Page 17 of A Bride for the Wicked Duke (Claimed by Regency Devils #2)

Chapter Seventeen

"G erald, are you even listening to me?” Victor asked him.

“Of course I am,” Gerald said, even if he most certainly was not listening.

“Tell me then, what did I just say?”

Not only was Gerald not listening to Victor, but he wasn’t looking at him either. The two men were sequestered in Gerald’s study; Gerald sitting behind his desk, Victor sitting in front of it. Before them both were mounds of paperwork pertaining to their gaming house, as Victor had come here today so the two might get some work done – debts which needed to be sorted through so that they could be collected on. And where Victor had spent the last thirty minutes or so doing as he had come here to do, Gerald’s mind was keenly in other places.

He was looking past Victor of the moment, toward the closed office door. Unable to look away from it, it was all Gerald could do to keep his arousal at bay as he remembered two nights ago when he had Lady Hawkins bent over in front of that door as he spanked her.

Her big, round butt sticking out. Skin so creamy white. The way she pushed it back, wiggling it as she teased me. And the noises that escaped her each time I struck it…

He was losing his mind. His senses. His self-control! Gerald needed to focus. He needed to forget what had happened between them. He needed to remove Lady Hawkins from his thoughts, from his life before she undid him completely. But then he would look at that door again and the memories would return…

“Gerald?”

“You were speaking of Mr. Montague,” Gerald ventures, forcing his gaze from the door and back on Victor. Victor was frowning at him, annoyed it seemed, at being ignored. “And the debts he owes us.”

“Oh, well done,” he said dryly. “Do you care to comment on what was said? How much he owes? The interest! And how long overdue he is in making payments?”

“Ah…” Gerald swallowed. “Why don’t you remind me?”

Victor groaned. “As I have just done, you mean. Honestly, man! You refuse to come to the office, insisting that I make the trip out here. I do so, thinking that you might at least do me the courtesy of pretending that your head is on your shoulders. The least you can do in return is –”

“I am sorry, Victor,” Gerald spoke over him. “I am just a little distracted.”

“Clearly,” Victor scoffed. “Care to tell me to what this distraction pertains? Or do I need to guess?”

Again, Gerald looked at the closed door and his blood began to pump red and hot through his veins.

It had not meant to go that far with Lady Hawkins. And it very nearly hadn’t. Gerald had invited Lady Hawkins to his office precisely to prove that he would be able to control himself. To pay her a compliment and insist upon her relationship with Lord Mildenhall. If he was able to ensure that their budding relationship worked, then he would be free of her completely, which was what he wanted.

But he had found himself growing vexed to hear her speak of Lord Mildenhall. He had found himself not wanting them to be together. Undone and having lost complete control, Gerald gave in to his most base desires.

Worse than all of that, he could not say for sure if he was presented with the exact same set of circumstances, he wouldn’t do so again. What is happening to me?

“What are you looking at?” Victor caught the look in Gerald’s eye, turning to look at the empty doorway. “What is going on?”

Gerald baulked, unsure what to say, knowing that if he tried to lie then his friend would see right through him. Lucky that he was saved from such a thing as the door suddenly flew open.

“Brother.” Rosalind stood in the doorway, her expression set and brimming with determination. “I need to speak with you.”

“Ah, Lady Emerton!” Victor sat up. “This is a most pleasant surprise.”

Gerald glared at his friend before fixing that glare on his sister. “Now is not a good time, Rosalind. I am with company.”

“This will only take a moment.” She walked into the room without waiting for invitation. “I just wished to let you know that Aurelia and Violet have invited me to go shopping with them today, and I must leave at once if I plan on being on time.”

“You… what?” Gerald stammered.

“I will be out for the rest of the day.” It was not a question. “And I thought you ought to know.” She smiled politely and then turned to leave.

“Wait one minute,” Gerald called after her, rising from his chair. “Where do you think you are going?”

“I just told you,” she responded with innocence. “Do not worry, it will not be a long day. And I fully intend to be home by supper.”

“That is not the point,” he said angrily. “Not only do you come in here and make demands of me – to which you should know better. But…” He scowled at her, although she was not who he was angry with. Not really. “It is who you intend to spend the day with that I am forced to question.”

“Aurelia and Violet?”

