Page 46 of The Duke of Pain

What the hell, he rejoiced in the sensation.

After collecting his breakfast repast, Gideon sat at the opposite end of the table. They ate quietly for a few moments, then Olivia placed her utensils across her plate.

“I know we said last night we were taking this a day at a time, but blast it, I need to know something of the future. Am I your mistress? Am I to be a paid employee of Your Grace?”

Gideon’s blood ran cold. “Money. Is that why you’re here?” he asked warily.

“No, you daft man. How can you say such a thing? Is this an affair of the heart, then? I have to know where I stand.” She threw her napkin on the table in exasperation.

“Yes, it most definitely is an affair of the heart. Mine is fully engaged, I assure you. I thought I made that clear last night,”

Olivia sighed. “You did, most thoroughly. But a woman needs to hear the words as well as see and experience the proof. My heart is engaged, too. Most definitely. So where is this heading?”

Here was the opportunity to place a time limit on their affair. A brief sojourn into bliss, then back to his disconsolate and debauched life? How could he return to it after being in her arms, after being—inside her. Part of her. Joined.

“We spend time together, get to know each other more, make love day and night. Why can’t we have it all, Liv?”

“Oh, you make it sound so easy,” she said wistfully. “You never fully explained why you left me that first night.”

“Simply put, I was terrified. By the intense emotions, the prospect of having someone in my home, by my impulsiveness. Scared stiff by how much I want you. It overwhelmed me. And, in the past, when overwhelmed, I ran and hid. I am heartily sorry, Liv. Old habits and all that. I’m working on it.”

And that was quite the confession.

“I understand, more than you know. Please, in the future, promise we will tell each other when things become too much to handle,” Olivia affirmed in a soft voice.

“I promise,” he murmured.

At least, he would try.

Olivia nodded and took a mouthful of egg and chives.

“Come with me to Foxmont, my country seat,” Gideon blurted.

“Is it in Watford, in Hertfordshire? No, I would have heard of your title since I lived further north, in Kettering.”

“No, it isn’t in Watford, even though that is the name of the dukedom. Foxmont is outside the small village of Fobbing in Essex. About thirty miles east as the crow flies, a little over an hour by train. It is private, and we would be away from prying eyes.”

Gideon sipped his tea. “I haven’t been there in ages, though my steward has kept the place running efficiently, or so I assume. There is one snag, however.”

Olivia buttered her cheese turnover. “What?”

“Whinstone is in residence. I will have to go personally to see him off the property. While there, I will instruct the staff to prepare for our arrival and remove every last stain and trace of my miserable duke stepfather.”

Olivia chewed her turnover thoughtfully and swallowed. “I thought you hated the man? Why allow him to stay?”

“Out of sight, out of mind. I reasoned, if the duke was thirty miles away on a country estate, I wouldn’t have to see him, talk to him, or deal with him in any way. So far, it’s worked. I haven’t seen him in months. I am sure that is where he tucked away his mistress.”

Gideon told her all about his mother coming to see him and why.

“Oh, my. That is a complication. What will you do?”

“Speak to Whinstone, see what he wants. I will make his immediate departure part of any pact I make with him. If I were truly heartless, I would have cut him and my mother off long ago.”

“Then why didn’t you?” Olivia asked.

“I suppose I am not as callous as I believed. But I will only be pushed so far. And I’m at the breaking point with these two leeches.”

“After the way they treated you, abused you, and still, you pay their bills.”