Page 91 of The Duchess He Couldn’t Resist

“Let me go. If the Duke finds out…”

“Oh, yes, the Duke,” Donny chuckled.

There was something in the mocking way he regarded her. Her heart was pounding; her hands trembling.

“You expect him to come save you, right?” Donny smiled cruelly.

Marigold tightened her jaw. Her instincts flared. Donny was always daring, but this was even beyond his usual behavior. He stood before her, smiling down, a wide and ugly grin. She knew that malicious look. She always looked away and cowered but not this time.

“I have told you, little rabbit,” he hissed, “one day you would be at my mercy. Finally, the day has come. And it’s even better than I thought, having you here tied up and helpless, unable to run from me.”

It was true she was tied up and helpless, but that didn’t mean that she would succumb to fear. She straightened her back and met his eyes.

“And I knew that one day I would see you for what you truly are,” she said, her voice unwavering. “A pathetic human being.”

His grin dropped, his eyes turned cold.

“What did you say?”

“Oh, I think you heard me quite clearly,” Marigold said calmly. “But it would be my absolute pleasure to repeat to you that you are pathetic. That you cannot even breathe without taking Johnny’s permission. And if I may add, we both know that you are nothing without Johnny’s men. Nothing but a bully.”

Donny’s face contorted with rage, eyebrows furrowing, eyes flaming. His hands were shaking with barely controlled wrath as he grabbed her chin. His fingers dug into her skin, almost breaking it.

“You will regret this,” he hissed in her face, his foul smell offending her nostrils.

“Whatever you say; we both know I spoke the truth.”

Donny grabbed her by the throat. Marigold knew that he could kill her right there and then, yet they had dragged her all the way here, secured her in this backroom while all this commotion was going on outside. She knew if they wanted her dead, she would already be dead.

“I know what this is,” Donny said, releasing her neck. “You believe your precious little Duke will come once more and save you from this situation. Let me tell you, little rabbit. If you ever see him again, it would be to say your last goodbyes.”

Marigold froze at this innuendo.

“That is right,” Donny stood before her, triumphant. “Maybe I should offer my condolences earlier.”

So, this was what was going on. Marigold looked over Donny’s shoulder at the door leading to the main room.

“Well, you’re not as stupid as I thought.”

“Let me go, Donny,” she demanded.

“Let you go? Why would I ever do that now that I have you exactly where I want you?”

He coughed as he went around to the back of her chair. He pulled her hair to force her to look at him over her shoulder.

“You’re about to be a widow, little rabbit,” he said, his voice dripping with poison. “And after your precious Duke is dead,” Donny went around to stand again in front of her, “you will be mine. Crawling to me, begging me to take you in.”

Marigold felt every hair on her body stand in disgust and fear. All these men outside. This was some kind of ambush for Brandon and his friends. If only she could find a way to warn him.

“And when you’re alone and helpless like you are now,” Donny continued his rant, “I will finally do to you all the things I’ve been holding back. You see, Johnny promised you to me.”

Marigold couldn’t even register; she was riddled with worry about her husband’s safety. She didn’t even want to entertain the idea that something bad was going to happen to him. She wouldn’t allow it. She wouldn’t even think about it. Brandon was strong and clever. Maybe he didn’t love her, but he would never abandon her. He was a man of honor.

“I am very excited, Marigold,” he whispered in her ear. “A duchess. Well, you will be a dowager duchess but still just as good.”

Marigold glared at Donny. This filthy man thought that he was good enough to touch her after she had been Brandon’s.

“I would never be desperate enough to allow you to touch me,” she said, her voice even. “A man like you can only force a woman because nobody would ever willingly allow you to get close.”