I don’t want to do this.
Her feet felt frozen to the ground, but she had no choice but to force herself to walk down the aisle.
Each step took her closer to her husband to be.
Veronica couldn’t bring herself to look at Lord Gallmore. If she did, she knew what she would see: ashort, portly man whose red hair seemed to be constantly in need of washing.
Veronica would havepreferreda feeble old man. Not this one, whose leer grew stronger the closer she got.
She dug her nails into her palm before taking that final step to stand before the altar, and was immediately assaulted by the scent of liquor.
Lord Gallmore held his hands out expectantly and waited.
Veronica took a deep breath, then put her hands in his.
“You look ravishing, my darling,” he whispered with a grin, leaning in so no one else could hear him.
She bit her tongue to keep silent.
The Archbishop began to speak, his words little more than a dull thud of dread in her ears. It was too late. There was no way out.
Her only solace was that at least her family would be taken care of.
“W e are gathered here today to_”
Suddenly the door to the church burst open. The sound rang out like a pistol shot.
Veronica turned to see an all too familiar figure walking towards her with a calm and collected energy.
“Get your hands off ofmybetrothed,” Duke Ashton said, an edge of steel in his voice underlining his words.
And even though he abandoned her. Even though she had not seen him since that night. Her heart raced wildly in her chest as the tall, stormy looking man made his way calmly toward her. Even with the scar on his face, he was still the most handsome man she had ever met.
Chapter Two
The room was silent. The echo of Christopher’s words, despite their relatively low volume, were still echoing in everyone’s ears.
Christopher clenched his hands into fists, nails biting into the inside of his leather gloves. He needed to keep his temper under control if he had any hopes of getting this over with swiftly.
“I beg your pardon sir! She is bound to marry me. The banns have been read, the papers drawn up, and she belongs to me!” The pudgy lord trying to marryhisbride took a step towards him.
Christopher clenched his jaw and was about to try and deescalate the situation in front of the guests and instead speak privately... but then his eyes locked with hers.
A beam of sunshine poured over her pale yellow dress, making the golden embroidery glimmer with every one of her fast,unsteady breaths. Her eyes were round with shock and her parted lips...
He shook his head. He could not afford to get distracted by her, not when she betrayed him.
She might look like an angel, heaven-sent and glowing with that very fire that drew him to her. Yet, he had to remind himself, that she was a devil in disguise.
But mine nonetheless.
“You dare to speak to me after trying to steal what is mine?”
“Good sir! I must insist you leave us be at once!”
“Not without my wife, not without taking that which was promised to me. And it’s ‘Your Grace,’ not that I expect a man of your social ineptitude to know that.”
“Perhaps we should step away for a moment,” the Archbishop said. “If we all sit down and talk, I’m sure we can figure this out.”
