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“I... I... I...”

“What were you thinking!” he snarled again, somehow getting closer to her. She could feel his hot breath on her neck. She could feel the thumping of his heart... or perhaps that was her own. “Engaged? Engaged! Have you lost your mind.”

“It was an accident!” she cried, unable to look at him.

“It was no such thing.”

“I did not – I did not mean it!”

“And yet you said it. Unprovoked.”

“Your mother --”

“Do not blame my mother,” he snarled again. “She baited you, I will admit it. But you...” His laughter was cold and cutting. “You walked right into it like a damn mouse sniffing at cheese. I have never seen one so easily trapped.”

She winced, still unable to look at him. “I just... it was the way that she spoke of me – of us. I... I... I have a bad habit of speaking without thinking.”

“Is that your excuse? Your uncle told me that you were smart. He told me that you were unlike most other women of this insufferableton.” More laughter, just as cold. “It seems that he vastly overestimated you. As did I.”

“I am sorry...” she said in a whisper.

“Sorry? You think that will make a difference?” He did not shout. In fact, he had not raised his voice once. But he did not need to. The fact that he was able to speak so calmly, with such anger still inherent in his words, made him all the more terrifying.

And indeed, Isabella was terrified. She knew there was no need, that he would not hurt her. But logic did little in circumstancessuch as this, and still trapped between his arms, still feeling his warm breath on her neck, it was all she could do not to scream.

“I --” She caught her tongue and tried for a deep breath. She even forced herself to look at him... although it was more a glance, unable to meet his eyes. “I can tell them that I have changed my mind. That I misunderstood. That I was wrong and that we are not engaged.”

“And you think that will work?”

“It is worth a try.”

“You still do not understand, do you?” He leaned in closer, and she pressed her body harder against the door. “Pandora’s Box has been opened and there is no closing it.”

“But we can try!” She forced herself to look at him again, this time meeting his eyes. The fury that was present in them earlier was fading, now taken by a sense of regret.

“We cannot.”

“But --”

“I said no!” He shouted, raising his voice for the first time. She gasped and looked away once more, shrinking down as if she might just slip through the crack of the door if she wished it hard enough.

Shockingly, this was the moment that the Duke chose to calm down. As if he realized that he had gone too far. He dropped his hands from beside her head and took a step back. He cursed silently, ran a hand through his hair and turned his back on her.

“All you had to do was stay silent. And you could not even do that.”

“I am sorry...” Shame flooded her.

“Again, you say that you are sorry.” He chuckled coldly and turned around to face her again. No longer angry. No longer disgusted. Resigned, it appeared. Accepting the situation in a way that she had not yet been able. “I assure you, Miss Gouldsmith, you have not even begun to understand the depths of that word.”

“What... what does that mean?”

“It means that you have forced my hand. I have spent my entire life building a reputation that I take great pride in – one which I will not have tarnished because you could not keep your mouth shut for a single evening.”

“I –”

“My mother now thinks we are to wed. My grandmother thinks it. I told them it is so, and Iwill notgo back on my word. We have no choice. We are to be wed.”

Isabella gasped.