Page 67 of The Duke of Deceit

“Except for you.” He leaned his head back on her lap and gazed upside down at her. “Leave it to the most intriguing gel I’ve ever met to also be the most dogged.”

“I will take that as a compliment.” She leaned over and brought her mouth to his, to place an inverted kiss of healing on his lips. When she straightened, she combed her fingertips through his hair, and the soft touch soothed the boiling unease eating at his gut.

“Phillip has a good life here,” Lucien continued, needing her to know that. “He has acquaintances in the village, including the vicar and his family who give him school lessons, and he even helps man the stall on market days. Everyone in Ealing believes that Phillip is truly the Porters’ son, and the Porters certainly feel that way about him. They’ve dedicated themselves to him, being far better parents to him than his blood parents ever were.”

She softened that reminder with another brush of her fingers through his hair. “But anyone who sees you together will realize you’re related.”

“No one sees me with him. I make certain of it. Have to.” He closed his eyes beneath the comforting caresses of her fingertips at his temple. “Because the dukedom isn’t mine. I’ve stolen it.”

Her fingers stilled.

“I never wanted it,” he confessed, “but I have no choice now except to continue the fraud. If anyone finds out, I could very well be removed from the title and all its privileges, the dukedom stripped of all its property and accounts—How would I care for Phillip if the dukedom was taken from us? I have no way of supporting him without it.” The weight of the world settled onto his shoulders. “God only knows what would become of him then.”

“And that’s what you meant when you said that you could never marry anyone,” she said as softly as the shadows around them.

He nodded faintly. “A fraud duchess for a fraud duke… What woman would agree to that? None I would ever want.”

She said nothing, but her hands slipped down to his shoulders and began to knead the knots of tension there, as if she knew exactly what he needed. He slumped his head forward and let himself have this rare moment of peace.

But it wouldn’t last. “You know enough to destroy me now,” he murmured. “I suppose you can force me to marry your sister after all.”

Her hands paused for a beat, then continued their soothing massage. “That doesn’t matter anymore.”

He turned to look up at her, his chest clenching with concern. “Did something happen to Amanda’s baby? Is that why you came looking for me tonight?”

“Amanda and the baby are fine.” Yet she didn’t meet his eyes, dropping her gaze to his shoulders as her fingertips pressed into the hard muscle. “I came looking for you because Amanda returned from Ireland. She finally shared the truth with me.”

She nudged him until he turned back around and faced the softly lit room.

As she massaged his shoulders, she told him about her sister’s return, why she had attempted to seduce him that night in Lord Hawthorne’s garden, how she urged Jess to stop punishing him. He didn’t interrupt as she told him about Amanda’s situation and the true father of her unborn child, although his anger was pricked at Amanda’s accusations of Jess, who had only acted out of love for her sister. He couldn’t fault her for that, even though he was the victim of her determination.

“That was why I went to Brixton House to find you,” she confessed quietly. “I needed to ask your forgiveness. What I did in attacking your reputation was out of line. I had no right to do that. I overstepped, and I am so very sorry.”

“There’s no need to apologize.” He reached up and squeezed her hand. “But I don’t understand why Amanda would manipulate her situation to make it look as if I were the father when the outcome would have been the same. She knew I wouldn’t marry her, that she’d still have to travel to Ireland for her confinement and give up her baby.”

“Because of me,” she answered sadly.

He turned his head to look at her and raised a brow questioningly.

Jess shrugged. “I’m certain she thought I’d be more forgiving if I thought she’d been wrongfully seduced by a rake rather than going willingly into her situation with eyes wide open to all the consequences.”

“Would you have been?”

“No.” She gave a long sigh. “I think I’d have been more forgiving if I’d known it was all due to love.”

Turning back to face the room, he brought her hand to his lips and placed a kiss to her palm. Then he placed it on his chest where he was certain she could feel his heart beating.

“So you know nothing more about the father,” he asked, “only that his first name is Henry and that he’s an administrator for the East India Company?”

“Amanda was careful not to share anything else. She doesn’t want me to find him.” Lucien could practically hear the grimace he was certain marred her face. “Besides, he’s most likely halfway to India by now anyway.”

“Perhaps not. Perhaps we can use what we know about him to narrow down who—”

She leaned down and silenced him with a lingering kiss to his nape, her fingers curling into his chest. “I’ve finally learned my lesson and know not to interfere anymore.” Each word tickled warmly over his skin. “Amanda was right.”

He frowned. “Why do you say that?”

“Because that’s what I do” she whispered. “What I’ve always done—I charge ahead to force others to do what I want, consequences be damned.” Then she confessed, barely louder than a whisper, “Just as I did with our father. She wanted to stop me from doing it again.”