Page 25 of The Beast’s Unwanted Duchess (Icy Dukes #1)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

" Y ou kissed her and then you did what?"

The faint rustle of leaves and the distant chirping of birds filled the air as Victor and Andrew walked through the estate gardens.

He’d fallen asleep to the memory of the kiss.

..Alice’s lips on his, woken up with the thought of it, and even now, he could feel the lingering tingle as if the kiss had left a permanent mark.

"It’s for the best," Victor muttered, more to himself than to Andrew.

Andrew paused and turned to face him. "Why did you kiss her in the first place, Victor?"

Victor’s jaw tightened, and his gaze drifted off to the stretch of trees in the distance.

The question lingered, unsettling in its simplicity, yet he had no clear answer for Andrew.

It had felt right in the moment, natural—inevitable, even.

But saying that aloud felt like admitting to something deeper, something he’d been avoiding.

After a long pause, he finally said, "It was a mistake. A… lapse in judgment."

"Please tell me you did not say that to her," Andrew asked, his eyes pleading. "That you did not call – what was probably her first kiss – a mistake."

"I didn’t say it to her," he answered.

Andrew sighed, relief evident in his shoulders as he muttered, "Thank heavens for small mercies." But his look of disbelief quickly returned. "So, what exactly happened? You both shared a kiss, and you told her you only married her for the fortune. What happened next?"

"I told her that love wasn’t something I could give her," he admitted, the words heavy in his mouth. "I had no choice."

"Lord have mercy," Andrew said. "You did that?"

"It’s the truth," he protested. "I don’t want to lie to her anymore, Andrew. It’s not my fault that I constantly want to tell her everything. She asked, and I couldn’t lie."

"But she’s angry with you?" Andrew asked. "How did she react when you said that to her? Did she hit you across the face?"

"No," Victor answered.

"Did she yell at you?"

"No," he answered again, feeling frustration creep into his chest. "She walked away. She just walked away."

Victor ran a hand through his hair, his heart racing with frustration.

He had let himself get too close, allowed a moment of weakness to cloud his judgment, and now he was grappling with the consequences.

The memory of Alice’s hurt gaze haunted him, a reminder of the line he had crossed.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that he had not only hurt her but also trapped himself in a web of his own making.

The very thing he had been trying to avoid had happened in an instant.

He felt cornered and afraid, yet he wasn’t sure what he was afraid of.

"I can’t change what I did, Andrew. I just—" He stopped and sighed. "I didn’t think ahead. I’ve never felt this way before so I am quite confused. I mean, I admit that perhaps, I shouldn’t have kissed her in that moment."

"Then why did you do it?"

"I just told you, I don’t know."

"For you to have kissed her, it means you felt something, right?" Andrew explained, his tone shifting to one of understanding. "Or rather, you feel something for her. Shouldn’t you pay attention to the feeling?"

"Why should I? It’s merely a feeling," Victor answered.

"I don’t know," Andrew said and massaged his nape.

"Look, I cannot explain why it happened.

The kiss…the confession…the feeling. It just did.

" Victor explained, shaking his head in frustration.

"I know myself better than anyone else. I’ve never been the kind of man who lets emotions dictate my choices.

What is right, is right, and what is wrong is just that. "

Andrew dug his hands into his hair. "You have always been stubborn."

"You should understand me better than anyone."

"I do, Victor. In some ways, we are alike," Andrew said, his gaze steady. "So, you should understand my confusion as well. I was hoping since you got married first, you could explain things to me from your elevated point of view. I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve never been in your shoes. You have the opportunity to start a family. I never…in a million years thought you would ever find someone who could break through the walls you’ve built around yourself. But someone did. That is progress."

"No one is breaking through my walls," Victor insisted. "It was one kiss. She isn’t angry with me, is she? I mean, I told her the truth. She asked, and I was honest."

"But she walked away," Andrew said. "That isn’t a good sign. Perhaps, you might need to talk about it with her? Over dinner maybe. From what you explained, it seems as though there’s…tension."

Victor sighed and shook his head. "I respect Alice," he said. "But I think the more we talk about this, the more…entwined our paths become. It feels too precarious."

"It sounds like you are scared of your emotions," Andrew replied.

"It is not fear," Victor snapped at him. "You’re wrong."

Andrew sighed. "I am your friend, Victor. I have known you for years. I know that if I were in your shoes, you wouldn’t let me make stupid decisions.

I am sorry that I cannot give you the answers that you need, but I still think you need to talk to Alice about it.

About everything. It might help, who knows? "

Victor shut his eyes and clenched his jaw, lowering his shoulders slowly. "Would an apology help? She was upset, and I saw that. Perhaps, I can apologize for upsetting her."

"That might help," Andrew said. "Plus, it might be quite flattering. The Duke of Ravenmoor never apologizes to anyone. He is quite pompous."

Victor playfully rolled his eyes. "I will apologize to her tonight. Her parents are arriving soon, so she is occupied right now, preparing to receive them."

"But what will you be apologizing for?" Andrew pressed, his expression serious now.

"Well, the kiss for one," he replied.

"The kiss…do you regret it?" Andrew asked. "Is that why you are apologizing for it?"

Victor opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t find the right words.

The truth was tangled within him. Did he regret the kiss?

Part of him wanted to say yes—to distance himself from the vulnerability it had exposed him to.

But another part of him, the part that had been charged by the touch of her lips, screamed the opposite.

Finally, he exhaled slowly and cleared his throat to speak. "I don’t know, Andrew. I don’t think I can regret it..."

Andrew massaged the space between his eyebrows. "You are a complicated man, Victor."

"Exactly," he mumbled. "But thank you, Andrew. For listening."

Andrew placed a hand on Victor’s shoulders. "I wish I had a clear answer for you. But relationships can be chaotic, Victor. They don’t come with a manual."

The conversation was abruptly halted by the appearance of Roberts, who approached them with a respectful bow. "Your Grace, the Viscount and Viscountess Westridge have arrived."

"Thank you, Roberts," Victor replied. "Let Her Grace know that I will be with her shortly."

As Roberts stepped away, Victor turned back to Andrew, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly. He hoped their presence would bring Alice comfort, perhaps even a sense of normalcy.

"You don’t seem tense," Andrew pointed out. "Usually, you don’t like having people over."

Ever since his conversation with Alice in the orangery, Victor found that he now held a grudge against Alice’s father. It angered him to think that Alice had spent so long trying to gain her father’s approval when she could have been living her life. It didn’t sit right with him.

"I’ll come by the training yard soon," Victor said, walking away. "And thank you again, Andrew, for coming."

Andrew responded with a wave goodbye, and Victor turned around and made his way into the house. He made a mental note to forget about the kiss. To at least try so he could concentrate on what was important.

Protecting Alice.