“Lady Hawkins specifically.” Gerald did not care that she was spending time with Lady Hawkins. At least not as much as he pretended. The truth was, he knew Lady Hawkins to be more than what he had once thought, a true friend and someone who his sister could even learn from. But he was confused. Ashamed, also. He needed Lady Hawkins removed from his life, which meant that he needed her removed from his sister’s life as well. “You know how I feel about her and the two of you spending so much time together.”

She scoffed. “I know what you claim. But your actions suggest otherwise.”

Gerald felt his cheeks redden and his eyes widen, and he had to force himself not to look away as if he had been found out. “What… what does that mean?”

“Did you not invite her here two nights ago? And did you not allow me to attend her sister’s drum last week? You tell me not to spend time with Aurelia, but you continue to insert her into my life. It cannot be both, brother.”

“She has you there,” Victor chuckled.

He snarled at Victor and then did the same to Rosalind. “My actions are not to be questioned. Nor are my orders.”

“Orders?” Rosalind scoffed in a way that was very unlike her. No need to say where she learned that from. “I am not yours to order.”

“That is exactly what you are!”

She widened her eyes in anger. “Tell me what this is really about, for I know it has nothing to do with Aurelia. Not really. You just don’t like the idea of me acting without you – you want to control me until you can pass me off to whoever it is that you decide I am to marry. That is what this is. Do not lie to me.”

“Rosalind…” He groaned. “I told you already, did I not? That I apologize for how I have behaved concerning your prospects of marriage. I thought we were in agreement.”

“As did I,” she said hotly. “But you continue to try and control what I do.”

“I do not,” he huffed. “As I said, this is because I do not want you spending so much time with Lady Hawkins.”

“Because you worry that she will be a bad influence. Again, because all you can think about is who I will marry. And how quickly you can be rid of me.”

This line of argument was as unexpected as it was infuriating. Gerald had enough to deal with of the moment without having to worry himself with his sister’s tantrums and feigned conspiracies. Yes, Gerald still wished to see his sister wed, and as soon as was possible. But he was serious before when he had told her that he would stop putting so much pressure on her. Truly, he only wanted what was best!

Of course, he could not tell her the real reason that he was objecting. That he wanted nothing to do with Lady Hawkins, or his sister to have anything to do with her for that matter. Or rather, the reason he wanted nothing to do with her…

“This is not an argument,” he said through gritted teeth. “It is an order.”

She curled her lip. “And to think, Aurelia was defending you.”

“She…” Gerald blinked. “She was?”

“I do not know why,” Rosalind snarled. “For some reason, she seems to think that you are more than what you seem – she even went so far as to tell me that I ought to be grateful to have a brother who cares for me as you do.”

“She did?” Gerald asked with bewilderment.

“If she only knew the way you spoke about her behind her back, she might think differently. Perhaps I will tell her myself.” She raised her chin and turned on the spot to leave.

“We are not done here!”

“We are…” She spoke over her shoulder as she walked from the room. “I will be home by supper!” Once through the door, she slammed it closed behind her.

Gerald stayed standing, glued to the spot, stunned by what had just occurred.

His sister had never spoken to him like that. He had not thought her capable of such a thing! She was changing before his eyes, fighting against the rigged structure and expectational modes of decorum he had forced upon her shoulders since she was a little girl. He probably should have expected it, especially considering who she spent her time with…

He wanted to blame Lady Hawkins for this, as that felt easy to do. Alas, he knew the blame fell at his own feet. He was a hypocrite, the worst kind of person, and finally his sister was beginning to see him for who he was.

“How sweet,” Victor chuckled.

“Excuse me?”

“Lady Hawkins defending your honor…” He flashed his eyes knowingly at Gerald and Gerald felt his stomach twist because he knew that look well. “I wonder if she would do such a thing, if she knew what you were doing to her family.” He began to shuffle through the papers. “My oh my, they are in quite a bit of debt, aren’t they.”

Gerald groaned and collapsed back into his seat. “I am dealing with it.”

“Clearly not. I wonder if perhaps I should send some of my friends to pay her family a visit.”

“I am dealing with it,” he snarled. “And that is the end of the matter!”

This looked to be the exact response that Victor wanted. He grinned wickedly and knowingly, that sense that he could read Gerald like an open book. And if that was the case… I need to deal with this problem I have found myself in, and soon.

Gerald was confused. He was unsure. Yet he was also convinced that the sooner Lady Hawkins found herself a husband, the sooner all of this would be over. And he needed this to be over more than he had ever needed anything.