Page 36 of Wedded to the Duke of Seduction (Dukes of Passion #3)

CHAPTER 36

“ A nother glass or shall I simply leave the decanter?” Noah asked, crossing the study to where Leo sat slouched in an armchair, staring into the dying fire.

Leo extended his empty glass without looking up. “The decanter. Less effort for both of us.”

Noah placed the crystal container within Leo’s reach and settled into the chair opposite. “This is becoming a rather pathetic spectacle, you know. The mighty Duke of Blackmere, drinking himself into oblivion in my study for the third night running.”

“If my presence offends you, I can find other accommodations,” Leo snapped, pouring himself another generous measure of brandy.

“Your presence doesn’t offend me. Your stubborn refusal to face reality does.” Leaning forward, Noah’s usual cheerful demeanor was replaced with an uncommon seriousness. “You’re in love with your wife.”

Leo’s hand tightened around his glass. “I’m in no mood for your observations.”

“Clearly.” Noah’s gaze was unflinching. “Yet here we are.”

Leo drained half his glass in a single swallow, welcoming the burn in his throat. “What would you have me do? Crawl back to a woman who wants something I cannot give?”

“And what exactly can’t you give her? Trust? Vulnerability? The admission that she matters to you beyond a convenient marriage arrangement?”

“You make it sound so simple,” Leo muttered, staring into his brandy.

“Because it is.” Noah’s voice hardened. “You’re hiding here because you’re afraid. The great duke, terrified of a slip of a woman who asks for nothing more than to be loved.”

Leo surged to his feet, anger flaring. “You know nothing about it! After Felicity, after William?—”

“Yes, yes, after your brother and his manipulative lover betrayed you,” Noah interrupted, waving a dismissive hand. “Tell me, how long will you allow the ghosts of one betrayal to deny you any chance of happiness?”

Before Leo could retort, a knock interrupted them. Thompson, Noah’s butler, entered with a silver salver. “Forgive the intrusion, My Lord. An urgent message for His Grace delivered by a footman from Berkeley Square.”

Leo set down his glass and took the folded paper, breaking the plain wax seal. As he read, his expression shifted from annoyance to intense focus.

“What is it?” Noah asked, rising from his chair.

“Matthews.” Leo handed him the note. “He’s tracked William and Felicity to London. Says he nearly caught them in Dublin last week, but they slipped away. He’ll be here in two days to continue the search together.”

Noah finished reading and looked up, his eyes assessing. “So, after ten years of chasing shadows across Europe, your brother is finally within reach. Convenient timing.”

Leo paced the length of the study, energy suddenly coursing through him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Only that fate seems to have a peculiar sense of humor. The moment you might actually have to face your feelings for Marina, William reappears to offer the perfect distraction.” Noah tossed the note onto a side table. “What will you do?”

The question hung between them. Leo ran a hand through his hair, conflict clear in every tense line of his body.

“I need air,” he said finally, striding toward the door. “Don’t wait up.”

“Leo!” Noah called after him. “Running away solves nothing!”

But Leo was already gone, the study door closing firmly behind him.

The gaming hell was crowded despite the late hour, filled with the usual mix of dissolute gentlemen and desperate gamblers. Leo recognized several familiar faces among the patrons but acknowledged none as he claimed a table in the corner and ordered a bottle.

Here, at least, no one would question him. No one would push him to examine feelings he wasn’t ready to face. The noise and smoke created a welcome barrier between himself and his thoughts, especially those concerning Marina—her hurt expression when he’d rejected her love still haunted him.

Leo had just poured his second glass when a shadow fell across the table.

“I had a feeling we’d find you here,” Dorian’s voice cut through the din. “You always preferred drowning your troubles in public.”

Leo looked up to find not only Dorian but Gerard as well with Noah hovering behind them looking decidedly smug.

“Traitorous bastard,” Leo muttered at Noah.

“Concerned friend,” Noah corrected, pulling up a chair. “I merely suggested you might benefit from additional perspectives.”

Gerard signaled a server for more glasses. “We were worried when Noah told us about your… situation.”

“My situation is perfectly under control,” Leo said, his tone biting.

“Clearly.” Dorian glanced pointedly at the bottle. “Nothing says ‘control’ quite like hiding in a gaming hell while your wife sits alone in your home.”

Leo scowled. “She’s better off without me.”

“Is she?” Gerard asked mildly. “Or is that simply easier for you to believe?”

The server arrived with additional glasses which Gerard filled and distributed. An uncomfortable silence fell as the four men studied their drinks.

“William’s been found,” Leo said finally, breaking the tension. “Matthews traced him to London.”

Gerard and Dorian exchanged glances.

“After all this time,” Gerard murmured. “That’s… unexpected.”

“And fortuitous,” Dorian added, his gaze sharp on Leo’s face. “A perfect excuse to avoid confronting your actual problems.”

Leo’s hand slammed down on the table. “My brother’s return is not a distraction. It’s the conclusion of a decade’s search.”

“Of course, it is,” Dorian agreed too readily. “Just as running from your townhouse had nothing to do with fear.”

“I’m not afraid,” Leo hissed.

“Then you’re a liar.” Gerard’s blunt assessment caught Leo off guard. “We’ve known you since Eton, Leo. We’ve seen you face down angry fathers, jealous husbands, and even a rather memorable charging bull without flinching. The only thing that’s ever really frightened you is the possibility of caring too much.”

Leo glared at his old friend, seething with anger but also a deeper unease at the truth of his words.

“Marina is not Felicity,” Dorian said quietly. “Nor is she using you to get to something else as Felicity used William.”

