace,” she began.

Apologies always worked with her brother, and she had learned that gentlemen were more keen to listen when they thought they had her in their grasp.

Instead, the Duke scoffed as he gazed at her coldly. “Subservience does not become you, My Lady. It reeks of inauthenticity.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You haveten minutes, I believe, before I kick you and your darling mama out of my home.”

Scarlett cringed at the harshness of his tone. She should have known the usual tactics would not work onhim. She also knew that he would not go easy on her just because she was a woman.

“I was running out of options, you see,” she explained, lifting her chin in defiance.

“Options?”

“Well, more like excuses.” She licked her lips nervously. “To not marry the man my brother chose for me.”The reptile.

He glared at her. “So, you thought to trapmein marriage instead?”

That sounded almost as ludicrous as Alexander coming out alive from a duel with the bloody Wolf.

Scarlett peered up at him—from the top of his unruly, dark hair, down to his bare, muscular forearms… further down to his legs and his scuffed boots—and gulped. There was no way in heaven anyone could forcehiminto something he did not want, most of all unholy matrimony.

“Of course, that was not my intention,” she amended hastily, waving her hands before her. “I merely told Mama that I hadkissed somebody, but she insisted on finding out, and your name might have popped out during that particular conversation…”