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“Well, color me a shocked bastard. Look at the two of us. Fools who have succumbed to love.”

“I know, it’s disgusting.”

“Absolutely vile.”

“Couldn’t be happier.”

Derek glanced at him, his sardonic grin a little less sardonic than usual. “Likewise, mate. Likewise.”

51

Rafe

A few months later.

The carriage hit a large rut, and Rafe’s shoulder bumped into Derek’s. These country roads were always in horrible condition. His gaze was trained out the window, Ironcrest Castle slowly growing larger. He fisted the tops of his thighs, his body practically vibrating. He reminded himself to breathe, but it did nothing to slow his racing heart.

But it wasn’t fear. It wasn’t apprehension.

No, it was anticipation.

To see her.

Theodora had returned to Ironcrest a month ago along with Sebastian and Abigail. She could only be absent from her steward duties for so long. She’d been practically pulling her hair out at Ironcrest House. Waiting multiple days for correspondence from her clerk had driven her batty. And business was moving along rapidly with the quarrying—she couldn’t afford to not be at the estate.

The house had been…so empty after they’d all left. He rubbed at his chest, at the hollow ache that had formed the minute their carriage had departed. It’d always been just him and Grandmama, but now that Theo, Bash, and Abigail had come into his life, it felt so much lonelier with just the two of them.

Grandmama had no interest in returning to Ironcrest—and Rafe couldn’t blame her. She’d left for a visit to Baron Forester’s estate. The two had developed a…friendship of sorts. While Lord Forester had been visiting for Derek and Olivia’s wedding, Grandmama had been the happiest Rafe had ever seen her. Apparently, a long, long time ago, before she’d been chosen as the next Ironcrest duchess, she’d fancied the awkward baron. He swallowed hard. After everything she’d suffered in this life, she deserved to find happiness.

“Is that it?” Derek leaned over Rafe, getting closer to the window. “Bloody hell, it’s obnoxiously large.”

Olivia wrinkled her nose. “I’m destined to get lost.”

“It’s not nearly as complicated as it looks. It’s a large square. If you just keep walking, you’ll eventually find your destination.”

“It looks like a medieval fortress,” she whispered. Her gaze darted to his before going back to the window. “Is it haunted?”

What a question. In many, many ways, it was. But he had a feeling that those ghosts and demons only belonged to him. “I think you’ll be safe from any apparitions.”

He shifted to adjust his leg. It was much better now, but the muscle still pulled tight and knotted on him, especially when he went without moving it for long periods of time. He could manage without a cane, but not without a limp. He hoped eventually he’d be able to work up to a mostly normal gait.

The recovery had been frustrating, to say the least. He’d been confined to his townhouse for much too long, and the short outings they’d had to show off Theodora as his new duchess hadn’t been enough to relieve the restlessness that had besieged him. But after their first jaunt through Hyde Park, he was happy to stay shut up indoors. Those who’d remained in London had set upon them like a pack of hounds. Everyone had to set eyes on the new Duchess of Ironcrest.

A smile pulled at his lips as they turned onto Ironcrest Castle’s drive. Theodora had been brilliant. He hadn’t been surprised in the least. She knew how to command a room; acting as duchess had been no different. Not to mention when she and Grandmama joined forces, they were…well, they were frightening. The two strongest women he’d ever met, both cunning and possessing a dry humor that most of the ton missed. They’d successfully insulted everyone who’d tried to give Theo the cut without the person ever knowing they were being made a fool of.

He suspected she’d thoroughly enjoyed shocking them. Whenever someone asked how they met or who her family was, her dark eyes had glinted devilishly as she’d informed them she was his steward. The alarm that followed had been nearly impossible not to laugh at. The struggle to reconcile their disdain at her lack of breeding with the knowledge that she outranked them by a considerable margin played over their faces like a production at the Theatre Royal.

Fortunately, that whole production was over and done with. They’d done their duty, ensuring the ton had no doubts there was now a Duchess of Ironcrest. Rafe was ready to stow away with Theodora at Ironcrest. Amusement swirled in his chest. Oh, how things had changed.

The carriage rolled to a stop, and he shoved open the door before his servants could even get to it. It’d been an entire bloody month. He needed to see Theodora now. He hoped she would be in her office.

He turned back to Derek, almost forgetting he had guests with him. “You two will⁠—”

Derek waved him off. “Go. You’ve seen one castle, you’ve seen them all. We’ll re-adjourn after we’ve settled in our rooms.”

Rafe grinned and lifted his hand in thanks as he strode for the castle entrance. He took the stairs two at a time, wincing at the pull in his thigh. But he ignored it. He’d deal with the ache later.

His front doors waited open for him, and he hurried inside. And was immediately hit by a stone wall. “Rafe!” Arms wrapped around him and squeezed.