---- 323.
I AM YOUR ALLY KATHERINE "Shhh," he brings a finger to his lips, signaling for me to stay quiet.
limmediately press my lips together.
The Duke closes the door and steps closer, his brow furrowed as his gaze drops to my chest.
I watch as he sits on the edge of the bed, my mind a whirlwind of memories, my urge to bombard him with a thousand questions barely contained.
He leans toward me, and I shudder at the closeness, his deep, low voice pouring into my ear.
"Don't call me by my title here.
No one can know our identities.
We're just a married couple who were attacked by bandits on the road," he whispers, and I swallow hard, nodding.
He straightens slightly, his piercing blue eyes too close.
Istart to feel nervous not just because of his proximity, but because I might have done something unnatural to heal myself.
Did the Duke notice my magic? He couldnt haveotherwise, hed be tying me to a tree and setting me on fire like a torch.
"I...
thank you for saving me, Du I mean, E...
Elliot," I say, tasting his name on my lips.
It feels strange, yet oddly pleasant.
"How are you feeling? Does your wound hurt a lot?" His gaze lowers, and his fingers hover near my nightgown, stopping just millimeters from the buttons, clearly intending to undo them.
---- He hesitates, then pulls his hands back.
Now that I think about itwho cleaned me up and changed my clothes? "Did you...
change my clothes?" I correct myself quickly.
"Yes, you were covered in blood.
I wiped you down as best I could.
The lady of the house gave me that gown for you," he explains.
The air between us feels tense and ambiguous.
"Elliot, what exactly happened?" I finally ask, unable to hold back my uncertainty any longer.
He studies me with a conflicted expression.
He tells me we were attacked, that I was kidnappedI remember that much.
Then I was injured, but he claims it wasnt as severe as it seemed, just a superficial wound.
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Ipress my hand to my chest.
I could swear it was seriousa dagger nearly piercing my heartbut I wont contradict him.
Its better if he thinks that rather than questioning why Im still alive.
"Elliot, the person who attacked me was hooded, but the man you killed was the laborer from that grain silo," I frown, forcing myself to recall the details.
"He was asking who I worked for, how I knew about the theftwhich confirms that you are being robbed." He falls into thought.
"This seems far more serious than just stolen grain.
The men who attacked us were well-trainednot common laborers.
And to dare attack ---- me on my own land..." Isee his pupils contract dangerously.
"Why did you leave the carriage? If you sensed danger, you should have tried to find me.
I was never that far away." "Iwas pulled down from underneath.
You never warned me there was a hidden trapdoor in the floor," I explain.
His expression darkens, turning stormy and menacing.
"T didnt know either," he confesses.
"That carriage is relatively new.
And the one responsible for ordering it...
is my butler." linhale sharply.
So, Mr.
Wallace.
He was a grumpy man, sure, but also a complete bootlicker when it came to the Duke.
Inever imagined he could be responsible for such a serious betrayal.
"Well, he knew we were coming for an inspection.
He also heard me talking about the laborers' skirmishes, but something doesnt add up," I lean back against the headboard, analyzing the facts.
Why would they attack you? Wallace wouldn't benefit from anything happening to youhe'd lose his position.
Unless they promised him a better one, but...
I dont know." I glance at him, searching for answers.
"T think you were the target, not me.
But things got out of hand," he replies.
"Me? Why? Just because I discovered the theft? They could ve just blamed some unfortunate worker and been done with it." "You said they asked if you worked for someone," he reminds me, and I
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