Maddening. That is all that he is.And yet, she was to spend a life with him.
She straightened her back, determination hardening her resolve. She wouldn’t let him get under her skin. This was a marriage of convenience, nothing more. She would fulfill her duties as duchess, but she would keep her distance. Just as he had demanded.
There was no room for mistakes here. She must never let him grow close to her
Never enter her room. Never approach her without warning. Never touch her.
Nicholas had opted to stay back in his study. It was a place where he often sought refuge when the weight of his title or his own thoughts became too much to bear. He scarcely allowed anyone inside it, either. In fact, he could not remember the last time that someone apart from house staff or himself entered it.
Well, except just a few moments ago when it was infiltrated by a rather demanding Duchess.
“She has quite the gall, I’ll give her that,” he muttered to himself and poured himself a drink.
It was not usual for women to be so forthcoming, especially in an arrangement like theirs. Yet, she had so easily put forth a list of demands in front of him.
He downed his drink in one long swallow, the burn in his throat a welcome distraction from the tangled mess of his emotions. Nicholas hated to reminisce, but here, now, he couldn’t get Violet’s face out of his mind—the way her cheeks had flushed with irritation, the way her lips had trembled with indignation as she laid out her rules.
It was… adorable but equally irksome. Perhaps her little list of demands had invoked the opposite outcome from him. She suddenly appeared to him as this forbidden fruit. In reach but impossible to touch.
The irony wasn’t lost on him. Here he was, a man who had spent years avoiding entanglements, now married to a woman who seemed determined to keep him at arm’s length. It should havebeen ideal. She wanted nothing from him but distance, and he had thought that he would be more than willing to oblige.
And yet…
He set the empty glass down with more force than necessary, the sharp clink breaking the silence.
What was it about her anyway?
She was timid, shy, and utterly unremarkable in the ways that usually caught his attention. Plain by the standard definition of the word. But somehow, it felt like a disservice to call her that. No, there was something beneath her quiet demeanor—a spark that came out occasionally, a part of her that she kept hidden. It intrigued him, despite himself.
“A vampire, huh?” he muttered to himself, a smile threatening to form at the corner of his lips.
I would never fall for someone as shallow as you.
That had… stung. It had hit far closer to the mark than he cared to admit. Shallow. It would not be the first time he was accused of such a thing. Many women before her had hurled the same word at him when things had inevitably not worked out.
Yet, it hit different when it was his wife saying that to him.
“It does not matter. This marriage is only on paper,” he reminded himself.
He let out a harsh breath, running a hand through his dark hair. This marriage was nothing more than an arrangement, a means to an end. He didn’t need her approval or her admiration. All he needed was for her to play her part as he would play his.
All they needed to do was stick to the given plan and all would be fine.
CHAPTER 7
It was…strangebeing a duchess.
For one thing, Violet had never wielded so much power in her entire life. Being the youngest sibling of two older brothers, she neverdidhave the authoritative say on what went down in her house. Her opinion—if it was ever sought—was mostly ornamental.
Here at the estate, though, it felt like the opposite was true. She had been Duchess of Bernight for a little more than two weeks. It was enough time for her to get acquainted to the staff. She knew mostly everyone now, for she had to interact with them daily when assigning them their duties for the day. Since she rarely ever spoke to her own husband, she had more than enough time on her hands to get on with the household duties.
Yet… there was something missing. Something quite pivotal which Violet had not been able to pinpoint. But the realizationcame to her when she interacted with the housekeeper that morning.
“Mrs. Smith,” Violet called out. She had just awoken from her slumber and had ventured out to the hallway after dressing herself with the help of her lady’s maid.
“Your Grace.” The greeting was polite, but there was no warmth behind it.
“I’m glad that I have found you here this morning. I was hoping to recruit your help for something important. There are a lot of things that I do not quite understand yet about the estate and…”
