The Wedding Night Was a Cold Duty-Until the Duke Discovered the Marks She Hid Under Silk and Lace

left a foul taste in his mouth. He was a duke. He was a soldier once, a long time ago. He killed men who deserved it. He did not strike women in carriages. But explaining that felt absurd, and so the silence stretched on, turning the air stale and bitter until the massive wrought-iron gates of Westford Manor finally loomed out of the fog.

The master continue reading …