Page 17 of The Duke’s Defiant Angel (Dukes Gone Dirty #1)

17

R aff eyed his guest with all the disdain he was feeling.

To say Mr. Foley’s visit was unwelcome was an understatement. He hadn’t seen his own wife in more than twenty-four hours, and yet here he was—hosting her lover.

He didn’t try to hide his sneer as he faced the other man across his desk. “What was so urgent that you had the audacity to arrive unannounced?”

Mr. Foley smiled.

The smirk didn’t reach his eyes, and Raff’s gut twisted with dread. Not that he’d ever let the other man see it.

But there was something horribly knowing in Foley’s gaze. Something cold.

Cruel, even.

“I had the pleasure of speaking with your lovely bride at the Bermans’ ball the other night, Your Grace.”

Raff’s jaw was clenched so tight it was in danger of breaking a tooth, but there was no way he’d give Foley the satisfaction of seeing his discomfort.

The fact that he’d ever experienced a moment of jealousy over this lowly, weak-chinned, smug arse was bad enough. He wouldn’t let him know it.

He made a show of casting a bored glance toward the clock on the mantel. “Was that all you came to tell me?” He turned to glare at Foley. “Because I should tell you, I have no patience for men who waste my time.”

“Indeed, Your Grace.” He lowered his head in a humble gesture, but that smirk grew. “I happened to notice that you were not fond of my speaking to Her Grace.” His gaze darted up to meet Raff’s, and Raff was reminded of a snake.

A slick, slimy, venomous snake.

“Get to your point, Foley, and make it quick.”

Foley leaned back, dropping any pretense of humility. “I’m assuming by your display of possessiveness that you are aware of Her Grace’s feelings for me.”

Rage had Raff’s blood boiling. But it was the stab of pain that caused him the most discomfort.

Because Foley was right. She did have feelings for him—for him , this maggot of a man whose artifice was so superficial as to be laughable.

But even so, she’d fallen for him.

While she merely tolerated Raff.

He tapped his fingers on the desk before him, letting the silence grow until Foley’s smirk faded, and he shifted in his seat.

“Any feelings my wife might have had for you are inconsequential,” he finally said, his voice cold and even as he glanced pointedly toward the door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me...”

“I’ll admit, Your Grace, that Evangeline is the dutiful sort.” Foley’s lips curled up in a smile—the snake was getting ready to strike. “Pretty, too, no one could doubt that.”

“You will cease speaking of my wife now if you know what’s good for you,” Raff snapped. He instantly regretted the show of temper when Foley’s smile grew even more smug.

“I thought I’d won quite the boon when my family took over the neighboring estate,” Foley continued, folding his hands over his belly as he leaned back. The knave was making himself comfortable as if this was his domain.

Raff’s lip curled up in a sneer as he thought of all the ways he might teach this buffoon a well-deserved lesson in humility.

“Oh, yes,” Foley continued. “A sweet, innocent beauty like Evangeline? It was almost too easy to woo her.” Foley sniffed. “A few kind words and the poor lonely girl was eating out of the palm of my hand?—”

Raff’s fist came down on the desk with a loud bang as he shot to his feet. “You will not speak of my wife in such a way,” he growled.

Foley’s smile grew as he held up his hands. His eyes were beady and so cold and smug it sent wariness slithering through him, cutting through his hot ire like a blade made of ice.

“It had all seemed too easy,” Foley said with a shrug. “A pretty, young, biddable bride who could give me the dowry I so badly needed.”

Money. Raff’s disgust grew. Of course this was about money.

“Imagine my dismay when her father finally admitted the truth.” He arched his brows in a knowing look. As if they were compatriots in some way. “I know you know what I mean. Her father was careless.”

Foley’s lips finally fell into a scowl at the memory. He threw his hands out wide. “All my plans... poof . Gone just like that.”

“How upsetting for you,” Raff said. A muscle ticked in his jaw, his insides twisted with disgust and rage on his wife’s behalf. But he’d be damned if he let Foley see just how badly his words stung.

Foley chuckled. “It was, rather.”

“Get out.” Raff’s voice was so cold and sharp that Foley jerked back in his seat before coming to stand.

“But you see, Your Grace, I haven’t yet made my proposition.”

“I don’t want to hear any propositions from you,” Raff said. “You might have had a friendship with my wife once, but she will have nothing to do with you from here on out. Is that understood?”

Foley’s smile widened. “There, you see, is where I was hoping we might come to an agreeable arrangement.”

“An agreeable—are you out of your mind, man?” he roared. His hopes of keeping his temper in check entirely gone.

He heard noises coming from the hallway. His staff, no doubt, ready to burst in if he needed assistance tossing this man out on his ear.

