"But she walked away," Andrew said. "That isn’t a good sign. Perhaps, you might need to talk about it with her? Over dinner maybe. From what you explained, it seems as though there’s…tension."
Victor sighed and shook his head. "I respect Alice," he said. "But I think the more we talk about this, the more…entwined our paths become. It feels too precarious."
"It sounds like you are scared of your emotions," Andrew replied.
"It is not fear," Victor snapped at him. "You’re wrong."
Andrew sighed. "I am your friend, Victor. I have known you for years. I know that if I were in your shoes, you wouldn’t let me make stupid decisions. I am sorry that I cannot give you the answers that you need, but I still think you need to talk to Alice about it. About everything. It might help, who knows?"
Victor shut his eyes and clenched his jaw, lowering his shoulders slowly. "Would an apology help? She was upset, and I saw that. Perhaps, I can apologize for upsetting her."
"That might help," Andrew said. "Plus, it might be quite flattering. The Duke of Ravenmoor never apologizes to anyone. He is quite pompous."
Victor playfully rolled his eyes. "I will apologize to her tonight. Her parents are arriving soon, so she is occupied right now, preparing to receive them."
"But what will you be apologizing for?" Andrew pressed, his expression serious now.
"Well, the kiss for one," he replied.
"The kiss…do you regret it?" Andrew asked. "Is that why you are apologizing for it?"
Victor opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t find the right words. The truth was tangled within him.Didhe regret the kiss? Part of him wanted to say yes—to distance himself from the vulnerability it had exposed him to. But another part of him, the part that had been charged by the touch of her lips, screamed the opposite.
Finally, he exhaled slowly and cleared his throat to speak. "I don’t know, Andrew. I don’t think I can regret it..."
Andrew massaged the space between his eyebrows. "You are a complicated man, Victor."
"Exactly," he mumbled. "But thank you, Andrew. For listening."
Andrew placed a hand on Victor’s shoulders. "I wish I had a clear answer for you. But relationships can be chaotic, Victor. They don’t come with a manual."
The conversation was abruptly halted by the appearance of Roberts, who approached them with a respectful bow. "Your Grace, the Viscount and Viscountess Westridge have arrived."
"Thank you, Roberts," Victor replied. "Let Her Grace know that I will be with her shortly."
As Roberts stepped away, Victor turned back to Andrew, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly. He hoped their presence would bring Alice comfort, perhaps even a sense of normalcy.
"You don’t seem tense," Andrew pointed out. "Usually, you don’t like having people over."
Ever since his conversation with Alice in the orangery, Victor found that he now held a grudge against Alice’s father. It angered him to think that Alice had spent so long trying to gain her father’s approval when she could have been living her life. It didn’t sit right with him.
"I’ll come by the training yard soon," Victor said, walking away. "And thank you again, Andrew, for coming."
Andrew responded with a wave goodbye, and Victor turned around and made his way into the house. He made a mental note to forget about the kiss. To at least try so he could concentrate on what was important.
Protecting Alice.
