Married To A Duke

Rules

Amelie

The car drive was spent in silence. He sat beside me, taking up all the space and air, making it difficult for me to even take a deep breath with his close presence. As much as I tried I couldn’t stop reliving the memory of what happened in my bedroom. We had a moment. And as much the guilt tried to resurface, he was right about what he said… I desired him. I have to try harder. And stop this, whatever this I was feeling.

I looked down at the watch on my gloved wrist. It was more than expensive. It looked ancient, an antique. And I knew he was lying when he had said that Z bought it. “I can literally see clouds popping above your head.” I startled out of my thoughts at his statement.

I looked at him and found his blue eyes gazing back at me, almost shining in the dim inside the car. A wolf. But he didn’t look wild. He looked more like a man who’d be more at home in a royal court, conversing with the Queen. “You don’t seem like a fan of cartoons.”

An amused expression came on his face as he said, “I yam what I yam an' tha's all I yam.”

My mouth fell open. It took me some tries before I could speak. “The popeye…!?” I said amazed. I mean, really? He was supposed to be a tyrant. Not someone who knows about cartoons.

“The sailor man.” He finished as his eyes dipped down to my lips. My smile dropped as awareness danced on my skin. It was insane the crackle of attraction between us. “No.” He murmured and frozen I watched as his hand came up, his thumb brushed the corners of my lips. “Don’t stop that.”

“Mm?” It was the only sound I could manage.

“Your smile. It makes you—”

The car came to a stop with a jerk and his hand dropped. I inhaled sharply as I turned away to look out of the window. It was the old church where all the meetings were held, headed by him. The last time there was a party to welcome Mrs Gabriel Wolfe— Summer— My best friend, I hadn’t attended. The church like every other thing in the city belonged to him, but it was exclusively said that it was his domain.

The driver opened the door as I heard the other side opening for him. I stepped out and turned around, watching him coming to my side. He looked so confident, which was given, and so mouth watering, which I shouldn’t think. But it was undeniable, the dark brown suit with a red pocket square made him look like the devil himself. The only thing approachable about him was the light in his eyes. But that sardonic tilt to his lips warned and beckoned at the same time.

“Shall we?” I looked down at his arm and slipped mine. There was no sense in making a scene here and it wasn’t like I was going to kiss him or something. As we started toward the entrance, he said in a low voice, “Chin up. You are walking in with a king by your side and not to forget that you are tempest, so there’s nothing to be afraid about.” His words infused me with warmth like I’ve never felt before. And I could feel my heart expanding in my chest as my spine straightened. I could almost picture a crown on my head and a smile tilted my lips up. “There it is…” I think I heard him murmur but when I looked at him, he was looking ahead as we descended the stairs.

As we stepped down from the last stair, my gaze fell on the huge table laden with food and men on either side of it. The men stood up as we neared, some of the faces were familiar and one of them was even friendly. Mr Bianchi. Kat’s father. But it was the man sitting beside him that had my fingers curling around his arm. I barely stopped my feet from faltering. But I couldn’t stop looking at him from the corner of my eyes. His jaw was relaxed and as if he felt my eyes on him, Gabriel looked at me and smiled. And then winked. Did he just wink at me? My apprehension flew away and I relaxed, my own smile coming forth as I looked ahead. He was right, I shouldn’t be afraid of him, of anyone when Gabriel Wolfe was by my side. And indeed I felt unafraid with him by my side. This time I locked eyes on the man that had made me alarmed in the first place, the man who was supposed to protect me, my father, not someone I should hate. But fate has a funny way to build you up, and sometimes it comes at the cost of relationships and broken hearts on which you lay the foundation.

Gabriel held out a chair for me and then sat beside me at the head of the table. Once seated, he waved his hand. A movement that came naturally to him. “Sit down.” Servers came and started to fill the plates in front of us. I frowned. Didn’t we just had dinner before coming here? “No.” The servers stilled, along with every other man. “Gentlemen, I am afraid we are not here for dinner.”

The men who had picked up their cutlery put them back down. I carefully hid my surprise as I watched all of them looking at Gabriel as if he was about to give a sermon or probably tell us how can we achieve world peace which would be kind of funny coming from him.

Two glasses were set down in front of us and I looked up to find Jesse. When did he come? He poured a minimum amount in both are glasses and took a step back, standing behind Gabriel. The silence stretched and it was getting on my nerves. I was aware of him sitting beside me but I was also aware of the man— my father— sitting opposite me, two seats down. My back itched and the bullet scar burned as if remembering.

“What is it that you want to discuss, Wolfe?” Mr Bianchi asked.

And as if he wasn’t waiting for someone to take the bait, he pounced. “Glad, you asked.” He picked up his wine glass took a sip, looked at it in his hand thoughtfully as he asked, “Can you remind me about the rules I have for the men in this room and for the people in this city?”

My eyes went to Mr Bianchi who was looking at me. There was sympathy in his eyes which told me that he knew about what my father did to me. And after a second he started speaking, stating what I assumed were the rules Gabriel was talking about. “No businesses are allowed to open without getting an approval from you. No man is allowed to deal with outside parties without confirming with you. Every year a charity event is held for the people in need and every man present here is supposed to donate no matter what. No one is allowed to employ children. Ràpe. Kidnàpping. Human trafficking everything that’s against any of the human rights is forbidden.” He paused.

“Go on.” Gabriel said, his eyes now as I saw was on my father, who looked like he was about to blow up.