As if he’d need help with this little weasel.

“You see, Your Grace,” Foley continued mildly, his smile still in place, his eyes still cold as ice. “I was disappointed when I discovered that what I thought was a boon, was in fact, a counterfeit. A fraud that?—”

“Did you just call my wife a fraud?” he growled, his fists clenching against his desk.

“Not her, per se, just the situation,” Foley said easily. “But then you came along, Your Grace.” Foley smiled like they were old friends.

“Yes, I spared her from a life with a wretch the likes of you.”

“Well, you tried ,” Foley said, his voice so soft and innocent it made Raff’s stomach turn.

Raff narrowed his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Foley held his hands out again, this time in an innocent, helpless gesture. “Your Grace,” he said in a smooth, silky voice. “I saw Evangeline the other night. I spoke to her, and I saw how unhappy she is with you.”

Raff’s heart slammed against his ribcage, his pulse roaring in his ears. The earth was swept out from under his feet, and he held onto the edge of the desk.

This man didn’t know what he was talking about.

He was a manipulative, greedy coward.

But try as he might to tell himself that, all Raff could think of was the way he’d taken her against a bloody door. How she hated outings like the Bermans’ ball but had been so eager to attend…

Because Foley was there?

Had she been hoping to see him?

Jealousy rippled through him like venom, and he felt it tightening his limbs and roiling in his gut.

“She still wants me, Your Grace. She told me as much.” The cad held his hands out with another helpless grimace, seemingly unaware that Raff’s grip on sanity was frighteningly tenuous.

“Now, I, of course, respect the bonds of marriage.” The slow intonation made it clear a but was coming.

Raff growled.

“But if your wife would prefer to run off with me…” He shrugged.

Raff didn’t think. He came around the desk and punched the other man as hard as he could, sending him to the floor. “Just what do you think you’re about?”

Foley groaned, rubbing at his jaw, but there was a glimmer of triumph in his eyes. “I told her on your wedding day that I would come for her if she were unhappy.”

Raff stilled. For all this man’s repulsive smugness, he didn’t think Foley was lying.

“She would go with me,” Foley said. So simply. So sure of himself.

Raff wanted to deny it. He wanted to say she’d never do such a thing.

But if she were in love? If he’d driven her away with his possessiveness and his high-handed ways?

She wouldn’t. He couldn’t quite bring himself to say it because he wasn’t sure he’d sound convincing. Instead, he glared down as Foley scrambled to his feet.

“I’d hate to do it, honestly,” Foley said like they were discussing a trip to the solicitor’s office and not running off with Raff’s wife. “But I will if I must.”

“If you must?” Raff sneered in disbelief.

“We younger sons get nothing, you know,” Foley said, his voice conversational.

The man was insane. He was standing here threatening a duke with not a hint of shame.

“If I want to get ahead, I need some leverage,” he said.

Raff stalked toward him. “And you think my wife is a bargaining chip?”

Foley smiled, holding out his hands, palms up. “I don’t have to take her away from you, Your Grace. That is precisely my point. I don’t wish to make a fool of you, and truly, I’d be happy to let her rot in this prison of a marriage you’ve dragged her into. But it will cost you, I’m afraid.”

This prison of a marriage.

The words were ridiculous...but were they true?

Had he trapped her with him, condemning her to a life she’d never wanted? Without the love she’d always wished for?

The love she deserved?

Guilt was an insidious beast, clawing at his insides, even as his rage at this man came to the forefront. Picking him up with a fist in his shirt, he tossed the man into the door. “You think you can threaten me?” he growled. “I am a duke. I can ruin your pathetic life.”

“I mean no disrespect, Your Grace,” Foley murmured from where he was once more sprawled out on the ground. His smirk belied his words. “But I can ruin yours, as well. Not even your reputation could withstand the scandal and humiliation of losing your wife to someone like me.”

Raff stalked over to him, relishing the sight of the other man’s tremble as he towered over him.

“You might be right, Foley,” he said, his voice far calmer than he felt. “About all of it. But there is one very crucial way in which you are wrong.”

Foley’s brows drew together, his gaze flicking left and right as if he was thinking through every aspect of his plan. “What’s that?”

“Evangeline might have been naive and sheltered when you first met her, but she is no fool. One moment in your company would be enough for my intelligent bride to see straight through you. And what’s more…?” Raff lifted him off the ground and rammed his back against the doorframe, making him grunt in pain before Raff threw open the door and tossed him into the hallway. “I trust my wife.”

Foley was silent for a second before he started to chuckle. But footmen were already appearing at the far end of the hall, and a moment later, they were dragging him away.