Page 65 of Project Duke

But, God forbid, if anything happened to her…

He’d never be able to forgive himself. He’d be completely finished.

He cared for her much, much more than he’d ever intended… She had become essential to his very existence.

Whatever he must do, he wouldn’t let harm come to her.

24

Three days later, Calliope watched the team of construction workers in the sitting room using chisels to remove old, damaged parts of windows. A glass cutter lay next to the new windowpanes leaned against the wall.

Several men applied new plaster with trowels over laths, filling the cracks in the old walls and creating a new, fresh layer. Two more men crouched over the parquet floor and hammered in fresh tiles with mallets. It smelled like wet plaster, wax, fresh wood, and dust. The room was filled with the noise of repairs, and Calliope loved every moment of that.

Until a certain tall and broad-shouldered male figure appeared in the doorway and charged towards her like a bull.

“Calliope, what in the world?” he cried.

Calliope sighed. “I knew you were going to be angry with me.”

Nathaniel, striking in his navy uniform, came to stand by her side, gaping at the sitting room.

“Then why did you do this?” He swept his arm in an arc, helpless rage darkening his eyes.

“Because it’s a beautiful house and it deserves to be restored. I know you want to repair it as much as I do.”

“Yes, I do,” he declared. “With my own means.”

“But it’s also my house, is it not?”

He turned to her, eyeing her like a lion on a hunt. “Do not do this.”

“What?”

“Ask questions you already know the answer to. I told you I did not want you to spend your money on this. I have a contract with your brother.”

Calliope shrugged. “It’s my money, and I’ll spend it on whatever I want. Besides, it’s not just for me, it’s for your sisters, too.”

Nathaniel gave out a low grumble that made her tense for the first time.

“I cannot believe you,” he grated. “After what we agreed on about trusting each other, you go and do this against my wishes!”

Calliope frowned. “Nathaniel—”

But he didn’t listen. He marched into the sitting room in three large steps and looked around the room. “Who’s in charge here?”

“That would be me, sir,” said the man who was working on the window. “Is everything to your satisfaction?”

“Please come for your payment to me, and not to my wife,” said Nathaniel, chest heaving with what she knew was anger he could barely contain.

“Very well, sir.”

Nathaniel nodded and walked out of the room and passed by her. Guilt twisted Calliope’s gut, and she raised her hand to try to catch him by the elbow. “Nathaniel—”

He stopped without looking at her. “Calliope, I am the man of this house,” he rumbled in a low voice so that only she could hear. “Do you know how it makes me feel that I couldn’t provide a good house or proper life for my sisters? For years, we had nothing. And now I am being rescued by my wife who has everything but simple patience?”

Calliope’s cheeks flushed. “I was only trying to help. Are you truly so prideful that you can’t accept it?”

He chuckled and shook his head. “Love, I could ask you the same thing when it comes to your investigation.”