“Over a year.”He scoffed, raking his hand through his hair.“Nothing happened ...yet.That doesn't mean nothing would have.”He stepped closer, his eyes burning.“And you didn't think I deserved to know that my future wife was gallivanting about London at all hours of the night?”
“I was going to tell you.I tried to tell you—”
“When?Before or after you agreed to be my wife?”His voice was rough.“Would you have told me a damn thing if you hadn’t listened in on my private conversations?”
“I ...I ...”
“I don’t think you would have.”He turned away from her, and she watched his shoulders rise and fall.When he spoke again, his voice was harder.“You only kissed me in this garden because of what you heard.”His voice dropped.“How am I supposed to trust that any of this is real?I don’t even know who you are right now.”
“Wes.”She reached for him, but he stepped back.“Wesley, please.I love you.That has always been true.”
“I don't know what to think right now.”
The words hung between them.Thea felt tears sliding down her cheeks, but she didn't wipe them away.
“You don’t know if you care for me anymore?”She didn’t bother to hide the bitterness in her tone.
“God, Thea.Of course I love you.But you can’t expect me to be calm about this.”He drew a deep breath.
“What do you want from me?I know that—”
“I want you to stop.”His voice was hard now.Final.“Kit is done.Whatever that was, whatever you thought you were doing—it's over.You're going to be my wife.My duchess.And you are never going back to the Fox.”
Thea's breath left her.
“You can't just forbid me—”
“I can.I'm your betrothed.In three weeks, I'll be your husband.”He stepped closer, and his voice turned the coldest she’d ever heard.He was every bit a duke, not the man she loved.“I won't have my wife sneaking out at night to gamble with other men.I won't have scandal following my family because you don’t know what is acceptable and what isn’t.This ends.Now.”
“Acceptable?”The word burned.“Is that what you care about most?That I am a proper wife doing embroidery or standing by your side with my eyes fixed on the floor like some simpering ninny.”
“Don’t put words in my mouth, Thea.”His eyes were ice.“You risked your safety.You risked your reputation.And from this point forward, you risk both of our families.All because you want to play cards.It’s selfish, Thea.”
His words stung.“It wasn't about the cards.”
“Then what was it about?”
“Freedom.”The word came out fiercer than she intended.“It was about having one place where I wasn't Lady Theodora.After William’s death, I learned that life is meant to be lived, Wesley.And why should I have to sit at home at night with my mother reminding me how terrible I am at running a household?While you get to be out drinking, playing cards, and doing Lord knows what, just because you were born with a cock between your legs.”
Wesley stared at her, his expression caught between surprise and fury.
“You think I made the rules, Thea?You think I enjoy the weight of expectations that comes from inheriting this bloody title?”He stepped closer.“I didn't create this world, but I have to live in it.And so do you.Part of my responsibility now is to protect you.”
“So I'm just supposed to accept that?Sit quietly and paint watercolors or play an instrument while you—”
“I'm not asking you to take up mindless hobbies.I'm asking you to not get yourself killed or destroy both our families.”His voice was raw.“Do you think I don't understand wanting to escape?I've spent years suffocating under this title.But I do what is expected of me.There are consequences for your actions, Thea.For both of us.When this comes out—and it will, because secrets always do, and a duke’s wife frequenting the gambling tables would be the most salacious piece of gossip the ton could ever hope to hear—it will impact everyone we care about.”
“No one has to know.”
“What don’t you understand about this?If you want to play cards and gamble your pin money, then I’ll play cards with you.I’ll triple your pin money if that’s what you want.”He raked his hand through his hair.“You could be carrying our child right now, and you’d be putting that child’s future in danger.Is that what you want?”
“Of course not.But you’re overreacting, Wes.You’re a duke.Even if someone found out, no one is going to shun us or our children.”
“Is that what you love about me?The protection of my title.”He spat the words and began pacing in front of her like a caged animal.
Thea's chest ached.“You know that’s not true.”
“You are done with this folly.”He stopped pacing and faced her, his jaw tightening.“I won’t allow it.”
