Back At The Barnyard Duke Novels & Stories

"And if things go bad, you run. Promise me." "If things go bad, we both run." She grabbed Axel's spare gun from the safe. "Let's end this." They took Duke's bike, roaring through the predawn darkness toward the old Reynolds property. The barn loomed against the night sky, paint peeling, roof sagging. A place of ghosts and violence. Connor's stolen police cruiser sat out front, driver's door open. Duke killed his engine a hundred yards out. They approached on foot, weapons drawn. "I know you're there," Connor's voice called from inside the barn. "Come in, little brother. Let's finish this."

she asked, her voice quieter now, more uncertain. Just a few minutes ago, she had been excited to spend the whole day with him. Now, after his silence, after the way he hadn’t even acknowledged what the worker said, her chest felt tight. Was that all last night meant to him? Was she just another ghost from his past, making the mistake of thinking she could come back and matter again? Duke finally looked at her. “We’ll head to the stables first. One of the cows gave birth early this morning—I need to check on it,” he said, nodding politely to the staff before walking ahead.

It was the Christ the King celebration, and he was to chair the fair trade and the commissioning of the grotto that followed the procession, until Fabian appeared with news he had assumed he had dealt with temporarily. “What still holds her death? Why does she still roam the manor?” He stopped in front of Fabian to ask, even when he had been told the reason a thousand times. Fabian just stood in the darkness of the room, staring back at Edric and wishing he could control himself. “I am so close to being the next duke, so close to sitting on that seat of power and dining with the king,” he said aloud as he resumed pacing the room again, not caring if anyone overheard him.

“HOW LONG HAS HE BEEN STANDING THERE?” Laya whispered. “I am not sure, but at least an hour,” Henry answered. They were outside of Daniel’s office looking through the little opening of the ajar door. The duke was standing immobile, looking out of the window. He was lost in his thoughts like he had been every day since the duchess left the castle. “Lord Flock,” the butler got their attention, he was holding Ben in his arms. “The doctor said that the puppy has fully recovered, but I have no orders as to what to do with it now.”

My cheeks grew hot for the second time that evening and I swallowed watching two grown men stare themselves down. My papa was looking for words to say to counter the duke who was still eating his meal with such relish. "Before you say what I think you are about to say, if I should hear about this lie outside of this house, I shall kill you. Now if you would excuse me, my fiancée and I will return." The duke said simply and got up holding a hand out to me.

I looked behind me and saw Duke smiling while watching me. He had been having his own fun by watching me be miserable here and not be able to go get the bunny toy I wanted so badly to have! How can he do this to me? "Duke, stop laughing there and help me out here!" I hissed at him and tried to get the bunny again, but for the nth time, I failed! "You really won't be able to have that. Just look at the claw, it's too weak to carry a toy." I gritted my teeth before I looked at Duke.

Based on his sharp words and direct behavior, Reginald was at least ten times harder to deal with than Zachary. "Duke Reginald, you must be joking," Brandon forced a smile, steering the conversation in a different direction. "What I'd like to know is why the Duke has appeared here." "I figured that would be your question. And it’s no surprise, given the remoteness of this place. For someone of my rank, a duke, to show up here does seem odd. I suppose Prince Zachary has told you that this whole assassination plot was my own concoction? That I staged it to create an opportunity to heroically save Miss Martha, hoping that by rescuing her, you’d be grateful to me, isn’t that right?" Reginald spo

A man in a tuxedo walked onto the stage and under the spotlight announced the official opening of the auction. My attention was immediately caught. Although I didn't have the money to participate in the auction, I couldn't help but look forward to it. The door to the private room was pushed open and Ario instinctively put me behind him, but then relaxed when he saw that it was the Duke. The Duke looked tired, and as soon as he returned, he sat down on the sofa and rubbed his temples with his fingers. "Father, just now Ulysses Woodrow came..." The Duke sat up straight and looked at me worriedly: "He saw Inette?"

My dad smiled at this moment. “It's a she, so you should put in more effort. I heard she's the best among her peers. You're my very best, do everything possible to win her, even if you have to use your charms. See ya!” My dad stormed out of my office, way before I could ask further questions. “Oh boy! This is what it means to be the Duke of Cadenza and the son of the number one business tycoon in the country.” “Osas, rather than spewing gibberish, how about you help me with this, huh?”

Ryan was instantly silenced, his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. I looked directly at Marcus, the man I had once thought I loved more than life itself. "Marcus, I came down here not because I can't bear to leave you, but because I wanted to say some things to your face. Things you need to hear." Marcus's eyes filled with desperate hope again. "I, Catherine Blackwood, am a Duke's daughter who was beloved and cherished from the moment I was born. But because I was blind and stupid enough to fall for you, you trampled my dignity into the dirt and let a servant lord over me like I was nothing."