Page 33 of Bound to the Heartless Duke (Regency Beasts #4)

D espite the warmth of the morning, despite the heat of the previous night, the day had dawned in a way that sent chills down Lily’s spine.

And it was all because of Magnus. Following what had happened the previous night, he had spent the entire day avoiding her, putting distance between them.

Lily hated it.

He had touched her intimately, and now he was acting like nothing had happened? Especially when they were married?

Standing outside in the garden, she had caught his gaze once before he turned away sharply, as though preferring not to address the tension between them.

But she wasn’t ready to let it dissolve into silence.

When he was about to turn and walk away, she followed him down the grand hallway.

“Magnus…” Her voice was steady, but it held a particular edge that she refused to hide. “Avoiding me as usual?”

He halted mid-step, his fingers brushing against the banister, his jaw tightening.

“I am not,” he replied curtly, not turning to meet her eyes.

“Then care to explain what exactly you are doing?” she pressed, stepping closer, the ache in her chest making her bold. “Is it because of last night?”

She came to stand in front of him, and his gaze lowered, flickering to her face briefly. In that short moment, she saw a flash of something raw and unguarded in his eyes. Something that took her aback.

It was a flicker of regret, or something more dangerous and heart-wrenching.

“It’s nothing,” he said, his voice clipped. “You should focus on yourself, Lily.”

Her lips pressed together into a thin line, almost a dry smile, but she was too hurt to even fake one. “I don’t want distance. I want honesty.”

He exhaled sharply, his fingers curling into a fist at his side. “Honesty, then. I would like to be left alone.”

“So you are really hellbent on shutting me out?” Lily asked coldly. She took a step forward. “Are you sure you won’t regret it when I eventually decide to follow your rule?”

Magnus studied her for a long moment, holding her eyes.

She wished he would say no. Alas, he nodded reluctantly, disappointing her yet again.

At this point, she wasn’t even sure whether to press further. She took a few steps forward nonetheless. Suddenly,a thunderclap shattered the silence, causing her to stumble backward and almost fall on the ornate rug beneath her.

“Lily!”

Fortunately, Magnus was there in an instant. His strong arms caught her before she could fall, and he wrapped his hands around her waist, holding her close enough that she could feel the steady beat of his heart beneath her palm.

For that suspended moment, the world around them narrowed to the heat between them, his intense gaze on her.

Her breath hitched as a maelstrom of emotions bubbled up inside her. She felt relieved. And as pathetic as it may sound, she wanted to kiss him.

“Careful,” he murmured, his voice low yet tender.

She searched his eyes and couldn’t help asking, “Why do you hide from me?”

He didn’t give a reply; his jaw clenched.

The moment was broken by a sharp knock at the door.

“Your Graces! There’s a visitor at the gates!” the maid’s voice called, before her footsteps retreated down the corridor.

That was enough to jolt them back to reality.

Magnus released Lily slowly and stepped back, his usual mask slipping back into place.

“A visitor,” he muttered, his dark eyebrows knitting together. “At this hour?”

Lily followed him, her curiosity growing. “Who could it be? You aren’t expecting anyone.”

His gaze hardened. “Nothing is ever as it seems in my world.”

They stepped out of her room and hurried down the stairs, their footsteps echoing off the walls. They had barely stepped into the foyer when the front door burst open with a force that made Lily yelp.

It was him .

The tall man stormed inside, his eyes were blazing with fury and desperation.

“Where is she? Where is my bride?” his voice thundered, threatening to rattle the portraits off the walls.

Ronald Bailey.

He is back.

Lily swallowed at the thought. Right, she had not dismissed his offer properly before moving ahead with her marriage.

However, history or no history, Magnus was irritated by his brazen behavior.

“Calm down, Mr. Bailey,” he bit out, his voice low but razor sharp. “There is no need for such theatrics in my house.”

Mr. Bailey pinned him with a glare. “She promised me a future!” he roared. “A life bound by vows and hope. Yet, here she stands, like an unclaimed jewel, hidden behind these ridiculous walls!”

His accusatory words stung Lily, the burn hitting deeper than she had expected.

But Magnus’s cold gaze never wavered. Rather, he stepped in front of her, shielding her with his body. It did not escape Lily’s notice, this most subtle form of protection.

“She is my wife,” he said with such command that the walls seemed to shudder. “And no one raises their voice at her under my roof.”

Mr. Bailey’s eyes flashed with rage. “You think your title makes you her keeper?!” he sneered. “I paid handsomely for her. Money Nathan promised to return—money given in trust!”

