Page 118 of An Unwanted Spinster for the Duke

The words seemed to trigger the dogs. Or perhaps it was their master’s distress that had them barking with rage, raring to charge at Linpool.

“Call your dogs off! Get them to stop making noise!” he yelled.

Dominic merely raised his hand, and his hounds immediately fell silent. However, they weren’t convinced that the danger was over. Their eyes were fixed on the villain before them.

“Let’s make this clear,” he said, his eyes just as intense as his hounds, if not more. “You are not walking away from this. Not this time.”

The damned bastard laughed bitterly, looking smug. He held onto Marianne’s waist even more tightly. She did not like it at all.

“Oh, I will be walking away from you and all of this. Not only that, but I will do it withher, and your fortune,” Linpool crowed.

Marianne could hear the sneer in his voice.

What was he really planning to do with her? Kill her or take her along? The latter seemed worse.

Dominic, on the other hand, did not look deterred. He stepped forward calmly, and Marianne’s heart felt like it would burst. Even under all the bruises and the haunted look in his eyes, he still looked devastatingly handsome.

She looked her fill. What if she would not see him again after this excruciatingly long night?

“Let her go, Linpool. I have a sack inside the carriage. I can offer its contents to you. Let’s negotiate.”

Again, there was calm in his voice; it was almost eerie. Marianne wondered how he was able to take it well, like this. Something did sound a little off, but she could not put a finger on it. All she knew was that there was a subtle change in timbre, and somehow that difference mattered to her.

Linpool scoffed at the offer. Marianne knew that if the man had not taken anything from Oakmere Hall, he would have been tempted. This man was motivated by greed and excess.

“Do you take me for a fool? I am not making deals with you. Your lovely wife and I are leaving.”

“Oh, is that so?” Dominic asked, glancing to his side. A subtle smirk formed on his lips.

Marianne rarely got to see him look like this, and it did things to her. She couldn’t understand how she was filled with desire for her husband while she was in the middle of a life-and-death situation. Perhaps she just missed him.

“Well, there’s something you haven’t accounted for,” Dominic continued, adjusting his stance.

“What’s that?” Linpool asked, dark humor dripping from his words.

It was clear that he didn’t believe the man whose mother had taken him as a lover.

“The goat,” Dominic declared solemnly.

The announcement was quickly followed by a loud bleat. It was the last thing anyone would have expected to hear at midnight. Perseus charged out of the darkness, ramming into Linpool’s back. Caught off guard, he lost his balance and his grip on Marianne.

Marianne did not waste time. She quickly elbowed him hard in the ribs. Then, she sprang free, running wildly. Meanwhile,Perseus was not done with his assault. He leaped onto Linpool, hitting him with his hooves.

But apparently, it was not enough. A loud yowl echoed through the air. It seemed that Serafina wanted to be part of the action. She pounced on the fallen Linpool, scratching at his face.

“Get this beast off me!” Linpool screamed as he tried to shield his face. His arms were a mess of red scratches.

“Which beast?” Marianne asked from a safe distance as she looked at her animals proudly.

Whoever said friendship with animals was for naught did not know how to do it properly.

Instead of stopping the animals, Dominic decided to call reinforcements. “Achilles! Beowulf! Now!”

The dogs had been waiting for this. They lunged forward, looking almost as if they were flying. Achilles went for Linpool’s wrist, biting it hard enough for the man to drop his weapon. Beowulf opened his jaw and snatched the weapon, bringing it to his master while his tail wagged as if he was merely playing a pleasant game of fetch.

Marianne watched as Dominic took the pistol from Beowulf and approached Linpool with it. The Viscount thrashed helplessly under Serafina and the hounds. The animals went hunting today and caught their man.

“I should have ended this long ago,” Dominic growled. He looked more feral than his beasts as he grabbed Linpool by the collar. It was only then that the animals scuttled away. “But I thought that my mother’s death ended this. I didn’t want any trouble. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, although the promise of vengeance lived inside of me, keeping me alive.”