The Duke's Revenge Read Online Free

hard to
find an excuse. She could not possibly tell this ogre that she was
just there reliving her childhood memories. However, she was safe
from that trouble when Mrs. Price came in.
    “ M’ lady, I was so worry.
You must come with me,” the housekeeper said breathlessly. She took
Ivy’s hand without looking around the room to see who was present.
She was about to drag Ivy out when she saw the duke standing a mere
foot away, watching them. She gasped and bowed her head.
    Max looked from his butler to his
housekeeper with their heads bow before him. “I see that you’ve
safe a little rabbit and have given it a home.”
    Silent.
    Mr. Ross and Mrs. Price looked at each
other. Then Mrs. Price said, her voice low and submissive, “It was
me, your grace.”
    “ I want her out of my
estate by tomorrow morning,” he said calmly.
    Ivy bravely looked to him. She winced inside
once she saw his imposing glare. “Do not worry, I will leave now,”
she said, looking from Donald to Mrs. Price and then quickly moved
toward the door.
    “ A snowstorm is brewing,”
Max said.
    She stopped.
    “ If you want to commit
suicide, Madam, do not do it in my estate. I believe tomorrow the storm will die
down, it will be safe to travel then.”
    She fisted her hands, and without saying
anything, she left.
    The room turned uncomfortably silent.
    Max stared at the closed door and then
turned his attention to the housekeeper. “Who is that girl?”
    Mrs. Price blinked and then she said, “She
is Lady Ivy Michael, your grace, my niece used to work for her
family up until a few months ago. She is daughter of Lady Grace
Westwood and....”
    The very mentioning of
‘ Grace Westwood’ caused Max’s heart to ache in his chest and his blood to run
hot with anger at the injustice.
    “ Mrs. Price,” he
interrupted.
    The housekeeper halted in mid sentence.
    “ I do not expect to come
home to find you and Donald,” he glanced at the butler, “to turn my
home into a shelter for the orphan. However, I will overlook your
mistake this time, but if you both were to do something against my
order next time, I’m afraid I will have to be harsh. You may return
to your duties.”
    Mrs. Price breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank
you, sir,” she said and left the room in a hurry.
    Donald nodded at him, said, “Sir,” and left
too.
    Max walked to the window and looked out
across his vast estate. Outside in the distance he saw dark clouds
gathering. In an instant, the sky split opened, lightning flashed,
and rain and snow started to pour heavily.
    “ Ivy Michael,” he said
softly under his breath. It suited her, he thought with a
smile.
    So the Lady Grace Westwood had a
daughter.
    His blue eyes sparkled
with hatred, with anger, and with something else—something notorious and evil . At that moment,
his thirst for revenge had never been so great.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    It was midnight, and Maximilian was sitting
in the darkness of the drawing room listening to the wind howling,
rain slashing against the castle wall, storm thundering in the
distant and the tick-tock of the clock ticking away.
    All around him was darkness except for a
small candlelight beside him, casting a golden hue on him. As he
breathed, a cloud of smoky air expelled from his mouth. The room
was cold, but he did not feel cold. In fact, he felt quite warm at
the prospect of what he was about to do.
    He had figured out his
next move--a move to avenge his brother’s death. It was a simple
plan, and he was sure Lady Fate had helped him in it. She had brought him
the ultimate weapon—a weapon that would help him fulfilled his revenge.
And that weapon was the girl, Ivy, his enemy’s daughter.
    He knew Lady Grace
Westwood love money and the social scene. He knew she love to mix
herself with the nobility, the people that rule the ton, for
otherwise she would not have rejected his brother—a man without a
future—and married an earl. He knew also that she would want the
same for her