My heart swells, and a smile stretches across my face.
Mother leans in close. “You do understand that you can’t marry him.”
Scowling, I snatch my attention away from Pink and Laurie, and get back to signing papers.
“He is only a lord’s son, and a runaway,” Mother adds. “Continuing to keep him discreetly on the side will be tolerable.”
I bite the inside of my mouth and inhale sharply through my nose. I will not rise to her barbs. It is best to ignore them. To acknowledge them is to give them power.
An eternity later, and it is time to freshen up for dinner. Enough administrative work has been completed for one day.
A member of staff, whom I don’t recognize, whisks Pink away to show him to a guest room. Wearily, I head for my bedchamber.
As soon as I open the door, I’m hit with a barrage of emotions. The room is achingly familiar, but no longer home. And it never will be, ever again. I will shortly be moving into the master chambers. This room represents my youth and everything that has passed.
A gentle tap on the door makes me flinch. I whirl around just as Pink lets himself in.
“They put me next door,” he says, smirking proudly at the victory. The concession to our relationship.
Then his expression sombers. He walks right up to me, but stops when we are inches apart. The distance feels vast. The small space filled with my lies and all the heavy implications of the truth.
“Sorry,” I croak hoarsely.
Sorry for not telling him who I am. Sorry for calling him my vessel. Sorry for declaring him my property and not the holder of my heart. Sorry that I am a duke and appear far above him in status. Sorry for everything.
Pink’s beautiful eyes fill with emotion. I blink and then suddenly he is in my arms. I hold him tightly, so tightly he probably can’t breathe. But he doesn’t complain. He simplysqueezes me back. We stand in the middle of my childhood home and cling on to each other, as dust motes dance in the weak winter sunbeams pouring through the window.
“Are you going to dump me when you get married?” Pink whispers.
My arms tighten around him even more, as if I am trying to push him right into my chest, next to my heart.
“No,” I say simply, but firmly.
Pink sags in relief, but says nothing further.
I’m not going to dump him when I get married. Because I am marrying him. If he will have me.
“I can’t believe you are Duke Eastminster,” Pink says.
I huff out a strange sound. “Neither can I.”
Chapter twenty-five
Pink
For one heart stopping moment, I think I’m back in the harem. My heart goes crazy and I bolt awake. I’m not in my bed at home, or in the campervan. I am somewhere different. But it is not the harem. It is Monty’s bed in his enormous stately home. Because he has an enormous stately home, because he is Duke Eastminster.
I let out a shaky breath and try to calm my racing heart. My body wriggles closer to the heat of Monty’s sleeping body. His proximity is reassuring, even though he is the source of my anxiety.
My new surroundings are overwhelming. The gorgeous bedroom is lit mutely by the early morning sun. Pale winter hues that make everything look faded. It is a very nice room. Not at all ostentatious, but definitely the chamber of a very wealthy person.
My mind continues to whirl. My boyfriend is a duke. A frigging duke. My parents would be so very pleased. It is what theyalways dreamed of, before they decided that Ritchie’s money was a better option.
I wince at that thought, and it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. It almost feels as if fate has a dark sense of humor and is mocking me with it. With a grimace, I push the unpleasant thought aside. My parents are dead to me and I refuse to give them any more room in my thoughts, emotions, or life. As for the harem, that is something I am slowly untangling myself from.
Neither it, nor my parents, are going to influence my life. I won’t let them. They took enough from me. They are not having my future as well.
I take a deep breath and let the long shadows of the harem and my parents go. Now I need to focus. What are the facts that I need to concentrate on?
