Page 35 of A Duchess in Ten Days (Icy Dukes #2)

"Try to protect me with your body," he said, taking her hand into his. "I don't think I could live with myself if anything happened to you."

Just as Lavinia opened her mouth to respond, David stormed in, his face a mix of worry and frustration. His eyes darted between her and Andrew before landing on Lavinia.

"Lavinia!" David exclaimed, his voice strained with concern. "What on earth were you thinking? Walking away from me like that. Father's been beside himself with worry! Look at this mess! Did he do something? Did he hurt you?" His words tumbled out in a rush.

Lavinia, still trying to steady her breath, winced at his words. She didn't know how to explain it, how to convey the emotional turmoil she'd been through. But before she could speak, her brother was already pacing, turning back and forth, muttering under his breath.

He stopped and sighed. "I guess I'm just glad you're safe. Come, I'll take you home."

Andrew tightened his grip on Lavinia's hand.

His eyes were soft but filled with a silent pleading, as if asking her to make a choice that would ease the storm brewing between them.

He didn't speak, not yet. He simply watched her with an intensity that made her heart race, his gaze conveying everything he couldn't say aloud.

Lavinia lifted her chin, her voice steady as she turned to her brother. "I'll go home with my husband, David," she said. "We need to talk."

David glanced at Andrew then turned back to Lavinia. "Are you certain you are ready for the talk?"

"No." She shook her head. "But it's best we do it now."

Lavinia didn't know how to break the silence in the room, and maybe, she thought, neither did Andrew.

She sat on the bed in her room, staring at her fingers. Andrew sat on the other side of the bed, also staring down at his hands. He was hurt. She could see a cut on his hand. A sharp one that he couldn't have gotten from his tussle with Robert.

"What happened?" she asked him, gesturing at the wound. "Did you cut yourself?"

Andrew looked down at his hands again. "A glass...shattered. It's a small cut."

"You should be more careful," she said softly. "That must hurt."

"I think we should call the physician," he said to her. "You were kidnapped. Just to be safe."

"I'm fine," she said to him.

"You have marks on your wrists from where he tied your hands," Andrew insisted. "On your cheek as well. You must also have a headache from the substance he used to knock you unconscious."

"Andrew..." she said quietly. "I am fine. If anyone needs the physician, it's you."

"Lavinia, I am so sorry," Andrew said to her. "I...I have a confession to make."

Lavinia's eyes widened. "Another one?"

"It's still regarding our current situation," he explained. "Earlier today, I was speaking to Solomon and I told him that I was fine with letting you go if that would make you happy. I figured since I cannot give you the happiness that you so desire, then I had no right to keep you as my wife."

"You were willing to let me go?" Her voice wavered.

She had known that they were both struggling—each in their own way—but to hear him say it so plainly, as if he had already resigned himself to the idea of losing her, was a blow that pierced through the fragile walls of her heart.

"I was," he said lowly. Slowly, he moved to her side and sat with his back against the headboard.

"During the ride back home, I kept thinking about how.

..utterly terrified I felt thinking that I lost you forever.

It made me realize that I claim I am willing to let you go, but I am scared of the loneliness that will follow. "

Andrew sat up and took her hand into his. "Before you came into my life, I was comfortable with my loneliness. I filled that void with...questionable activities that I am not proud of. But then I got a taste of this life and...I don't want to go back to that."

Andrew drew in a nervous breath and his grip on her hand tightened.

"Lavinia, I can try to let go of this grudge that I am holding within.

I have been punishing myself by staying away from what we could be.

I want to give that future a chance. The future that you want.

I will admit that I am scared of it, but all I am asking is that you take a leap of faith with me.

Because I cannot lose you. I don't want to. "

Lavinia took a slow breath, her hands trembling as she reached for him. The rawness of everything that had been said and unsaid between them overwhelmed her, but it was too much to ignore.

Without a word, she leaned in, her arms wrapping around him in a tight embrace. The moment their bodies connected, she felt a rush of relief, of warmth...of him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, allowing herself a moment to gather her thoughts before she spoke again.

"I was upset, Andrew," she whispered, still holding him tightly.

"But what I didn't want to admit to myself was that I was upset because you were not who I thought I wanted for my life, and I still wanted you that way.

I was angry that I was even considering choosing you above all else. But it makes sense to me now."

She pulled away gently and let out a sigh.

"Love makes you do strange things. It makes you understand even the most bizarre of things.

It makes you accept things you probably would never have otherwise opened your mind to.

I understand now. I understand why you said what you did, and why you did what you did.

It's your life...you lived it. You know it better than anyone else would. "

Her hands cupped his face as she looked up at him. "I don't want to pressure you. I never wanted to do that. But I know that you can be happier, Andrew. What I want more than anything is you. I want us. We can take our time with everything. We can figure it out, step by step."

Lavinia placed a soft kiss on his lips. "I just want you," she whispered. "My heart only wants you."

Lavinia's heart was racing, her chest rising and falling with every breath, but for the first time in days, it wasn't from fear or anxiety. It was from the warmth and tenderness that Andrew had wrapped around her like a protective cloak.

"I love you," he said, and she could see the sincerity in his eyes. Those simple words sent a rush of warmth flooding through her.

Lavinia's heart fluttered in her chest as Andrew's lips met hers.

When she kissed him back, her hands threading through his hair, Andrew leaned in, deepening the kiss.

He cupped her face with both hands, holding her in place as if he was scared she'd slip away.

Lavinia melted in his arms, allowing him to take control.

The peace she felt in that moment was something she wouldn't trade for the world.

When he pulled away, his breath was uneven, his forehead resting against hers as if he, too, needed this moment of connection to ground him.

"I love you, Lavinia," he repeated. "I loved you even when I didn't know how to."

Lavinia let out a shaky breath as her tears finally spilled over, hot trails of emotion slipping down her cheeks.

She had spent so long believing that happiness was just beyond her grasp, that love—true, unwavering love—was something she would never be fortunate enough to have.

But now, as Andrew held her, as he spoke those words with such sincerity in his eyes, it felt as if the universe had finally decided to be kind to her.