All Chapters of A LADY FOR A DUKE : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

He picked up his wine glass and drank, tasting nothing, remembering the rage that had burned inside him. “I got an acceptance from Oxford University years earlier than I should have,” Anger inside him, hot all this time, leapt up again. He stopped abruptly, gritting his teeth, hating the memory of how vulnerable he’d been “It still didn't matter. And that’s when I realized how little I mattered to him. To either of them.”Anna's fingers abruptly dug into his knee, an expression of pain and sorrow flickering over her features. But again, she didn’t speak, leaving him space to talk.“So I stopped,” he went on, taking another sip of wine. “And then I set about making sure that the world knew who I was, that I was alive and Vincent was dead. And that everyone would have to deal with it.”Which was what he’d done. He’d made the world acknowledge him, forced it to notice that he existed, and notice it had. Every woman he bedded and every company he helped make a success made him more real.

He felt real and solid and warm and lax. The agitation had gone, as if some poison had been drained out of him and the hollow that had been left in its absence had been filled up with the feel of Anna's body gripping his, her heat and her scent, the sound of his name in her smoky, sexy voice.Let him go, Cedric …His hand tightened in her hair. She was right, of course. She was right about all of it, he could see that now, and perhaps part of him had known all along. That in being so obsessed with having everything Vincent should have had, he’d kept his brother alive. Just as his father had in many ways. But his brother wasn’t alive. He was gone. And his only crimes were to have been born after Cedric and then to die before him. So much anger over one dead boy. A boy he might even have liked if he’d gotten to know him. And as for his parents, well, maybe she was right. Maybe the fault lay with them, rather than a failing in himself.It was something he’d never know for certain though

That wound is deeper than you can heal.No, it was deep, no question. But it wasn’t mortal. And she already knew it was going to take time. She could help him with that, she was sure of it. “Please don’t agree just to spite your parents,” Anna said quietly.The glow in his eyes focused sharply on her. “What? What do you mean?”“I mean, you should have a family because you want one. Because you want a wife and a child. Because you love them.” Her mouth had suddenly gone dry, but she made herself say it. “A family isn’t about gaining an inheritance or getting revenge, Cedric. A family is about love. Or do you want your children to have the same childhood you had?”She was pushing him, she knew it. And perhaps she’d pushed too far, because the expression on his face shut down and let her go, stepping back. Her heart shriveled in her chest at the cold look on his face, her fingers curling around the warmth of his body still lingering on her palms. And she wanted to go to him, tell him she

All at once the fury in her gaze turned into something else—anguish and a terrible pity. “But you do have a choice, don’t you see that?” Her voice was hoarse. “You can choose to stop letting your childhood dictate your own heart to you. You can choose to let that go. You might not choose me, I can understand that. But at least you can choose our baby.” Tears slipped down her cheeks. “There’s always love left, Cedric. It doesn’t run out, no matter what you think.”Dimly, somewhere inside him, there was pain, a brief, flickering agony. “You’re wrong,” he said harshly. “Because if love didn’t run out there would have been some left for me. And there wasn’t, Anna. There was nothing at all left for me.”“Oh…Cedric…” she whispered brokenly, reaching up to him. But he let her go and stepped away before she could touch him. Before anything about her could touch him. Then he turned on his heel and walked out.—---------------After Cedric had left for his gala, Anna commandeered his helicopte

He stood up from his desk, turned around and stared out the window. Black clouds hovered on the horizon, and he knew that by evening, there’d be a storm blowing in. Which suited how he was feeling just fine. His insides were raging, in a tumult. “Mr. Blackwood?”“Yeah?” He glanced over his shoulder, irritated at the interruption as he watched Bonnie step into the office. “What is it, Bonnie?”Bonnie blinked at Cedric’s tone, but said, “I’ve got the paperwork drawn up for you to look over and sign.”“Right. Fine. Just…leave it on my desk, will you?”He turned back to stare outside again, his thoughts racing in circles. He couldn’t help feeling guilty about it all. He’d gotten what he wanted. He'd have a son soon… Or a daughter…. At this point he didn't even care about the inheritance anymore. This was what he’d set out to do. Everything had gone according to his original plan, until she'd fallen for him, but could he really blame her? He’d submarined her. Coaxed her into sharing the