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Chapter Thirty-Three

M arianne had not seen Dominic smile in days. He had not done so since the crash. She had expected him to be worried, but she had not expected him to just turn to silence.

At that moment, he sat across from her in the breakfast room. His posture was rigid, but that was nothing new. Still, it was not what she had expected from him—not anymore. Not after the passion he’d shown her.

Could he just not touch his tea or not spare her a glance?

“I want to visit my sisters later,” she said casually, the words meant to test him.

“No,” was the quick and firm reply, even as his eyes never left the papers in his hand.

“I beg your pardon?” Marianne blinked.

“It’s not safe for you to visit,” he said, straightening up and turning to glare at her. “From now on, you will remain at home, where you are well-guarded by people I know.”

Silence stretched between them. It was long enough for Marianne to realize that he meant everything he said.

“You’re serious,” she gasped, leaning forward slightly. She wanted to see his face. “Dominic, I can bring a maid with me. I’ll be with my sisters. With that number, do you think something can happen to me?”

“You’re not arguing with me, Marianne. You will remain here,” he said coldly.

“What is this? We went through something terrible together. You’ve barely spoken to me since the carriage accident. And now, you’ve decided what I must do? Be in a prison?”

Dominic stood up. The surprising movement made Marianne back away a little. Where he stood, the light cast shadows on his face, accentuating his profile. For a moment, he looked older and wearier. He was a man who might have lost so much sleep.

She thought of Linpool, and what he meant to her husband. The Viscount was responsible for some of the terrible memories that still plagued Dominic. He might have started new nightmares, too.

“You could have died, Marianne,” Dominic rasped, his voice barely audible.

“I know,” she replied, just as softly. Then, she took the moment to rise to her feet, as well. “But I didn’t. Look at me, Dominic. I am here. Alive.”

“That’s all because of luck, but it’s not something I can rely on,” he retorted. He looked at her as she requested, but his eyes were blazing, and his jaw remained clenched. “Someone tampered with our carriage. Someone who knew what he was doing. It wasn’t a mishap at all. They wanted to hurt you.”

“Me?” Marianne asked, pointing at herself, incredulous. “Or are you referring to both of us?”

He did not answer. So, she approached him and touched his arm lightly.

“So, you truly believe it was Linpool.”

Again, silence ensued.

“I can tell that you truly believe it was him. Is there a way to expose hi?—”

“You’ll stay in London,” he interrupted. “You will attend no events and you will avoid public gatherings. Once I confirm that there is a threat—and there is—you will leave London and find somewhere safer if need be. I will make arrangements and tell you when and where to go.”

Marianne gaped at him. He was truly serious about the whole thing. She felt her control over the situation slipping.

“You’re willing to send me away?” she asked. The whole thing was surreal.

“I didn’t say I will send you away now. Only when there is a threat here.”

“It’s the same thing. You are willing to do that.”

“Marianne, you know that nothing has yet been confirmed. We are merely discussing what could happen?—”

“You’re controlling me, Dominic. That’s what’s happening!” she snapped, not quite certain why she was acting this way.

She’d felt fear, but somehow she had never felt this panic before. It was not panic that Linpool or whoever else would do something to her. Instead, it was the intense fear of losing what she had thought she was building with her husband.

“Don’t twist this into something else, Marianne,” Dominic warned, his expression darkening.

“I’m not doing that. This is not how it’s supposed to happen. We are, after all, partners. We are supposed to face things together. Make decisions together.”

“You don’t understand,” he muttered, raking his fingers through his hair. He seemed distraught, but that would not fool her.

“Help me understand, then!” she demanded, her emotions unraveling in a way that she would normally be ashamed of.

“You could have died. The accident could have been worse. However, we were so—” he stopped, looking pained. His hands were clenched into fists by his sides. “I was distracted so I didn’t notice anything. I let myself be swept by the moment. I let myself forget about the lurker.”

“What are you saying, Dominic?” she asked, her eyes widening. “Are you blaming me for what happened?”

“No, Marianne. I am blaming myself,” he corrected, his eyes glimmering and full of emotion.

“You can’t do that to me, Dominic. Make me feel like you are doing this for my own good.

I lived for years under someone who used fear to keep me and my siblings under control.

But at least, he never pretended to truly care, except when in front of other people,” she said bitterly.

“My father told me what to wear and where to go. When I got older, I realized what he was doing, and he had a harder time telling me what to think. It was then that I got punished for disobeying. And you’ve seen me do that—time and again. ”

“I’m not like your father,” Dominic muttered, his body tense. His shoulders and arms were poised as if he could snap someone in half with his bare hands.

