Page 18 of A Duchess to Unravel (The Devil’s Masquerade #3)

CHAPTER TEN

“ N orma!” Theo exclaimed happily.

She dropped her new list into Mrs. Mackenzie’s hands and hurried toward her maid. It had only been two days since Theo had arrived at the castle, but her heart swelled with happiness when she saw the familiar face.

“My lady!” Norma said excitedly back, curtseying deeply. “My goodness, what a vast place! And so far away from London!”

“Oh, I know,” Theo sighed, gesturing for Norma to come along with her. “It is vast indeed. And decrepit. It will need so much work. However, I am actually quite pleased with the distance from London. Despite all this massive stone, it truly is quite beautiful out here.”

“Oh, I am sure that it is, my lady,” Norma replied.

From behind them, Theo heard the large doors open again, and she turned to see Jonas, Ailean, Callum, and Gavin carrying the rest of her belongings into the house.

“They will need more help,” Norma mentioned. “Lord Briarwood not only sent along your things but an entire wagon of gifts well.”

Theo smiled as she felt a pang move through her heart.

He might not have been thrilled about her decision to marry Alistair but his love for her clearly had not faded.

She made a mental note to write him a letter as soon as possible and let her know how she was doing.

That was, when she figured out how she was doing.

Her conflicting feelings toward her new husband had her most confused.

How was it possible to crave the touch of someone whom she mostly argued with?

“I am afraid they will have to handle the job themselves,” Theo replied, “At the moment we only have a staff of twelve. Or, thirteen, now that you are here. Perhaps His Grace has a valet, but I have not seen.”

Norma’s eyes widened with shock.

“Only twelve for this entire castle, my lady?”

“I know,” Theo groaned. “It is ghastly. I plan to speak with His Grace on the matter soon. Not just more staff, but workers. There is much construction to be done.”

Norma gave her a kind look and glanced bashfully at the floor.

“And, if I may ask, how are you and His Grace getting along? Well, I do very much hope.”

It was Theo’s turn to look at the floor, and she brought her hands together to fidget with her fingers.

“In truth I have not seen him since we arrived,” Theo confessed.

“Oh,” Norma sighed, “I—well—if—perhaps …”

“Do speak freely with me, Norma,” Theo insisted, leading her toward a room that she had decided would be a parlor. “I sense you are apprehensive about something.”

“Well,” Norma said, then paused, giving Theo a strained look, “It is only rumors. Foolish talk, I am sure, Your Grace. But I have worried for you.”

A smile twitched at Theo’s lips and she reached out to pat Norma’s hand.

“You have no need,” she replied. “It is not that I am afraid of him. I have just, well, I have had a lot to get used to. And His Grace had mentioned there were many matters of business he had to attend to. I must speak with him soon, though. We truly do need more help.”

“Please forgive me,” Norma said hurriedly, “I did not mean to pry.”

“No forgiveness needed, Norma. It warms my heart to know that you have such care for me,” Theo replied. “And that you were willing to follow me out here. You could have obtained other employment in the city quite quickly I would think.”

“Never,” Norma replied, smiling. “You are my mistress. I am happy to serve you for as long as you will have me.”

“Then we shall be together quite a long time,” Theo stated, smiling back.

“Right then, my lady. I should very much like to get to work. I have much to unpack for you and I will be happy to lend a hand wherever it is needed.”

Theo nodded and called Mrs. Mackenzie over. After she made introductions and took her list back, Mrs. Mackenzie led Norma away to show her to Theo’s rooms. Left alone, Theo sighed and looked down at her list. It was several pages already and getting longer by the day.

“I am being foolish,” she murmured aloud.

Not about the list, though. About Alistair. It wasn’t just the list she wanted to talk to him about. She wanted another lesson. Had thought about it since she’d fantasized about his hands on her.

You come to me when you are ready for those lessons.

Alistair’s words echoed in her head. He’d given her the freedom to take things at her own pace.

Had seemed as if he would enjoy it. Yet he had not talked to her or even come looking for her once since they’d arrived.

Though she was not sure why, Theo was bothered by that.

What if he truly did not want to? What if he had played some twisted trick to convince her to say yes to marrying him?

“Stop,” Theo said aloud, shaking her head to disperse the doubt. “You are not this woman. You are a strong, intelligent lady, and if you have questions, you ask them. If you have demands, you make them.”

She gave a single, firm nod of affirmation to herself, folded up the pages of her list, and began to march up the stairs.

“What a devil of a mess,” Alistair muttered, throwing the account book onto his desk.

He groaned, rubbed his eyes, and shook his head.

He stood up, putting his hands on his hips, looked down at the numeric chaos before him.

He was doing his best to make sense of the disastrous ledgers his late uncle had kept, and he still had no idea what he was looking at.

How Seraphina’s father had maintained his businesses and his wealth was an entire mystery to Alistair.

The London accounts had been the complete opposite of the Caldermere ones.

Organized, accurate, backed up by accountants and notes.

The ones before him now though almost seemed purposely confusing.

As if the man had been trying to hide something.