“Recently, you said— ordered,” He corrected himself before continuing, “that no one was allowed to have any kind of contact with the Mexicans.” Mr Bianchi added. “And that after what happened with Riley’s daughter, no arrange marriages were to take place without the girl’s permission.”

My eyes widened as realisation dawned. My father went against Gabriel in so many things. My mouth dried as I thought that the next person on the roof of the cathedral could be my father. The single bell ringing would tell the city that someone was being executed. I sat up with a jerk, and strong fingers wrapped around my wrist under the table as if pulling me back from the edge.

“She is my fûcking daughter!!” The table shook from where my father had slapped his hands on top of it as he stood up, his face red with anger as he glared at Gabriel. “You…” He pointed a finger at Gabriel. “You don’t get to set the rules. You can’t decide what I do with my daughter!”

Every men turned to look at my father like he was insane, the look of shock and fear crossing their faces as their eyes danced from him to the man who was sitting beside me. Even his silence was commanding and filled with authority. My father’s eyes turned to me, and I flinched from the hatred I glimpsed there. “You. Stand up and get over here.” He snarled at me.

The soft sound from my side had me looking at Gabriel, except the nerve jumping in his temple he looked relaxed. “Jesse, why don’t you help this man to sit down. He looks so overwrought.”

I watched as Jesse marched to my father’s side and an involuntary gasp left my mouth as in one quick move Jesse knocked my father down to his knees. “Is that okay, Boss?”

“I guess.” Gabriel answered as he stood up from his chair, finished the rest of his wine and then turned to me. He smiled at me like it was just a regular dinner or like we were on date. I had never been to one. But it felt like this was how a man must smile for his woman when he was about to impress her. I slipped my hand in his, he put it on his arm and then walked to where my father was on his knees. “What were you saying, Gregory, I didn’t hear you. Can you repeat it?” The tone of his voice clearly warned not to, even though he asked.

But my father clearly didn’t understand the concept. “She is mine. I can do whatever the fûck I want. Marry her off, sell her. Kill her.” He spit out. I swallowed as each of his words were like a lash of a belt. I closed my eyes at the pain that no matter how many times I tried, it still managed to take hold of me, but snapped them open just in time to catch Gabriel’s foot hitting my father in the face.

My fingers dig into his arm as my father fell backwards. Shockingly, his other hand came to rest on top of mine. “Couldn’t hear you, Gregory. Try again.” Gabriel said, his voice cold and sharp.

Every man sitting there looked on timidly. Some of them looked almost happy that my father was getting the beating that no doubt he deserved. Jesse hauled my father up, his face swelling from where Jesse had hit him. And now his nose and lips were bleeding from the kick Gabriel gave him in the face.

“So now what, is she your w***e? Because everyone here knows you are married.” My father spit out blood as he barked, “Where is your wife, Wolfe? Are you already done with her? Need a new toy? Won’t I get any compensation?”

Warm fingers pulled my hand from where it was clutching his arm, my hand dropped lifelessly by my side as Gabriel bent down on his haunches, his wait on his toes as he looked at my father in the eye as he said, “Gregory, you went against me in so many things. But the fact that you went against me is the one crime that’s unforgivable. Second, the wife you reminded me of, is the reason Mexicans are not allowed in my territory and this… is my territory. This is my city. And here you and every other person lives by my rules. You broke three of them that I know of.” He grabbed my father by his neck and squeezed. “Mexicans. Forcing your daughter to marry someone against her will. And…”

I could see my father’s face purpling but even then he hissed out through clenched teeth, his teeth bared in a feral smile. “And I beat her until she passed out. I guess the marks are still there. Do you fancy damaged goods, Wolfe?” The last word didn’t fully formed before Gabriel started hitting him. He punched him again and again.

 The men were starting to stand up. Jesse was calling out to him. My father has lost consciousness but it felt like Gabriel was lost too as he kept punching my father. Feet that felt like I was walking through sand, I put my hand on his shoulder. He turned so swiftly, like I had disturbed him from something he was concentrating on. “S-stop…” I whispered, my throat tight not because of my father but because of the look in those blue eyes.

From the corner of my eyes I saw his fingers unfurling from around my father’s throat. I heard the thud of the body dropping down on the floor. My eyes focused back on him. He looked feral, why did I ever thought there was nothing wild about him. I was so wrong. He looked ready to tear into anyone who got in his way. And then he blinked and it was gone, the wildness… it disappeared as if switched off. He stood up. “Are you okay?” He asked.

An unamused snort left me. “I am okay, but you—”

He turned away from me without waiting for me to finish that, and with his arm banded around me he looked at all the men as he said, “Miss Amelie Sinclair is under my protection. She is mine. I don’t fûcking care about what this man says. But let me tell you all, if anything happens to her I’ll burn this city down.” Turning to Jesse, he ordered, “Finish with him and report back to me.”

“You are going to kill him?!” I questioned, my voice squeaky at best.

“Do you want me to?”

I looked at my father. He was never my father. Never loved me like a father would. Because of him my mother had committed suîcide but does it mean that I should be like him too. I met the blue eyes, waiting for my answer. “No. I don’t want you to kill him.” I said.

He nodded once. “Teach him a lesson that he’d never forget, Jesse, and neither anyone else. Set an example, what happens when you hurt a woman in my city.” All the while he said that, he didn’t look away even once and then tucking me to his side he walked out of there.

To Be Continued...