The Duke was standing in the middle of the room, his hands in his pockets, his head tilted to one side. It was a relaxed, casual pose, and yet the way he looked at her was anything but casual. The deep midnight of his eyes burned and he radiated a subtle, sensual energy that made the air around him crackle. 

He looked like a man who’d never heard the word ‘no’ in all his life. Unluckily for him, ‘no’ was the only word she had.

“There's no reason why I should stay,” Anna clasped her shaking hands together in an effort to still them. “I’m not marrying you.”

His gaze flickered, his mouth curving slightly, and she had the disturbing thought that far from putting him off, her insistence was only inciting him further.
“But you haven’t heard my proposal yet,” he said mildly. “Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“I don’t need to hear it. I already know that my answer will be no.”

“Of course. But you can hardly tell your father that you heard me out when you haven’t, in fact, heard me out…. Anna.” 



A LADY FOR A DUKE

“I mean, your brother is gone. You don’t need to compete with him.” Anna said. 


His expression hardened. “I’m not—” 


“You are,” she cut him off quietly. “You’re so angry with him, so bitter. You want everything that should have been his, and I get it. I understand why. He replaced you and that must have been awful.” 


Cedric said nothing, his face set in forbidding lines. 


“But he’s dead, Cedric,” she went on gently. “He was just a boy when he died. And it’s not his fault that your parents couldn’t do better. It’s not your fault either. You deserved better.” 


He was so tense, his whole body rigid. “I didn’t get it though, did I?” he bit out. 


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