Ten Days with a Duke (12 Dukes of Christmas #11) - Erica Ridley Page 0,47

down from Charley, and held up her hand for Duke’s reins. “We’ll talk on solid ground.”

“Thank you.”

Elijah leapt down from Duke on unsteady legs, staggering like a sailor new to the sea, before visibly drawing himself upright, forcing his shoulders back and his limbs to steady.

She wondered how many times he’d been forced to practice that maneuver in a futile attempt to avoid the wrath of his father.

“When you hurt me the first time,” she said slowly, “it wasn’t premeditated. You were as surprised as I was to be caught in that kiss, and you reacted out of fear for your own safety.”

“That’s... exactly what I did.” His cheeks flushed. “That doesn’t make it right.”

“This time,” she continued, “you knew what you were doing, and how much it would hurt.”

He did not deny the charges.

“But when you had the chance, you didn’t take it.” She let out a slow breath. “I was less gallant.”

His brow furrowed. “None of this is your fault.”

“I didn’t create this situation and neither did you,” she agreed. “But where you stood up to your father by not going along with his machinations, I stood up to mine by making manipulations of my own.”

As much as she might like to divide the world into villains and victims, with him on one side and her on the other, Olive did not have the high horse.

“I had no intention of honestly considering your suit for ten minutes, much less ten days,” she reminded him. “Mine was also a revenge plot designed to humiliate you. I was just more honest about my intention to reject you.”

“What were you supposed to do?” Elijah asked. “I arrived with a marriage license in my pocket, and your father was all set to hand over everything you’d worked to build. The farm would belong to your worst enemy, and so would you, as well.”

“Not my worst enemy,” she admitted. “We were the puppets in this scenario, and our fathers the ones pulling the strings.”

“Not just this scenario,” Elijah said. “I’ve spent my entire life trying to untangle myself from his strings.”

She could only imagine.

“Don’t let him have power over you any longer.”

“He doesn’t.” Elijah gave a crooked smile. “There’s nothing left to take away. Except you.”

“He cannot,” she said softly. “Your father has no power over me, either.”

Although she was still hurt and angry, Olive recognized that Elijah had been in his own impossible situation.

He’d likely felt the same maddening powerlessness as she had when her father had been poised to give away her life’s work and greatest passion as though the farm were a toy he had tired of playing with.

All because he had his own aims and was willing to manipulate his own daughter to achieve them.

Not that Papa had ever had a chance to end the rivalry. No amount of manipulation would make a man like Lord Milbotham give up his lifelong grudge.

It was up to Olive if she was ready to give up hers.

“Your father is despicable,” she told Elijah. “I cannot blame my father for feuding with him all these years.”

Elijah nodded. “I’ve just entered into a bigger, better feud with him myself. So far it’s lovely.”

“But life’s too short,” Olive continued. “Our families have spent decades hating each other, and we cannot name one good thing this feud gave us.”

“I can,” he said immediately. “It gave me ten days with you.”

“No.” She took a tiny step closer. “We got that when we stopped feuding and decided to be friends.”

“Is it that easy?” His eyes were hopeful. “We can just do whatever we decide to do?”

“I think so,” she said. “I hope so.”

He reached for her hands.

She let him take them.

“Then I decide to love you,” he said. “Now and forever. My offer of marriage will stay open for as long as I breathe. If your counteroffer to be clandestine lovers is the only choice, then I accept it. And if you want me far away, then I’ll go. And I’ll love you always and forever, from the other side of the world.”

Her lungs could barely let in new air from the racket her heart was making.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” she said. “We had an arrangement. If you managed to get Duke to allow you to ride him, I was to give your suit honest consideration.”

He’d fulfilled the terms of a challenge designed to make him fail—in more ways than Olive had realized.

She’d accidentally placed him into his worst nightmare. Tortured him with the prospect of confronting