CHAPTER FOURTEEN“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do and something to hope for”TOM BODETTTHE DUKEShe was happy to see me, I realized as her face broke into a smile and her eyes lit up in amusement. It was a very beautiful sight to watch."I did not hear you come in." she said and then realized how stupid that sounded because she blushed and hit her forehead."Why are you here?" she asked again looking up at me with childlike wonder."Well, I was bored so I came to see how it was going with you. The house can get dead silent and creepy sometimes." I said taking a seat beside her."You are one to talk! When I arrived I thought you probably killed people in there and that was why it was so dark. I have managed to light some candles and when we are properly married, I will make sure to banish any speck of darkness in that house.""Then you might have to banish me too." I mocked, seeing that the joke did not go dow
CHAPTER FIFTEEN“Explain your anger instead of expressing it and you will find the solutions and connection instead of arguments”NOTSALMON.COMGUINEVEREDid he think he could scare me? The arrogantly impossible man, how dare he try to act all childish in public. I was trying to get myself worked up so I could be angry at him but I could only smile at the absurdity of it.The grand duke had tried to scare Calista for me; it was sweet and although he had tried to cover it up with scaring me also, it was sweet. I was sure Calista was probably wherever pulling her hair out in pure mental delusion, last I saw her she was crawling on all fours and screaming like a banshee and if I wasn't intent on the vampire who had caused that, it would have been comically satisfying to watch. I had made him laugh too, maybe there was hope for he and I without the ghost of his dead wife threatening to disrupt anything."Let me have him, please." I whispered with my eyes closed hoping she was somewhere wh
CHAPTER SIXTEEN“Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the beauty of becoming.”MANDY HALEGUINEVEREI could hardly concentrate on what my mama was saying, it was like I wasn't in the shop anymore but back at the duke's manor. I was thinking about if it was proper to ask him why he had stopped getting dresses for her and if it had any relation to meeting me nine years ago, there was no way it was just a minor coincidence and I knew there was no way it was because he had fallen in love with me then. Had he been watching me this whole time? Had he been watching my family...was that how he found out about my dad and his silly deal with the cosa nostra. If it was then I was going to call off the wedding, because it literally meant I am something he needs for his dead wife. I did not know how I knew that but if he had been watching me this whole time... I was never going to go through with the marriage, damn my father and whatever consequences there was.I could feel a throbbing i
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN“They behave in accordance with what the contrast principle would suggest; sell the suit first, because when it comes time to look at sweaters, even expensive ones, their prices will not seem as high in comparison”ROBERT B. CIALDINITHE DUKEIt was like I was watching a tug of war. There was something wrong with the way Henry and Guinevere were smiling like they knew each other but I could feel the silent tension between them. The way Guinevere had her body in a rigid position and the way Henry was trying so hard to not glare at her.When she had come in to say hello the first time, he had looked at her and it was like they had been suspended in a bubble. Henry had held her had for a while and although I just wanted to observe everything play out, it was when Guinevere had begun to shake that I knew I had to break up anything that was happening but there was something wrong with the way Guinevere had whipped around to look at me and for that brief moment, she had lo
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN“The universe doesn’t give you what you ask for with your thoughts; it gives you what you demand with your actions”DR. STEVE MARABOLIGUINEVEREI lay on my bed and thought about how the duke had not responded to my questions, he had run away. It was strange, the visit of his friend and the fact that he was trying so hard to get away from everything I had to ask him showed that there was something wrong. I had reacted to his friend in a way I would never have dreamed of reacting to a stranger and it was like I even hated him, why?There was no way they would going to tell me what was going on, I needed to find out myself but how was I going to do that. These questions kept me awake most of the night. My mama had arrived in the dead of the night and began setting up; she had forced me to sleep with the words that I needed my beauty sleep as the bride and she was not going to allow me be awake helping out so I could have eye bags at the end of the day. I had laughed at
CHAPTER NINETEEN“Faith makes all things possible. Love makes all things easy”DWIGHT MOODYTHE DUKEShe was beautiful... I watched her walk with her papa at her side, glowing and I could only think about how utterly stunning she was. Her face flushed with excitement and her eyes portraying the mixed emotions she was feeling made me want to make everything right for her.I stood up straighter where I was by the makeshift Altar and cleared my throat. Henry's eyes met mine knowingly, he could see I was beating myself up. I did not want to be here getting married, I wanted to know how she was connected to my wife.I felt guilty, I felt I was dishonoring the memory of Katherine by getting married to another woman but I knew she would understand if she knew the intent behind the marriage. I cleared my head and steadied my breathing as she approached me, innocent and smiling. She has no idea what she was getting herself into by getting married to me. She would soon enough and would hate me
CHAPTER TWENTY“We do not know all the answers. If we knew all the answers, we would be bored, wouldn’t we? We keep looking, searching, trying, to get more knowledge.JACK LALANNEGUINEVEREHe was nowhere in sight and I know this because I have tried searching with my eyes while I smiled at the guests wishing me good luck with my marriage. I was not expecting this much people and I believe the duke wasn't too. This was my father's way of paying the duke back for the insult at dinner, by inviting all of his friends and the ton to my wedding without as much as informing me or my husband. He was now my husband and even as I thought it, I could hardly believe it had finally happened. I was finally bound to this man forever. Form the look on my mama’s face, it was obvious that she too was not expecting this much guests and the way she greeted the steady trickle still coming in confirmed my suspicions, my father had acted alone on this.I continued my search for the duke, maybe he had excus
CHAPTER TWENTY ONETHE DUKE“Wild nights, wild nights! Were I with thee, wild nights should be. Our luxury! Futile- the winds. To a heart in port- done with the compass- done with the chart! Rowing in Eden. Ah, the sea! Might I moor- tonight in thee!”EMILY DICKINSONShe was waiting when I came into her bedchambers, I had had no intention of doing what I was about to do but I could not stop thinking about her and how she looked absolutely stunning in that wedding gown. I wanted to touch her, taste her; it was like a virus that I wanted to get rid of right now. I alluded that to the fact that she looked like Katherine hence the attraction but one could not always deceive oneself; she was Guinevere through and through and I wanted her even at that. I wanted the innocence she could offer me, the solace of something sweet and her unbearable alluring scent, I wanted it all and so I walked to her room marveling at how determined I was to take her.Her eyes flew up to mine as I entered; she