Those words crashed into Lily like ice. But as she tried to process the meaning behind them, Magnus stepped toward the man.

“Then we shall discuss this like gentlemen. No more outbursts,” he told him in a tight voice.

Mr. Bailey threw his hands up in the air. “Gentlemen? There is nothing gentlemanly about this betrayal. She is mine, yet you stole her from me!”

Lily gasped. The longer Mr. Bailey spoke, the more his words made sense. Ironically.

The revelation made the world around spin, her thoughts racing like wildfire.

Nathan had sold her. Not just manor, but her.

Impossible. She refused to believe that.

Noticing her state, Magnus turned sharply to Mr. Bailey.

“I said, enough.” He took a deep breath. “You will speak calmly, or you will leave.”

Mr. Bailey burst into derisive laughter. “Speak calmly?” He scowled. “No, Your Grace. I won’t speak calmly amidst this madness.”

Magnus took another menacing step forward, his voice dangerously low. “Then you have my full attention, and my patience, for now.”

Lily looked at the two men, but she couldn’t focus on anything other than the fact that Nathan had betrayed her in every way.

“Nathan… sold me,” she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.

Mr. Bailey’s face flushed a deep red, his nostrils flaring.

“You don’t understand,” he hissed. “Nathan—the brother you’ve been waiting on—didn’t just lose the manor.

He… he agreed to give me his sister. You , Lily.

” His words hit her like a hammer to the chest. “For a price higher than any man should pay. I gave him the money. I trusted him! But he vanished—disappeared like a ghost the moment the transaction was done.”

Lily couldn’t breathe. The room suddenly felt too cold, the ornate walls closing in on her. Her mind spun.

“He sold me…” Her voice trembled, barely audible, as if saying the words aloud made the betrayal more real. “Like I was some… prize to be handed over. Not a sister. Not a woman.”

Magnus’s gaze softened, and he stepped back toward her, silently offering support.

“You never knew this?” he asked quietly.

“No,” Lily choked out. “I knew he bet the manor, along with everything. I knew he was reckless. But I never thought… that he would sell me. That he would—” She shook her head.

“Treat you like a possession,” Mr. Bailey cut in.

Magnus shifted his gaze to the man, his voice steady yet commanding. “And you—you simply believed him? Did you think this would be a simple exchange? That the deal would hold?”

Mr. Bailey’s eyes flickered with resentment. “I believed Nathan because I had no choice. I gave him a sum that would make most men’s blood run cold, hoping it would secure the woman I was promised.”

“And yet, Nathan vanished,” Lily whispered, more to herself than to anyone else.

“Yes.” Mr. Bailey hung his head in defeat for a brief second. “For almost a month now, there has been no word. No sign. Nothing but silence.”

Lily’s hands clenched involuntarily. Her temper flared. The brother she’d been yearning for, who was supposed to save her, who was supposed to show up for her, vanished after handling her fate like a token in a losing game.

Did he start another life after selling her off?

Even that thought made despair twist in her chest.

Magnus’s voice cut through the silence. “This is why you’ve come here, then. To claim what you were promised. To take her back.”

Mr. Bailey’s gaze hardened, but beneath it lay a glimmer of desperation. “I want her safe. I want what I was promised. But more than that… I want answers. What became of Nathan? Why would he abandon her so completely?”

Lily swallowed hard, bitterness coating her tongue. “I thought… I thought my brother would come back. I hoped he would fight for me, for us.

Magnus studied her carefully. “And yet here you stand, not sold, not lost. That means something.”

The weight of his words made her look up at him, knowing there was a faint warmth amid the cold truth.

Mr. Bailey looked at Magnus then, a question burning behind his anger. “And what of you, Your Grace? You’ve given her your name. Are you her protector now, or her captor?”

A faint shadow crossed Magnus’s features. “I’m no captor.” He lifted his chin. “Come with me, Mr Bailey. Let us discuss, shall we?”

Mr. Bailey was about to argue when Magnus shot him a look that quelled any form of disobedience. Then, he nodded in agreement.

Lily’s heart pounded as she watched them move away and disappear around the corner, leaving her alone to pick up the shattered pieces of her trust.

Nathan’s betrayal hurt more than any wound she’d sustained. Yet it made her so determined to find him.

She clenched her jaw, whispering to herself, “I won’t be a pawn. Not anymore.”

Lily paced the drawing room like a woman on the verge of something—madness, perhaps. But she really hoped not.