The Duke's Masked Wife

"So, what do you like about me, Alessandra?"

"Nice one but I am not drunk to answer that. Are you sure you are not an alcoholic, Edgar? You seem to be completely fine. When you're in your study, are you just drinking large amounts of alcohol?" Alessandra asked.

"No. I usually have one glass of something strong. You on the other hand appear to be slightly drunk. Good to know we found your limit. That's enough," he carefully took her glass before she could take another sip.

"Hey! I do not feel drunk. You cannot just," Alessandra hiccuped and covered her mouth as it startled her. "That means nothing. You cannot just declare yourself the winner. Give me back my glass."

"No," Edgar replied and leaned sideways to place the glass far out of her reach.

"Edgar, give me back the glass or face the consequences. I am giving you until the count of five to give me it back. One," Alessandra began to count. "Two."

"And what exactly do you intend to do-"

"Five!" Alessandra yelled as she tackled Edgar to the floor and pinned his hands to the side of his head. "You are not as strong as you look," she giggled.

"And you are drunker than you look," Edgar replied. He had to give it to her for surprising him with her attack. It wouldn't take much for him to switch their positions with him being the one to pin her down but it is not every day Alessandra would be like this. He would be a fool not to take advantage of this moment. "So, what now?"

Alessandra pouted, let down by his reaction. "I knocked you down but you are not phased by it. How boring but at least I can say I knocked over the great Edgar Collins. Your enemies will be jealous of me forever!"

"Certainly. It's quite fascinating how long it took you to get drunk and how hard it seemed to hit you one time," said Edgar.

Alessandra released one of his hands to pinch his lips shut. "I am not drunk, Edgar. I have not lost the game yet. Where is the bottle? We need to continue. Oh!" She pointed at the empty bottle. "It's all gone. We need to open another. Hey!" She exclaimed as Edgar wrapped his hands around her waist and made it hard for her to move.

"No more drinking for you, Alessandra.  How about we prove that you are drunk? If you can walk from the window to the bedroom door without falling  I will forfeit and you win," Edgar proposed a deal. He would bet one thousand gold coins that she would fall within the first three steps to go to the window.

"Deal," Alessandra agreed with the plan.

The moment Edgar released her, Alessandra hopped up and went to the window without stumbling. It was then Edgar knew his plan had already backfired. Alessandra walked from the window to the door as she normally would when she was sober.

"I win!" She jumped up and down clapping her hands.

Edgar could only stare in disbelief at how she pulled it off. Based on her actions, it was clear she was drunk. "What the hell is with your behavior if you are not drunk? Is this just liquid courage?"

He started to consider she might have just drunk enough to make her stop caring or overthinking the things she was doing. Alessandra was in a happy phase from the wine which made the giggling make sense.

"Tomorrow, you have to do whatever I ask you to for one whole hour. Should I make you go around telling other people nice things or should I make you spend a whole hour listening to Daniel? Sally might have some good ideas. I'll ask her," Alessandra said then swung around to leave the bedroom. This time she almost fell but quickly balanced herself.

"Alessandra! You can't walk down the stairs. Fuck," Edgar cursed, deeply regretting starting this game. It was not going as he expected it to go. He was meant to be asking Alessandra all sorts of questions and watching her reactions as they drank together.

Edgar got to his feet in a blink of an eye and followed Alessandra out of the room before she could reach the stairs and gravely harm herself. Luckily, he found her spinning around as she walked down the hall.

"I will never be able to understand what is happening with this woman," Edgar muttered as he went behind her and lifted her over his shoulder to take her back to their bedroom. "It's either you're drunk or you're not drunk."

"I am not drunk," Alessandra repeated once again. How many times did she have to tell him that she could handle her alcohol? Perhaps he was the one drunk? "Are you drunk, Edgar?"

"I wish I was but then who would take care of you? Stop poking the back of my head."

"You have quite a lot of hair. Are you sure you don't wish to sell some to your admirers-Ah!" Alessandra gasped after Edgar shifted her body to be held in his arms rather than thrown over his shoulder. "You are really fond of your hair, aren't you?" She giggled.

"And you are too fond of trying to get rid of it. Are you playing with me, Alessandra? Your behavior is too confusing," he stopped right before their doorway.

"I'm surprised it took you this long to catch on," Alessandra innocently smiled.

She truly was not as drunk as she was acting. Early on in the game as Edgar appeared to be fine though he was drinking the wine faster than she was, Alessandra knew she was bound to lose if she did not think of something to throw him off. She decided to act this way for the game to end.

Edgar did not believe that she was not the slightest bit drunk. "You mean you pounced on me with your own will? Alcohol did not make you do that?"

"I can't say that. It did give me liquid courage and I tried my hardest to stop laughing at your reaction but it was hard too," she giggled again just like she had done earlier. "I truly did not expect you would bet your win over me being able to walk straight. You messed up with that one."

Edgar ran his tongue under his teeth before chuckling. She had put on the perfect act to confuse and rob him of his clear win. However, each time Alessandra was this bold she was actually losing as he would remember this moment for the future when she would want to act shy. He would have none of it. "Fine, you win. You outsmarted me this one time."

"Do not look so down. I have been learning from you constantly trying to tease me. After my performance tonight, I should join Alfred in acting. W-Wait, Ah!" Alessandra squeezed her eyes shut as Edgar tossed her on the bed after he entered the bedroom. "You cannot be upset that I beat you at your game."

"I am not upset. I am simply plotting while dreading what will come tomorrow. Now that the game is over," Edgar grinned as an idea came to mind. "Let's say we try another game?"

He began to unbutton the shirt he wore tonight.

"You can play whatever game you want to with yourself but I intend on freshening up and going to bed right now. Have fun," Alessandra said and tried to scoot off the bed to head for the bathroom but Edgar stepped to the side to block her. "I did not sign up for two games tonight, Edgar. I'm starting to get the feeling you cannot handle when you have lost to someone."

"Wrong. I am very much enticed by the little show you put on tonight so it's hard for us to just call it a night so soon."

Alessandra blushed and used the remaining courage she had to say, "I've heard that men can fix that by themselves."

Edgar's mood quickly soured. "And who the fuck told you that? Was it the cook?"

As Alessandra did not receive any lessons as her sister did, the only person she was being told these things from was the cook who clearly had an interest in her.

"What the hell was he prepping your curiosity for?" Edgar asked.

"First of all, Mario is his name and it wasn't him. He only told me about what men and women do in private. Erin is the one who tells me these things because I am married. She thinks it is something that I should already know. It is a bit too much information but it is still interesting to learn. Why are you staring at me like that?" Alessandra leaned back against the bed because of Edgar's gaze. "No one told you to be so jealous of Mario when he is only my friend. Now that we are here, I would like to consider paying off his debt so that Katrina cannot use him."

"Alessandra," Edgar lovingly called her name and picked up a strand of her hair to play with. "The only thing I plan to do with that man is kill him because of how much his name plagues my mind from time to time. I will be at ease if he is dead."

"I have no intention of having an affair with the man I saw as a brother and friend. I only want you," Alessandra confessed but then bit her lip.

"Of course, you won't but I do not trust other men. Once they realize how sweet you are, they will want to have you although you are mine."