“I already said I was a fool.”He pressed his forehead against hers.“Marry me tomorrow.”
“What of our mothers?There’s no way they will go along with that.”
“Am I a duke or not?I’m getting a special license, and I’m marrying you tomorrow, or I’m taking you to Gretna Green.You choose which.”
“There’s my Wes.”She cupped his cheeks in her hands.“Get the license, Your Grace.”
He turned his head and pressed a kiss to her palm.“Consider it done.”
The carriage rocked through the dark streets, and Thea leaned against him, her head on his shoulder.Wesley's arm came around her, and his thumb traced circles on her hip through the fabric.
This time tomorrow she’d be in bed with the love of her life.And nothing in the world had ever been more right.
Epilogue
Three weeks later
Wesley
Itdidn’tsurpriseanyoneat the table that the Duchess of Greystone was winning again.
Wesley watched his wife—as Kit—rake the coins across the table with that satisfied grin, cap pulled low, and the same rough voice that Wesley couldn’t believe he didn’t recognize before.
“Damn and hell.”She stacked the coins.“That's a pretty pot.”
“I think I liked it better when I didn't know who I was constantly losing to,” Louis said, tossing his cards down.
The Silver Fox was busy tonight, the usual crowd filling the far tables.But their corner was as it had always been—the four of them, whiskey, cards, and ribbing each other.The only difference was that Wesley's knee was pressed against his wife's beneath the table, and he didn't have to pretend he wasn't enjoying watching her fleece his friends.
His wife.He still hadn't tired of the thought.Even after three weeks of waking up beside her, he wasn’t certain how he’d gone so long without doing so.
“Deal again,” Wesley said, pushing his coins into the center.
“Is your mother still giving you both hell?”Max asked.
Wesley dealt the next hand.“After she stopped crying that we didn’t give her the big flashy wedding she wanted, she started instructing Thea on how to manage the house.”
“What did you do?”Louis glanced between the two of them waiting for someone to respond.
“I told her that Thea is my duchess and the housekeeper has things well in hand.My wife doesn’t have to deal with such matters if she doesn’t wish to.And I told my mother, that if she wishes to remain a welcome presence in our home, she will treat my wife as the lady of the house.”He picked up his cards.“She’s surprisingly quiet now.”
“My mother didn’t speak to me for a week,” Kit said from beneath the cap, her voice pitched low.“But she adores Wesley.”
“I have that effect on Hasting women,” Wesley said, and Kit's grin widened.
“I’m no longer a Hasting.”
He wanted to pull her in his lap so he could prove just how right she was about that.
Louis leaned back in his chair.“So the great Duke of Greystone told his mother to mind her own business.I never thought I'd see the day.”
“It was long overdue.”That was an understatement.Wesley motioned for Parker to bring them another round.
Louis studied him with an expression that was almost serious.“You look like yourself again, Wes.Haven't seen that man in a long time.”
Wesley said nothing, but the words landed.He felt like himself.For the first time since his father died and the title had settled on his shoulders, he could breathe.The Fox wasn't his escape anymore.It was just a place he chose to be, with the people he chose to be with.
The game continued.Kit won more than she lost, as she always did, and Wesley didn't mind.Money would go to the shelter regardless.
