Taken by the Duke by Jess Michaels Read Free Book Online

from his sister, but then he nodded. “Fine. Tell the girl to ready the room. Lady Ava will be up within a half hour, I would think.”
    He motioned her toward the parlor as the butler walked away to do his duties.
    “It’s the third doorway,” he explained as she moved forward into the room he had indicated. It was a pretty little parlor that greeted her, bright and cheery with lovely wall hangings and a dancing fire. A happy room that was totally incongruous to a kidnapping.
    He shut the door behind himself and she turned to look at him, arms folded in what she hoped would be some kind of armor against her fear and her confusion. She didn’t like to think he could see those emotions any more than he already had.
    “I have been very patient, I think, Your Grace,” she began, measuring her tone very carefully, “despite being stolen in the night, dragged across the country and then hauled here as a hostage. You have promised me answers and now I must demand them before another moment goes by.”
    For a moment he did not speak but only looked at her in surprised silence. Then his face went neutral, emotionless, and he folded his arms.
    “Your brother owes me a debt,” he said in a tone so cold that she longed for the ugly wrap the butler had taken from her a few moments ago.
    She pondered what the duke had said. Of course he meant for the loss of his sister, Matilda. Her brother’s actions had precipitated the chase, and though she gave Rothcastle some share in the blame for the accident, she knew he would take none of his own. Not in the midst of the remaining grief and pain that blinded him.
    “I suppose you are correct,” she finally responded. “My brother has done you a wrong and there must be recompense.”
    Rothcastle drew back and she saw genuine surprise in his eyes. Apparently he had not expected her to agree with his assessment. Good, at least she was shocking him on a regular basis. That might help her in the end.
    “So if I am here as his emissary,” she continued, since the man seemed to have no response to her agreement, “then we should negotiate.”

Chapter Five
    To say Christian was shocked was rather an understatement. Once again, Lady Ava had torn the carpet from beneath him with her calm demeanor and forward responses, and now he had to regain his footing. He wasn’t sure if he liked that quality about her, but he found himself continually fascinated by it.
    “You appear as though I’ve spoken in a foreign language,” she said softly when he remained in stunned silence for too long. “Am I confused? Did you not bring me here for this purpose?”
    He blinked. “For negotiation?”
    She nodded. “Yes.”
    Slowly, he shook his head. “No.”
    She hesitated for a moment, then took a long step in his direction.
    “Then why am I here, Your Grace?” she all but whispered, her tone surprisingly gentle given the circumstances she had been exposed to in the last twenty-four hours.
    He stared at her, and for a moment he had no answer for her question. Stealing her as an act of revenge had seemed so very reasonable when he initially planned it, but now, matching her even, cool stare, he couldn’t remember why.
    Then her lip curled slightly in a smile and his mind cleared. Was she smirking at him? Laughing at how she could take control? Of course she would, she was her father’s daughter, her brother’s sister. She was a Windbury to her core, no matter how pretty her wrapping or how unexpected her demeanor. She would manipulate to get what she desired.
    He could not ever forget that.
    “Do you think negotiation could ever change what has happened?” he asked, moving on her as quickly as his painful injury would allow. Riding the damn horse all day had made him weak, and he hated to show her even a brief moment of that weakness.
    She shook her head. “ Nothing could change what has happened. I know that as well as you do. But I think negotiation is still preferable to the war our