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“I’m busy, as you can see. Please leave at once.”
“No. I want to talk to you.”
“We have nothing to say to each other.”
“I disagree, Daniel. I have much to say.” She walked toward him. “I have missed you so very much. I can’t sleep at night for want of you.”
“I’m sorry. As I’ve told you before, it’s over between us.”
“No, it can’t be.”
“It is.”
“But why? We shared so much together.”
“We shared a bed, Amelia, that’s all. I’m going to be married, and I have every intention of—”
“Don’t tell me that you have feelings for that little whore.”
Rage boiled in Daniel’s gut. “Do not ever refer to her like that again, do you understand? Leave her out of this. Your quarrel is with me.”
“Does she make you feel like I do? Do you remember our fun? Our escapades?”
Daniel remembered, though he wished he didn’t. “You need to leave now, Amelia.”
“You’re mine, Daniel. She can’t have you!”
“She already has me. I’m hers.”
“What does she have that I don’t?”
A smile teased his lips. “She has my heart. She’s had it from the beginning. I love her.” The words lifted a great burden from his shoulders. “I love her,” he said again, more to himself than to Amelia.
“You don’t know the meaning of the word.” Amelia lunged forward and tackled him to the ground. She straddled him, clamping her mouth down upon his, seeking entrance with her tongue. She wrenched the dressing robe from his chest. “Here’s what you’ll be missing with her, Daniel. Look what I can give you.”
God, Polk had been right about Amelia. She was bad news. He tossed her aside him and closed his robe. “I have reconsidered allowing you to stay here, Amelia. I want you gone by the morrow.”
“You won’t get rid of me that easily, Your Grace.” Amelia smoothed her rumpled dress and stood. “I was invited here. What wou
ld the duchess think of you throwing me out?”
“I don’t righteously care what the duchess thinks.”
“Perhaps Her Grace and I should have a little chat. She might like to know what her baby boy has been up to in my bedchamber.”
“You leave my mother alone, damn it.” Daniel closed his robe and rose. “She’s been through hell, losing her husband and son, and I won’t tolerate your interference with her. Have your bags packed. You’ll leave after dinner.”
Amelia turned and flounced toward the door. “You know,” she said, looking back at him, “your intended isn’t interested in you. She told me so.”
Daniel winced. “When did you speak to her?”
“We’ve had several chats, the future duchess and I. The first night of the house party, I found her in the ladies’ sitting room after you molested her outside. I enlightened her as to why you grabbed her. You had mistaken her for me, of course. She told me she wasn’t the least bit interested in you. Then the other night, after you announced your betrothal, she told me she didn’t wish to marry you.”
Daniel’s stomach churned, and he swallowed. “You stay the hell away from her. I mean it. I want you off this estate.”
“Why do you wish to marry someone who doesn’t want you? She’ll never be able to satisfy you. I know your sexual appetites. You can have me, Daniel. I want you. I need you. Let me be your duchess. I’ll make you proud.”
“For the last time, Amelia, leave this chamber at once, or I will physically remove you!”
