The Duke's Masked Wife

"James, prepare the carriage for my departure," Desmond quickly shoved the note back into the envelope after he read the contents.

William was summoning him to talk about Alessandra once again.

"Carriage? Who is the letter from? Why are you going to someone at a time when you are meant to be eating dinner? Desmond," Katrina's words fell on deaf ears as Desmond stood up to leave.

"This is more important than dinner. Take care of the house while I am away," Desmond left the table in a hurry to get to William.

Katrina sighed, looking at the food Desmond barely touched on his plate. Kate had left the table and now her husband too. She enjoyed having dinner with the two of them but now it was returned.

Katrina glared at the person responsible for dinner being ruined.

"It is my fault," Alessandra said before Katrina could blame her for the table being so vacant. "I can control Kate's feelings to make her leave and I live a double life as the person who sent my father the letter."

"I do not need your sarcasm," Katrina spat.

Alessandra played with a potato on her plate and said, "Your eyes looked to me as the reason dinner was ruined. I thought it was only fitting I tried to make up the most stupid way I could be the one to ruin dinner. This family truly needs to learn to take accountability for their actions."

"Ha," Katrina scoffed. Never would she have ever imagined getting lessons from Alessandra. "Then why are you pushing what happened to your face onto someone else?"

"I never said I wasn't responsible. However, your daughter has a share of responsibility when it comes to my face and I will not let her forget it. I hate to ruin dinner further but I do not wish to waste my time sitting here with you. Goodnight, mother."

"I am not your mother," Katrina gritted her teeth.

With Alessandra leaving, she was the only one left at the dinner table. Instead of leaving, Katrina took her knife and fork to start eating.

"I worked so hard to get a baron's attention for this kind of life? Who should I make my next move on?" Katrina started to plot her next move.

Meanwhile, Desmond bit his nails as his nerves increased the further he got from the house. He had no idea why William was requesting his presence so late in the night to speak about his daughter? News of Alessandra's engagement was not known to the town therefore William could not know about it.

"Why did I borrow money from William? If I ever find the man who scammed me I swear I'll kill him on the spot. How dare anyone try to scam me?" Desmond was angered by the memory of a man who promised to triple his wealth if he invested a large sum of money into a couple of businesses.

The man was nowhere to be found once he received the money and no matter who Desmond asked about him, each person claimed to not know anyone with the name or description. The man was right to not show his face in town or he would be killed for what he had done.

"Why has the carriage stopped?" Desmond asked when the carriage suddenly came to a halt. Looking out the window, he knew he was not at William's house as yet.

"Baron!" A voice called, sending shivers down Desmond's body.

"Why is he here?" Desmond muttered.

"William has sent me to escort you in one of his carriages. You should feel honored you sly dog," the right door opened to reveal one of William's henchmen.

"There is nothing wrong with my carriage, Rowan," Desmond glared at the man.

Rowan was one of William's most trusted servants. He was always sent to kill anyone William no longer wanted alive as they were either his enemy or no longer useful.

"If you continue to glare at me, I will pick your eyes out with my nails. Get out now before I consider knocking you out and dragging you in the mud. Your pick," Rowan grinned, revealing his golden tooth. He played with a small dagger in his hands as he waited for Desmond to make his answer.

"Get out of the way," Desmond knew he had no choice but to get out of the carriage. "Move-"

In the blink of an eye, Rowan pointed the dagger at Desmond's neck. "Do not talk down to me, Baron. I do not share the same status but I won't hesitate to kill anyone who looks down on me. If only my master would allow me to kill you. I have never gutted a Baron before."

"You demon…" Desmond shook from fear. Each time William wanted to scare him, he would always send Rowan to do the job.

Rowan chuckled, pointing the dagger in another direction. He ran his fingers through the strands of his hair, the shade identical to the color of blood. "Everyone says it's my hair that makes me look like a demon but has anyone ever seen a demon to know what they look like? Fools."

Rowan frowned, suddenly annoyed Desmond had not left the carriage and distracted him instead. His master won't be too happy if they are late. Without a word, Rowan reached forward to get a handful of Desmond's hair and then pulled him from his seat to the muddy ground.

"I told you I would drag you out. Tsk, you got mud on my boots," Rowan proceeded to rub his boots onto Desmond's clothes to get rid of the mud.

Desmond shoved Rowan's shoe away, refusing to be belittled by a murderer. "You cannot treat a Baron this way."

"This is why my master hates you. You are not only a Baron but also William Lancaster's servant. When he sends for you, your title does not mean anything. Have you forgotten he saved you from your many debts? Why is it taking so long to bring him your daughter? Silly man," Rowan kicked Desmond in his side, causing him to tumble over in the mud.

"A baron, rolling around in the mud like a dog. What a sight. If only my master was here to see this. Get up quickly or I shall kill you for making us late," Rowan said as he walked back to the carriage he arrived in.

He looked up at the man hunched over in front of Desmond's carriage. Rowan used a special dart laced with drugs to send the coachman to sleep. It was important that no one knew William was meeting with Desmond.

Desmond balled up fists, tempted to attack Rowan for what he had done but he knew to be patient. When his deal with William would come to an end and he would be back on his feet, Desmond would have Rowan's head. "Good things come to those who wait," he reminded himself.

This phase helped Desmond in a time of hardship and the reward for waiting was so close he could almost taste it.

Alessandra marrying William would benefit him as Desmond had a bright idea to kill his long time friend after land and money would be placed in Alessandra's name. It wouldn't be too hard for him to snatch them away from Alessandra and place her back into hiding afterward.

The problem with the plan was Edgar.

Desmond got to his feet ignoring the mud on the clothes he paid a fortune for. If William desperately wanted Alessandra, he was the perfect tool to use to push Kate into Edgar's arms while Alessandra got married to William instead.

"Things are suddenly looking up," Desmond smiled, walking up to the carriage William sent for him. He wasn't too happy about sharing it with Rowan but as the man said, Willian ordered Rowan not to kill him.

"What took you so long?" Rowan yawned due to waiting for Desmond so long. "I will place the blame on you if he asks what happened."

Desmond refused to say anything back to Rowan and quietly sat in his seat. Unfortunately, Rowan sat opposite him where they would be looking at each other. "Why are you smiling at me?"

"I can't kill you."

"What?" Desmond did not understand what that had to do with his smile.

"I get a tingle all over my body from not being able to kill you. The feeling makes me smile. Nothing gets me more excited than someone I cannot kill. I keep thinking, what if I kill you and tell my master it was an accident-"

"I will be your master's father-in-law. You can never harm me," Desmond believed that was enough to keep him alive.

Rowan covered his mouth with his hand to hide a devilish smile. "Is that so? I remember these very words when I killed his first wife's father. Master truly loathed the man."