“You don’t know that,” Leo muttered though his protest sounded weak even to his own ears.

“Actually, we do.” Gerard leaned forward. “We’ve observed her at social gatherings, seen how she looks at you when she thinks no one is watching. There’s no calculation there, Leo. Only a woman who sees past all your carefully constructed barriers.”

“And that terrifies you,” Noah chimed in, “because if she sees the real you and still loves you, then perhaps you’re worthy of that love after all.”

Leo reached for his glass, uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. “You’ve all suddenly become experts on my marriage?”

“No,” Dorian replied. “But we’re experts on you, old friend. And right now, you’re making the mistake of a lifetime.”

Leo drained his glass, wishing the alcohol would dull the growing unease in his chest. “What am I supposed to do? Crawl back and beg for forgiveness for being unable to give her what she wants?”

“What exactly does she want that’s so impossible?” Gerard asked. “Your heart? The truth of your feelings?”

“She wants more than I can offer,” Leo insisted though the words rang hollow.

“Or perhaps,” Dorian suggested, “she simply wants what you’re already feeling but refusing to acknowledge.”

The truth of it struck Leo like a physical blow. He stared at his empty glass, memories of Marina flooding his mind—her laughter, her defiance, the way she fit so perfectly in his arms. The thought of losing her permanently created a hollow ache in his chest that no amount of brandy could fill.

“What if she’s already gone?” he asked, voicing his deepest fear. “What if I’ve pushed her too far?”

“Then you find her,” Gerard said simply. “And you fight for her, the way you should have from the beginning.”

Leo looked up at his friends, seeing nothing but resolute support in their faces. Even Noah had abandoned his usual mockery for something closer to genuine concern.

“I need to see her,” Leo decided, rising from his chair with sudden urgency. “Now.”

The four men left the gaming hell together. Leo’s steps quickened as they approached the street. Within minutes, his carriage was speeding toward Berkeley Square, his heart pounding with an emotion he could no longer deny was love.

The townhouse was eerily quiet when Leo burst through the door. Henderson appeared immediately, his usual composure slightly ruffled by Leo’s abrupt entrance.

“Your Grace,” the butler began, “we weren’t expecting?—”

“Where is the Duchess?” Leo interrupted, already moving toward the stairs.

Henderson hesitated. “I’m afraid Her Grace is not at home, Your Grace.”

Leo froze. “What do you mean, not at home? It’s nearly one in the morning.”

“Yes, Your Grace. Her Grace departed approximately two hours ago.”

“Departed? Where? With whom?” Leo’s questions came rapid-fire, alarm building.

“I cannot say, Your Grace. Her Grace left through the servants’ entrance without informing anyone of her destination. Miss Betty may know more, but she’s been quite distressed since Her Grace’s departure.”

Leo took the stairs two at a time, his friends following at a discreet distance. He found Betty pacing outside Marina’s chambers, her face tear-streaked.

“Your Grace!” She dropped into a hasty curtsy. “Oh, thank goodness you’ve come!”

“Where is she?” Leo demanded.

“I don’t know exactly, Your Grace.” Betty wrung her hands. “She wouldn’t tell me, said it was better I didn’t know. But I’m worried sick. She was carrying a large sum of money, and the note?—”

“What note?” Leo seized on the detail. “What did it say?”

“I saw the note before she burned it,” Betty said, twisting her hands. “It told her to bring money to the theater on Drury Lane at midnight. Said she had to go alone.”

Leo felt his blood freeze. “Blackmail.” He turned to his friends. “Someone’s blackmailing my wife.”

“Over what?” Noah asked.

“Her writing.” Leo paced across the room. “I need to find her now.”

“We should split up,” Dorian suggested.

Leo shook his head. “No. She’s gone to Drury Lane. The old, abandoned theater.”

He turned back to Betty. “If she returns, keep her here. Don’t let her leave again.”

“Yes, sir.” Relief washed across Betty’s face.

Leo rushed downstairs with his friends following. In the entrance hall, Noah grabbed his arm.

“Let us come with you. If there’s danger?—”

“I need to do this alone,” Leo cut him off. “If something happens to me, if I don’t return, go to the theater. But I think I know who’s behind this.”

“Who?” Gerard asked.

“Felicity.” The name tasted bitter on his tongue. “She used that theater for our meetings years ago. It’s too perfect to be coincidence.”

“Felicity?” Dorian’s voice sharpened. “Your brother’s?—”

“Yes.” Leo headed for the door. “And if I’m right, Marina’s in real danger.”

Before they could stop him, Leo was out the door and into his waiting carriage.

“To Drury Lane,” he ordered his driver. “Fast as you can.”

As the carriage thundered through London’s empty streets, Leo gripped his pistol tighter. The thought of Marina alone and afraid, facing Felicity because of his failures, made him sick with worry.

Leo’s stomach knotted with dread as memories surfaced—Felicity’s secretive smile as she pulled him through the theater’s side entrance, the musty smell of decaying velvet seats, the thrill of forbidden trysts in the shadows of the boxes. It had been the perfect place for clandestine meetings, hidden from society’s prying eyes but accessible enough for convenience.

If someone wanted to lure Marina into a trap, they could hardly choose better.

“Faster,” he urged his driver, leaning forward as if his own body could hasten their progress.

As the carriage rattled through London’s darkened streets, Leo confronted the possibility that he might already be too late. The thought of Marina alone and vulnerable, facing an unknown threat because of his cowardice, was unbearable.

“I’m coming, Marina,” he whispered, as if she might somehow hear him across the distance that separated them. “Hold on.”