Page 82 of The Duke's Virgin
Look at me.Suddenly, I wanted her tolookat me.
But she didn’t. She stared straight into the hall as she continued to speak. “You’re wrong, though. The baby isn’t Emmett’s. You’re the only man I’ve ever been with.”
The door closed behind her, and I squeezed my eyes shut, gripping the wooden frame in my hand until the corners gouged into my palm.
When a fist hit my door, I sprang into action, something that was both relief and fury rising to fill me. I stormed to the door, already talking before I even opened it. “Itoldyou—”
The words died.
It wasn’t Stacia standing there.
It was Thierry, one of the men from my security team. He had a sheepish look on his face…and a woman’s heel in his hand. “Forgive me, Your Highness.” He held out the shoe and offered a small bow.
Without any conscious decision on my part, I took the shoe, looking at the logo inside.Tom Ford. As Thierry started to talk, I shifted the shoe in my hand, now looking at the pale satin blue exterior and the crystals scattered along the side, like stars in the night sky. A pretty shoe. One a woman wouldn’t carelessly leave behind.
“I tried to stop her so I could return it to her, Your Highness. But she didn’t stop. Should I call the front desk?”
“No.”
I closed the door in his face and put the shoe down on the table just inside the door.
You’re wrong, though. The baby isn’t Emmett’s. You’re the only man I’ve ever been with.
She was lying—stilllying. She had to be.
I’d always worried someone would get too close to me and use me, try to get something out of me simply because of my station, and it had finally happened.
Turning away from the elegant, lonely shoe, I strode into my bedroom.
An inane thought hit me as I flung myself down on the bed.
If I’d done as my mother had wanted and brought Violet, none of this would have happened. But I hadn’t, because I didn’t want to get involved with a nice, sweet young woman while I was obsessing over Stacia.
“Problem solved,” I muttered. “Obsessionover.”
To prove it to myself, I picked up my phone and checked the time. It was almost eleven, but it was Saturday.
I sent her a text.
Are you awake?
Violet answered almost immediately.
I am.
I shot back a simple question.
Can I call?
When she responded with a yes,I hit the phone icon to dial her number.
Obsession over.
Twenty-Nine
Stacia
I suddenly understoodthe appeal of country music.