For some reason, Marianne didn’t fear him. Not at all.

“I am not trying to control you. You have always been free to do what you want in our homes. You are free to invite your sisters over.”

Her pride made her deaf, or somewhat so. There was a pang in her heart. So, she continued on.

“I never told you much about my father,” she mumbled, her voice thick with unshed tears. “I had spent my life surviving under someone else’s thumb. I swore that I wouldn’t be caged and that I would protect my sisters. But look at me now—more helpless than any of them.”

“That’s not true,” Dominic whispered, looking down at the floor, perhaps to control his own emotions.

“You don’t get to take my choice from me, Dominic. If I am truly in danger and the whole thing was not an accident, then let me face it with you. Don’t lock me away. What if it goes on forever? Will you cage me for so long?”

“You know that won’t happen?—”

“How do I know that?” she interrupted, trying to get him to look at her. He finally did.

“Do you think I am afraid of Linpool?” he asked, his eyes finally landing on her. They were haunted and raw, full of anger and hatred that went back years.

She could understand that—of course, she did. However, being in pain didn’t have to mean mistreating the ones around you.

“Where did that come from?” she asked, genuinely confused.

“These decisions are not made out of fear of him. I had not been afraid of him, even though I knew what he was capable of.”

“Then what is it?” she pressed, wanting to know more about this man she married.

She had thought she was close to touching his emotions, getting him to bare his soul and not just his desires. But she was wrong, oh so wrong.

“I am afraid of you , not him.”

His confession shocked her. She backed away a few steps, her hand on her throat. How could he be afraid of her? Did he think she was on her way to ruin his life?

“What?”

This time, it was Dominic who walked closer to her as she stepped back once more.

“I saw it. The beginnings of it, Duchess,” he muttered. “But you make me blind. I forget about all the threats I knew would be coming, knowing Linpool. I forget everything I’ve been taught to do, to be on guard. You make me reckless.”

Marianne was torn. A part of her ached for him and did not want to see him like this. She stopped herself from reaching for him.

“Dominic—”

Still, a part of her chafed at the fact that he thought she caused his recklessness—that she was to blame for his troubles.

“My mother let her heart blind her, Marianne,” he continued, his voice cracking. “That’s how I lost her.She should have been stronger than she was. Instead, she had let Linpool into her cracks. She had always been trying to fill a void.”

Marianne’s breath caught as she realized what she was hearing. Her lips trembled. The hand on her throat slipped to her chest, right over where she was hurting the most. Her palms might still be scraped and her arms bruised, but Dominic had just inflicted the worst pain she’d ever known.

“So, that’s what this is all about? Is that what you think of me, Your Grace? A weakness?” she asked, horrified. Her eyes bulged at the implication.

This time, he turned away from her. Her mind screamed, Look at me, coward! She swallowed hard, but it only worsened the pain in her throat.

“Say it. You need to tell me what you truly think. I can’t take the lies and secrets anymore.”

“I didn’t lie to you, Marianne,” he said softly.

Their eyes met. Marianne wanted to believe there was a pain in there—one that involved her. There was fear, too. Then again, wasn’t it what he said? That he was afraid of her? Of how she drove him into recklessness?

“You’re not the problem,” he replied in a hoarse voice. “You’re the weakness.”

Silence.

Time seemed to stand still as Marianne stared at Dominic in disbelief. His eyes were guilty, but his mouth remained closed. As the full meaning of his words washed over her, she recoiled as if struck.

He had implied it. He said that she made him reckless. He said that with her around, he lost his focus and vigilance. But hearing him confirm that he meant what he said was another thing.

“I see,” she whispered, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

But there it was, for him to see—the weakness that was her.

He might be right. She might be what was keeping him from getting his revenge without having to worry about someone else.

“Marianne—” he began.

But Marianne had already gone cold inside. She raised a hand and moved further away from him. What was she trying to persuade him for? She had overestimated her influence on him.

A weakness.

His hand reached for her, but she shoved it away with a hasty, “Don’t.”

“I didn’t mean it. I am distressed and should not have said anything,” he explained.

“But of course , you mean it. When your emotions are high, the truth manages to come out!” Her voice broke. “I don’t know if you mean that forever, but you meant it now.”

“Please,” he said, looking stricken.

Marianne did not know what he was asking for. All she knew was that she needed to leave. She opened the door and stepped out.

Whatever they had was over.