He dropped a large knapsack on the floor, then looked at her, his gaze narrowed, the sharp angles of his jaw clenched tight.
Her breath caught. Why did he look so … intense?
“Don’t trust him,” Tatiana whispered behind her.
The secretary entered and shut the door after Father Grendel shuffled inside. The elderly priest headed for an armchair close to the warmth of the fireplace.
“Thank you for coming, Father,” the duke said to the priest as he eased out of bed.
“Careful.” Luciana reached out to steady him. He was still dressed in the clothes he’d worn to the funeral feast. But then, so was she.
“I’m fine,” her father assured her. “Are the papers all in order?”
“Yes, Your Grace.” Percy circled behind the desk. “Once the contract is signed and sealed, it will go into effect the minute the ceremony has concluded.”
As Leo strode toward the desk, he drew a signet ring from his pocket.
“My lord.” The duke raised a hand, and Leo paused. “I will remind you once more in front of these witnesses that you have sworn a sacred oath to protect my daughter and my right to rule the duchy as I see fit.”
“You have my word.” Leo bowed his head, then dipped a quill into the ink bottle. He glanced up at Luciana. “She has agreed?”
“Of course,” the duke replied.
Agreed to what? Luciana wondered as Leo signed his name, then pressed his signet ring into a glob of hot wax.
Father Grendel rose from the armchair. “We will begin now. My lord, did you bring a ring for the ceremony?”
“Yes.” Leo pulled a second ring from his pocket and placed it on the desk. “It was my mother’s.”
“Excellent.” The priest took the ring. “Now if the bride will come forward.”
Luciana stiffened. “B-bride?”
Leo’s jaw shifted. “She doesn’t know?”
She turned toward her father, her heart racing. “What…?”
The duke lowered his voice. “Remember it is a marriage in name only. And you’ve already agreed to it. Nothing has changed but the timing.”
“But—”
“The wedding must occur for the contract to go into effect,” her father said. “It is the only way Leo can take responsibility for you. You must marry him tonight.”
Tonight? Luciana’s quick breaths pushed her breasts hard against the bodice of her blue brocade gown. And yet, she still felt as if she couldn’t breathe.
“Don’t do it!” Tatiana yelled.
“Shh,” Ariana hushed her. “She likes him.”
Luciana’s heart pounded in her ears. Yes, she did like him. Earlier today, she’d even felt certain that she loved him, but now her thoughts were spinning so fast, she didn’t know what to think.
“Ana,” Leo said quietly, and she whirled to face him.
“You have my word,” he said as his intense gaze bore into her. “I will protect you and your father. I will not harm you. Will you trust me?”
She gulped and her gaze flitted nervously around the room. Five days. She’d known him only five days.
“I will marry you as Ana,” Leo whispered, and her gaze shot back to him.
How much did he know? Captain Bougaire had warned him that she wasn’t Tatiana. Was this Leo’s way of telling her he would marry her no matter who she was? How could he agree to wed her and protect her when he didn’t know her any better than she knew him? “D-do you trust me?”
He nodded slowly. “I do. Will you marry me?”
A buzzing sound hummed in her ears as her nerves suddenly grew calm. Time seemed to slow down as if she were lulled by the steadiness of his gaze. It’s really very simple, an inner voice filled her mind. Do you love him? Do you want him?
“Yes,” she whispered.
Chapter Twenty-four
Leo paced across the floor of Ana’s bedchamber. My bedchamber, too. Hell, the whole damned fortress was his now. Not that he cared about being a duke. It was simply the best way to protect Ana and her father. Once the news spread, the king’s assassins would start pointing their arrows at him.
He would send a courier in the morning to deliver the news to the king. Although Leo would couch the message as good news, that he’d brought the duchy into the royal family, he knew Uncle Fred would be royally pissed. The king’s orders had been for Leo to bring the duke and his daughter to his palace at Ebton. Leo would still take them, but no doubt the king had expected his assassins to kill the duke and daughter before the wedding could happen.
With Leo now in the way, Uncle Fred would most likely try to arrange some sort of accident for him. He’d have to be extra careful. If he died, Ana and her father would be homeless.
The amount of trust they were placing in him astounded him. By the Light, he would not, he could not let them down. He halted a moment in his pacing as the shock of tonight’s events skittered through him once again. He now had a wife. And family.
He shook his head. As much as he wanted to embrace this new idea of having a family and home, he knew he was too dangerous to live with. He would need to return to his life as Lord Protector, traveling with the army and guarding the borders of Eberon.
The former duke would still run the duchy, and Ana would live here safely with her father. Everything would be the same as before.
Except now he was married.
He resumed his pacing while his new bride hid in the dressing room. Dammit. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as he suspected, and she wasn’t actually hiding. But he’d seen the look of panic on her face when she’d learned she was to marry him tonight.