That, or he truly had no care if the people of Caldermere thrived or not.

“What?”

He snapped when he heard a knock on the door as he continued to look down at the pile of opened account books. Alistair heard the door open, waited for someone to speak. He assumed it was Mr. Mackenzie, or his valet, Leckie, and began to grow impatient with the silence.

“I said what do you--oh.”

The harsh words he had at the ready died as he looked up and saw Theo standing at the door, his body instantly reacting to the sight of her.

Her brilliant blue eyes shone with amusement as she lifted a dark brow and smirked, as if she knew the effect she had on him.

He frowned at the thought and straightened his stature.

He was glad that she was attracted to him and more thrilled that he was so attracted to her, but that did not mean that she got to smirk at him like that.

“You look as tense as I feel, Your Grace.” Theo remarked.

Alistair dropped his tense shoulders and gave her a rueful smile.

“You are dealing with a mess as well?” He asked, waving her further into the room.

“If you are referring to this crumbling castle, yes,” she agreed, taking a seat, “I am indeed dealing with a mess.”

Alistair chuckled, and picked up one of the account books only to drop it back onto his desk.

“Shall we trade? You try to make sense of these accounting books and I shall take over the castle?” He teased, and was rewarded with a laugh from Theo.

“With whatever it is that has kept you locked in here for almost two days? No, I do not believe so. But I do need to speak with you about some accounting matters.”

Alistair’s eyes widened at her words.

“Two days? Goodness, have I truly been in here that long?” He asked. He shook his head, barely believing it.

His attention to detail sometimes overrode his more common sensibilities, but he’d never lost track of time like this before.

“Apologies,” he went on. “I did not realize. Of course we may speak. I had intended to find you when I better understood the accounts but I suppose I never found that understanding.”

To his surprise, Theo looked almost relieved at his words.

“So, you were not avoiding me?” She asked.

Alistair smirked.

“Why would I do that? I am a busy man--” he paused sweeping a hand toward the mess upon his desk, “obviously, but I do not avoid anyone.”

He raised a brow and made a show of raking his eyes down her body. “Especially my new partner.”

Theo’s brows rose in surprise.

“You see me as a partner?” She asked.

“This is a surprise to you? We have a deal, do we not?” He asked.

“It is just very modern of you,” Theo replied, “To see a woman as a partner.”

“When it comes to business, one must evolve with the times. A stale plan does not make money or success,” he told her.

Alistair studied her face, trying to get a read on her emotions. The surprise was gone, but she did not look quite pleased by his words either.

“Well,” she huffed, “As your partner I must tell you that your investment of this place is questionable. It needs much work. Far more than can be done by just the small staff you have on hand. We need at least twenty more people, closer to forty just for the upkeep. Not to mention construction experts, architects, masons, designers--”

“So, hire them,” he stated, then shrugged.

Theo blinked.

“Just like that? No argument?”

Alistair chuckled, then walked to the drink cart. He poured a goblet of red wine and a tumbler of scotch for himself.

“You expected such?” He asked.

“Well, arguing seems to be the one thing we can do together,” she replied, her tone wrought with dry humor.

“I seem to recall other things,” he murmured, handing her one of the goblets.

Theo’s cheeks flushed, but instead of responding to his quip, looked at the goblet and asked, “You remembered I liked red wine?”

“Details are important to success,” he said, maintaining eye contact.

Again, Theo did not respond. Instead, she brought the goblet to her lips and took a long sip.

“I am not blind,” Alistair went on. “I am aware of how much work this place needs. It is why I gave you the responsibility. It is far too large a project for me to take on while trying to sort the mess that is these accounts. You do not need to come to me for permission to do something I already asked you to.”

“But it is your money that will be spent,” she replied.

“And I have no doubt you will spend it well,” he chuckled, pointing the folded papers in her hand. “I shall settle any bills you accrue as they come in, but I do not have the time to approve every little item on your list.”

Theo’s lips settled into a straight line, and as she quickly stood up. She put down her wine and swept her hands down her skirts, clearly annoyed.

“I see,” she huffed. “Well, then. I apologize for taking up your precious time, Your Grace. I shall let you get back to your work.”

Alistair set his own glass down and reached for her, his fingers circling around her wrist. He almost laughed aloud when she nearly swept herself off her feet by his loose and but obviously strong hold.

He, however, did not even sway as she pulled away from him.

She turned her head and glared at him, and then he did laugh.

“That is not funny!” She exclaimed.

“Apologies,” Alistair chuckled, “I forgot how small you are compared to me.”

Theo swept her eyes down his body and raised a brow.

“How? You are a giant. Everyone is smaller than you.”

Alistair ignored the snark in her tone and caressed his thumb across her knuckles.

“I did not mean that I had no time for you, Theo,” he told her. “I just do not waste any of it on pointless matters.”

Theo softened, but only a little.

“Is there …” he paused, letting his eyes drop to the swell of her breasts, “Anything else you want to ask me?”

Alistair flicked his eyes back to hers, and pleasure surged through him as he saw her pupils dilate and her cheeks flush, her anger gone.

“Yes,” she breathed.