Page 43 of A Duke Reformed (Icy Dukes #3)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

" Y ou could have blocked that," Solomon rasped, putting his gloved hands down. "My apologies, Andrew."

Andrew adjusted his stance, hit by a punch that forced him to stumble back.

He narrowed his eyes, watching Solomon. "If it has been a punch of a sober man, then perhaps.

.. yes, I could have blocked that. But, right now, I can't even tell if you're in this ring or still lost somewhere else. Your movements are erratic."

"I just need to find my rhythm," Solomon answered. "I'll concentrate better."

"I think you've thrown enough heavy punches for the day, Your Grace," Andrew said, taking his gloves off. "I would continue, but my wife loves this handsome face and I would hate for any harm to come to it."

Solomon looked to the side, chuckling. "I apologize again. It was not my intention to harm your... handsome face."

"What's going on with you, Solomon?" Andrew asked, his voice lower, more concerned than it had been earlier. "I thought you had figured this all out."

Solomon, still breathing hard, began to take off the gloves on his hands. "No, my friend. Things got rather complicated. Not what I expected at all."

"I could tell," Andrew teased. "It was almost as if you saw me as the object of your frustration."

Solomon let out a dry laugh, finally pulling off his gloves and tossing them aside. He wiped his face with a towel, leaned on the ropes, taking a deep breath.

"She won't talk to me," he finally said.

"I'm still figuring out how to cross that hurdle and get her to actually have a conversation without slipping away, but it's proving futile.

I don't want to call on her. It might put her in a tight spot with her father.

But she doesn't come out of the house. I don't see her at the park, or anywhere else. "

"She's hiding?" Andrew asked, putting his gloves aside too.

"That she is," Solomon said with a sigh.

"Must be maddening, right?" Andrew questioned, leaning on the rope by his side. "Not being able to express yourself."

"Exactly," Solomon muttered, pulling the towel from his neck and wiping his brow.

"In business, I've always been in control.

I make decisions, I handle the risks, and I know how to manage everything.

Everything. I don't believe that there is a contingency I cannot be prepared for.

But with her, it's different. It's as if everything I've learned about controlling situations. .. doesn't apply."

Andrew nodded. "You're used to being the one who calls the shots, and now you find yourself powerless when it comes to her. There are no shots to call. You sometimes don't even know what to say."

"Exactly," Solomon said, frustration creeping into his voice.

"This might not be a good thing, but I have never really cared what anyone thought of me.

There have been rumors about me for years now even before this title.

I never cared. Never batted an eye. Suddenly, I care so much about what she thinks of me.

What she wants... why she wants them. I keep trying to understand her, so I can do the things she likes and just..

. find any reason to stand in front of her. "

Andrew chuckled and shook his head. "Now I get the frustration."

Solomon's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"You don't talk about these things with me, remember?" Andrew inquired. "You refused to do so. You always kept it to yourself. But now... since the person you want to say these things to isn't listening to you, you have no choice but to talk to me. It can be quite maddening."

Solomon's jaw clenched, and he turned away from Andrew, rubbing his forehead as if trying to clear his mind.

"We will talk about it eventually. Emma and I.

There's no other way. We have to discuss it.

So, she can hide all she wants, but sooner or later, We will have to face it.

She won't be able to keep running from this forever. "

Andrew turned around and put both hands on the rope. "Right. My wife is hosting an intimate dinner party soon. I think you should come."

Solomon gave a half-shake of his head. "I'm really not in the mood for a social gathering, Andrew. Especially not now. But thank you."

Andrew's grin only widened. "All right. The truth is, my wife recruited me to get you to come to this party.

In case it slipped your mind, Emma and my wife, Lavinia are like sisters.

I don't know what the plan is... but I know that Lavinia and Alice are up to something. And it includes you... and of course?"

"Emma," Solomon said, nodding. "But she'd know I'd be in attendance. All the more reason for her not to attend."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. Leave it in the capable hands of my wife and Her Grace, the Duchess of Ravenmoor to make sure Emma is there and open to conversation. They can be very persuasive and they both have Emma's best interest at heart."

"All right. I'll think about it," he answered.

"You should know, Solomon," Andrew continued. "If you decide that you want to pursue this with Emma, there are difficult things you might want to let go of. Have you thought about it? Thoroughly? Because you would be breaking both her heart and yours, if you don't align with her needs."

There has been a shift within Solomon, like a sudden jolt in the very core of his being in the past few weeks. His thoughts, his convictions, everything seemed to come into sharp focus, laid bare before him like a set of rules that no longer held the same weight.

His principles, those things that had governed him for so long, no longer seemed so immovable.

They were being called into question by someone who wasn't afraid to look past the facade, past the polished image of the man he had crafted.

Everything was on the table now.

Solomon couldn't help but wonder how many of his rules were truly worth holding onto? How many had he created out of stubborn pride, or worse, out of fear? Fear of vulnerability, fear of allowing someone else to claim a piece of him.

Perhaps, it was time he prioritized his own happiness.

He had spent so many years measuring his actions by principles that no longer seemed to matter in the light of his feelings for Emma.

What had once been non-negotiable now seemed hollow in comparison to the way his heart responded to her presence.

"I know a man in love when I see one," Andrew said finally, tapping Solomon's shoulder as he made his way out of the ring. "See you at the party, Your Grace."

"Thank you, Andrew."

Solomon sighed, watching Andrew make his way out of the arena.

He had found peace – if one could call it that – after admitting to himself that the reason he was willing to forgive Emma for lying to him was because his love for her overshadowed everything else.

He had never been one to back down from his principles, but for her, he had done exactly that.

He had bent his stubbornness for her once, allowing her mistake to slide away because deep down, he couldn't bear the thought of losing her.

He had spent multiple nights pondering that very decision, and the realization hit him with unsettling clarity.

If he had let one of his strongest principles bend for her, how many more would he allow to bend, or even break if it meant having her by his side?