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“Lucius?” The woman huffed in frustration “You should be alert now”

Twice, since first stirring fro-induced sluh to keep him subdued Twice, he’d held the liquid in his mouth Had spat it into the pad of the seat when he’d slu too close to the truth

“Lucius I need you to walk” She grabbed him and slapped his face The attack was the culenuine disdain for the duke and her son “Wake up”

If she wanted hie

“Walk?” he said, swaying in the seat like a maudlin drunk “Walk where?”

“We’re to ate Street”

Sybil!

His heart lurched She must be worried sick Terrified

It took strength not to jump up from the seat, howl and thrash about like a madman But his hands were bound at the wrists The devil woed into a fight without assessing the scene

Patience Patience

“If you harm a hair on her head, you’ll rue the day you came back into my life” He let her feel the full force of his wrath

“So, you are more alert than you would have me believe”

A sudden coughing fit had her dragging a handkerchief from the pocket of her cloak She covered her mouth, spat blood into the white linen for the second time in the space of an hour

“And you’re frailer than I thought” Mixed emotions clashed swords in his chest He had every reason to hate her Yet the lonely boy didn’t want to lose his mother to a dreaded illness “Your husband should be in here, taking care of you, not sitting atop the damn box”

“My husband?” Confusion marred her brow