A hysterical burst of laughter fled her.
There was a limit to her hope, and believing the darkly handsome man across from her could ever be a good husband, the sort she had once wished for herself, was laughable.
“Are you weeping or are you laughing, Duchess?”
Her gaze flitted from the window to settle upon the man she had wed. “Mayhap a combination of both.”
“I prefer your laughter to your tears.”
His solemn pronouncement took her by surprise. “I would think a man such as yourself takes pleasure in tears.”
“The tears of certain others, yes.” He cocked his head to the side, a small, almost boyish smile curling his sensual lips. “Your tears? Never.”
“And yet you forced me to marry you,” she reminded him. “I know what you did, making certain Lady Emilia and Mr. Winter would discover where you had gone at just the right moment to create maximum damage to my reputation.”
“I may have paid a servant.” He gave an indolent shrug.
“Bribed, you mean.”
He truly was a wicked man. Conscienceless, willing to cross any boundary in pursuit of what he wanted. And what he had wanted had been her. What she did not understand yet was why. Adele meant to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Soon.
“Why quibble over a word, Duchess?” His grin deepened.
“Why indeed? A liar is no better than a thief, is he?”
His lips twitched. “Are you calling me a liar or a thief, love?”
There was deceptive calm in his voice, his tone smooth and mellifluous. And yet, there was also an undeniable edge. He was mercurial, Dominic Winter. She could not begin to understand him, and that terrified her. Because she was forever bound to him now.
Still, she refused to allow him to see the effect he had upon her. She could be brave. All her life, she had been the quiet twin, the wallflower. She had proven to herself, however, that when the situation merited her efforts, she was stronger than she had ever known.
She studied him now. “I have no way of knowing if you are either of those things. I scarcely know you at all, Mr. Winter.”
His brows snapped into a frown. “Dom.”
He could keep all London trembling in fear at the thought of his wrath, but she would not cower. “You forced me to marry you, but you cannot choose what I call you,Mr. Winter.”
“You will call me Dom,” he growled.
“No.”
“No?” His voice was steeped in disbelief.
She wondered if anyone ever denied him. Mayhap she would have to be the first. “No, Mr. Winter. I have been thinking about our marriage.”
“You have, have you?” There it was again, that barely leashed menace.
“Yes. I do think it would be in the best interest of everyone involved if we were to keep it a secret for a time.” Adele bit her lower lip, watching his reaction to her suggestion.
Truly, her initial plan had been to escape him. But he had thwarted her at every turn. Finally, she had decided there was no other means of saving herself aside from marrying him. At least she had gotten his promise that Max would be safe.
But her husband’s response was not what she had been hoping for.
“Never,” he vowed, vehement.
Curse him.
