Page 34 of Bound to the Heartless Duke (Regency Beasts #4)

Her slippers whispered across the polished floorboards, her skirts swishing with her movements. The grandfather clock in the corner ticked like a mocking metronome, reminding her that Magnus and Mr. Bailey were still shut in the damned study.

She had wrung her hands so many times that they felt bruised. She couldn’t stop picturing her brother. Nathan—missing for weeks. A brother she had tried to believe in against all odds. And yet, he’d sold her like cattle. Like a bet at the card table.

Her chest ached with grief, disbelief, and shame. She’d expected more debt. She’d expected cowardice. But she hadn’t been ready for his betrayal.

She turned again, gripping the edge of a small writing desk to steady herself.

What were they talking about in there? Had Magnus made another deal? Had he paid Mr. Bailey to drop his pursuit?

The thought made her stomach twist.

Just as she turned to head to the study, the door opened, interrupting her intrusive thoughts.

Mr. Bailey stepped out. He looked… changed. Not in that arrogant, rude way she was used to. This time, he seemed almost sheepish as he adjusted his coat, his eyes darting to her before quickly looking away.

He didn’t speak. He didn’t even bow. He simply walked past her with a hasty nod and vanished down the hall.

Lily blinked after him, stunned. “Mr. Bailey?”

For the first time ever, he did not attempt to shower her with poetry or compliments. There was no answer, just the faint echo of his retreating booted steps.

Her heart lurched. Something was wrong; she could sense it. And that pushed her to storm into the study like a whirlwind.

Magnus was ready, standing by the fireplace now, one hand braced on the mantelpiece, the other clenching a glass of amber liquid.

“What did you say to him?” Lily asked, her voice sharper than she had intended.

He didn’t look at her at first. “Nothing you need concern yourself with.”

Lily couldn’t believe he would dare say that to her after what had happened.

Her spine stiffened, before she spoke again. “Oh, I think I need to concern myself, Your Grace.”

He lifted his head before turning around to face her. “Do not call me that when you’re angry.”

“I’m not angry,” she lied. “I’m confused. And you’re being infuriatingly cagey. What did you discuss?”

“I handled it,” he simply said, before turning his gaze back to the fire.

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one you’ll get.”

Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “Did you pay him off? Did you rebuy me like I’m a damn thoroughbred on auction?”

His eyebrow rose at her words. “Don’t be absurd.”

“Then what was that look on his face, Magnus? He didn’t even glance at me. As if something had changed. As if I’d… stopped being part of this.”

As if you have bribed him , she wanted to add, but she didn’t want to go too far.

A long silence followed.

Then, in a deceptively soft voice, Magnus said, “I told him to never speak your name again. And I made sure he understood what would happen if he disrespected my wife in my presence ever again.”

Her lips parted, but no words came out.

He took a step toward her, slowly, as if he were approaching a skittish kitten.

“Bailey didn’t come for love,” he continued. “He came for a transaction. That transaction has been permanently canceled.”

Lily’s mouth hung open, and she swallowed thickly. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Because I don’t owe you every answer just because I’ve given you my name.”

The words hit her like ice water. Her eyebrows rose to her hairline; she couldn’t help but find his words extremely insulting.

He seemed to regret his words when he saw her expression but he didn’t retract them or attempt to make apology for them either. “I see,” she said quietly. “So I’m supposed to smile and play the Duchess while you conduct secret meetings and hurl vague threats like some… brooding Byronic hero.”

He said nothing.

“I thought after last night?—”

“Last night,” he cut in, his voice tight, “was a mistake.”

That did it. That squeezed something raw inside her, the pain almost bringing her to her knees.

“Oh, was it?” she drawled, taking a step closer so they stood toe to toe. “Is that what you tell yourself to sleep at night?”

She noticed his breath hitch as she closed the last bit of distance between them.

She reached out and pushed against his chest, not hard, but enough to feel the firm muscles beneath his shirt, the tension in them.

“Because you didn’t seem to think it was a mistake when you had me pressed against the wall like you wanted to devour me,” she taunted, throwing caution to the wind.

It seemed her brother’s betrayal had hardened her heart.

A muscle twitched in Magnus’s jaw. She saw it and pushed against his chest once more.

“Say it,” she challenged, her voice shaking. “Say you regret it. Look me in the eye and say it.”

He didn’t. Not at first.

His hand caught her wrist. His grip was gentle but still firm enough to hold her in place.

“I regret everything,” he rumbled. “Because you make me forget all the things I’ve built to keep my life exactly as I need it. Order. Control. Distance.”

“And I suppose I ruin all of that,” she whispered.

“Yes,” he murmured. “You do.”

There was nothing more than air between them yet neither moved to close the gap.

Lily didn’t want to be the one to do so.

She wanted him to stop running away from her, wanted him to choose her.

And then, she saw it in his eyes—the war.

The maddening war raging inside him. His wish to draw closer to her and his merciless restraint.

But his restraint was fraying.

His thumb brushed along the inside of her wrist, where her pulse fluttered wildly.

“I told myself I would not touch you again,” he said, his voice rough. “That I could have you as a wife in name only. That it would be enough.”

“And now?”

He looked down at her lips, then into her eyes. “Now, I think I might burn for the rest of my life trying to keep that promise.”

Her breath hitched slightly, and her eyebrows rose.

He dropped her hand like it had burned him. Like he had not just said the most heart-wrenching things to her.

He stepped back. Away.

“I need to find Nathan,” he muttered, changing the topic. “He’s still your brother, despite what he’s done.”

Lily nodded faintly, her voice stuck somewhere deep in her chest. She wasn’t even sure what to say. And she couldn’t stop him from moving to the door.

But then he paused, turning back slightly. His eyes, so dark and unreadable, met hers one last time.

“I’ll send for you when it’s time to discuss what comes next.”

He didn’t wait for her answer before he disappeared through the door.

And Lily could only stand alone in the silence, her pulse racing. Her skin was still warm from his body heat, from the brush of his thumb against her wrist. From the words he didn’t say, from the way his eyes darkened when they lingered on her lips.

She sank into the nearest chair, her heart pounding in her ears.

Magnus may have walked away, but the fire he stirred didn’t die down.

Her body burned with desire for him that had her clenching her legs to keep still. She nit her lip and closed her eyes to steady herself, vowing that one day soon, he’d stop pretending he didn’t want to burn.