Juliana closed the door with a click and sauntered toward the hearth. The morning light was still pale, filtering pale streams into Stonevale. But it was not what caught her attention completely. It was him. The way his profile cut sharply and the way his face seemed softer when illuminated by the light. She had also been too aware of how he sat, as if to ease the pressure on his injured hip and leg.
“Do you not think the house becomes too quiet when there are secrets everywhere? There is too much to say that is repressed,” Juliana said, her voice steadier than she felt inside. “Everything that is not said becomes too heavy.”
Cassian looked up at her, narrowing his eyes. “Are you here to discuss my sister and the West Tower again, Juliana? You know how that turned out. I suggest you save your breath for something we can agree on.”
“I did not come to speak of Marta, Cassian. I… I am here to speak of Kit,” she said breathlessly.
Even as she said those words, she felt the room’s temperature drop. Cassian looked furious, a muscle ticking in his cheek. He set his quill down with a finality that made the items on his desk rattle.
“Kit? I thought that after everything I told you, you would understand why I cannot bear to hear his name, let alone speak of him. Your brother is a leech,” he bellowed.
Juliana flinched at that. Her brother might have done terrible things, but she would never call him that.
“I do not understand how you can care about him after all he has done to you. To Marta. He is a man who dances on other people’s misfortune. If he can behave that way toward his own flesh and blood and the woman he said he cared about, what would he be like to the rest of the world? He is a menace! Worse, he is involved in dealings with dangerous men. Illegal dealings, and I want you to have no part in it.”
“What do you mean? Oh, I knew he had mixed up with the wrong lot,” Juliana said in despair.
“Yes, and he does not understand that these men are not his friends. They are only in it because they believe the Hawthorne name will be a boon to them.”
Dread rippled down Juliana’s spine. She knew Cassian was right. Kit was reckless, to the point that he barely considered the consequences of his actions for himself or his family. And Cassian? Cassian was the sort of duke who knew what the darkness of London was like. He was not as unexposed as others in the peerage. However, Kit was the older brother she had spent her whole life cleaning up after, as if she had been born to it.
“He is in danger,” she whispered, something she knew all along.
“Of course, he is,” Cassian corrected harshly. “Once upon a time, I thought I was the greatest danger to him, but he owes money to men with no self-control or honor. He is fortunate to have the sister he sold still on his side.”
Juliana bristled at the reminder. She looked at Cassian warily even as she approached him. Her husband always carried the familiar, comforting scent of sandalwood. She wanted to inhale him, bury her nose in his strong biceps.
“Cassian, darling, I know my brother has done many unforgivable things. I am his sister and should be the most offended. However, look at us,” she said, almost pleadingly, gesturing at the air between them. “We are married, bound, hopefully not only by that. If we are to start our own family, we can only hope for peace if we start working on the same side.”
He scoffed, his face crumpled with emotion. “You want me to dig into the mud to rescue a man who was the reason I got dirty in the first place. Now I am almost drowning, and he shows no concern. I married you to punish him, Juliana. I am not here to become his savior.”
“It does not matter what he is to you. I am asking you to be the man you are, the one I got to know,” she insisted, her voicepleading. “Kit is my blood, no matter how you look at it. Promise me, Cassian, that you will at least try. Use your connections to pull him away from these nefarious dealings. You know he is in danger. Can you secure him before any of those men do? Please.”
“No,” he growled as he rose from his desk and turned his back on her. “I cannot help that devil. I will not.”
Juliana did not retreat even when Cassian looked at her with fury in his eyes. She knew she had some power over him, a power born of the nights they had already spent unraveling each other’s defenses. Unraveling each other’s bodies. She knew that her husband cared for her enough to indulge her in this.
Juliana moved behind Cassian, gently guiding him back to his seat. He obeyed as if he had no choice, groaning as her hands slid over his shoulders. She could feel the knot of tension there. Then she massaged it, hoping to give him some relief.
“Cassian, do you want me to beg on my knees for it? I know you hate Kit right now and want to see him ruined. This marriage shows you will go to great lengths for revenge. However, you are much more than that. I feel your warmth. I know we both want a family. If you truly want that and me as your wife, please show some mercy.”
Juliana felt him shudder beneath her masterful touch. She knew then that he wanted the same thing. Peace. A life without pain. A journey without revenge. His hands gripped the armrests of his chair as she let him take control of his muscles.
“You are no doubt a manipulative little witch,” he groaned, and the words did not feel like an insult. They almost felt like praise, making her smile. Not in triumph, no. She was far from that still.
“I prefer determined,” she laughed. “Or you can say I am a wife fighting for your redemption and my brother’s safety,” she retorted.
She walked to his side and placed a palm against his cheek, turning him toward her. Her gaze held his as she felt the air between them crackling. It was thick, almost solid. She could not breathe.
And Cassian? His pupils widened as he watched her with undisguised desire. While Juliana might not be certain of much, she knew there was a deep attraction between them. The revenge failed because of it. She did not mind being married to the Duke of Stonevale. Not anymore. In fact, she rejoiced in it.
“I know what you are thinking, Juliana. You think you can sway me with one kiss? You think your body is payment for your brother’s life?”
She should have been offended that she had just been demoted to a body, but she stirred at his words. While she might have an effect on him, he had an effect on her, too.
“I know you want me, Cassian. But I believe you also want to become the man you were meant to be. The man I believe in,” she whispered.
She leaned toward him, her lips ghosting over his skin. His jaw tightened. She could see it now, his resolve crumbling under her teasing. She pressed her hot mouth to his jaw, and all he could do was sigh. It was almost a defeated sound, yet to him it sounded like he had conquered the world. He pulled her onto his lap, the pressure a blend of pleasure and pain on his thigh. His cane clattered to the floor as he pulled her into a searching, desperate, almost feral kiss. His hands tangled in her hair in agrip that was almost too painful but filled her with satisfaction.
