Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
So why did it feel so bloody wrong?
“Mary?”
Surely, surely he wouldn’t be so ungentlemanly to dump her in front of his own mother, Mary wondered wildly. It was an incredibly lame thought, but she clung to the belief as she forced herself to meet his gaze.
Oh God, please, please don’t let him say he’s going to leave me——
“I’m going to kiss you.”
Her eyes flew him in utter shock.
When he held her gaze unwaveringly, it hit her then, what this meant. Her heart stopped beating again, the pain and the beauty of moment striking her at the same time.
Her beautiful cold duke was giving her a chance to refuse his kiss, the same way he had refused hers earlier.
Rathe’s body was stiff with tension as he waited for Mary’s response. Whatever she chose to do, he would respect it. If she chose to reject him, to distance herself from him, punishing Rathe in the same way, he would...respect it, but he wouldn’t stop trying to convince her otherwise as well.
She was his.
In the end, that was the only thing that made sense.
She was his mistress, his little pearl, the most important woman in his life.
In front of him, Mary took a deep breath.
Rathe mentally prepared himself.
And then...
Mary closed her eyes, like a girl waiting for a kiss from her prince.
Ah, bloody hell.
Mary started to cry the moment she felt Rathe’s strong arms snap around her, tears once more lending a salty flavor to their kiss. His kiss was explicit. Graphic. He kissed her passionately as an apology, kissed her like he was wordlessly begging her for everything to be normal again.
When he pulled away to let her breathe, he didn’t waste another moment, saying roughly, “I’m sorry.” Loud enough for his own mother to sigh upon hearing it.
Her lips trembled. She so badly wanted to speak but she couldn’t, and in the end, she didn’t have a chance to do so, with Rathe kissing her again, his tongue aggressively driving back into her mouth.
The next time she resurfaced, she was mortified to see that Rathe’s mother had already left without her knowing.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure my mother understands.”
She covered her face, mumbling, “I don’t think I’ll be able to look her in the eye the next time.”
The words had Rathe chuckling. Drawing her hands away, he bent down and took her lips in another kiss. Bloody hell, but he had missed kissing her, more than he wanted to.
“Had she been here for long?”
“Just over an hour.”
After a beat, he asked quietly, “Did you ask her about the contract?”
She shook her head. “I didn’t have a chance to.” Chewing on her lip, she asked uncertainly, “Do you think we should?”
Rathe took his time answering. “Let’s not,” he said finally. Tipping her chin up, he told her grimly, “Whatever they are, it’s not us.” At that moment, Rathe meant every word. But the next day, it was hard to feel the same way, not after seeing the headlines emblazoned on every blasted tabloid in the continent.
Chapter Eight
Twenty-one down. Five to go.
Five bloody more retractions to put an end to the scandal that had blown up in his face.
Even though he had been closeted in his London office for over a week now, working his arse off, the sick feeling in his stomach still remained. If only the media had targeted him or his father, he might not have felt this bad or this stupid about the entire debacle.
But no. Instead, the vultures of the press had sunk their inked claws on his mother, the one person who should have been held blameless.
Closing his eyes, Rathe tried to escape from reality but it was impossible, the words spelled in huge block letters on various European tabloids making his stomach churn.
PEDOPHILE VICTIM BREEDING ANOTHER PEDOPHILE: FACT OR MYTH?
KARMA STRIKES: HISTORY REPEATS FOR THE MOST FAMOUS AMERICAN GOLD-DIGGER IN BRITAIN
And the headlines on gossip websites had been a thousand times worse.
DUCHESS ALYSSA WELLESLEY AND THE DICKS OF FLANDERS
He hoped to God his father had found a way to prevent Alyssa from reading such vile nonsense.
Rathe opened his eyes when he heard his phone rang.
It was Mary.
She had been calling him once each day. Every instance, he had deliberately left the call unanswered, choosing instead to reply to her in text hours after. If he chose to talk to her now...
Everything they had may have to come to an end.
****
Mary slowly put her pen down when her handwritten notes started swimming in front of her. Glancing tiredly at the clock, she was surprised to find out it was already four in the morning. Just two hours and she had to start preparing for school. It was probably better she just continued working, Mary decided, and catch up on sleep later.
Getting up, she poured herself another cup of coffee. When the caffeine started doing its work on her system, she returned to her seat and resumed working on her article.