Page 40 of Trapped with the Beastly Duke

She had issued a challenge. All she could do was await the answer.

Chapter Fourteen

Marriage Is A Negotiation

Alexander stared at Rose, startled by the fury in her eyes. Her fists were clenched at her sides, and she met his gaze stubbornly. Yet, even in his surprise, he felt anger rise within him.

She thinks to dictate what I can do? Who is she to decide such things?

“You will not let me do what, exactly?” His voice was cool and detached.

“Leave. Vanish and push everyone away.” Rose let her righteous indignation color every one of her words. “You told your family and me that we would remain a fortnight, and yet we are scarcely three days into our visit and already you’re planning to depart.”

“Some urgent—” Alexander began, but she cut him off.

“Some urgent business has come up. Yes, the Dowager Duchess told me.” Rose held his gaze. “Yet, I fail to see why it requires your return to London. My father may not be aduke, but rarely did his business require venturing out of his estate. Indeed, when it did, it was often to meet someone more important at their own estate.”

“Just because your father need not travel for his business affairs does not mean we all have such luxury.” Alexander’s voice was soft, dangerous.

“You are a duke. You have the power to conduct your business wherever you like. My father may only be a viscount, but I have grown up understanding what title and wealth afford.”

Something Alexander could not recognize flashed across Rose’s face, but it was gone before he could decipher it.

“You have both title and wealth. Your business should come to you, not the other way around.” Her brown eyes seemed to bore into his own. “I do not believe that you have any reason to return to London. And I can only assume that it is you returning to the man I have known these past few months.”

“What do you mean?” Alexander frowned. “Are you accusing me of lying?”

Rose paled, but she did not back down. “I am simply saying that for the first time since we got married, I saw a different side of you. I saw the version of you that Olivia so often talks about, and now, having shown that to me, you are snatching it away. And not just from me, but from your family, too.”

Alexander felt the shame rise within him and clenched his jaw. “My family understands that what I do, I do for them.”

“Do they?” Rose said softly. “You were not at supper. You did not see the hurt and disappointment on their faces, but I did.”

“And what would you have me do?” Alexander yelled, the shame threatening to undo him completely. “They do not need me. They have been fine without me for the last eight years.”

“Look around you, Alexander.” Rose gestured to the gardens around them. “It feels as though everything around us is waiting. As though Emberly slumbers, waiting only to be woken.”

The way she said his name drew him up short. There was no hesitation, no awkwardness. It was simply a statement, and yet it seemed to tear right through him.

Alexander glanced around and saw the truth in her words. Anger and shame warred for control. He turned to her, doing his best to hide his emotion.

“What exactly are you implying?” His voice sounded harder than he had intended, but to his surprise, Rose did not flinch.

“I am not implying anything. I am simply stating a fact.” Rose’s voice was steady and strong. “I have been here only a few days, and already I love it. The castle, the grounds… there is so much potential here. We could breathe life back into it.”

“We?” Alexander frowned.

“We. You and I.” Rose took a deep breath. “You are the Duke, I am now your Duchess. We should be in our duchy. That is where our duty lies.”

“And what would you know of it?” Alexander felt his temper rise and clenched his hands into fists, digging his nails into his palms. “I have been the Duke of Emberly since I was seventeen.”

Rose did not back down. She took a step towards Alexander, her own anger making her reckless. “I may not have been a duchess for long, but do not think I know nothing about duty. I have lived a life of duty. My duty to my family has always come before all else. I have sacrificed everything for them.”

“And you do not think I would do the same for my own family?” Alexander’s words were soft, but there was a hint of danger in his tone. “You do not know the first thing about me.”

“And do you know anything about me?” Rose’s voice held a challenge as she stared into his eyes.

His stomach twisted, and he opened his mouth to reply, before closing it.