The Duke's Masked Wife

"Is this the daughter you had with him?" William smiled only to taunt Katrina. "Don't you think I should be given something in return for losing the other one to Edgar?"

"Not my daughter," Katrina angrily replied. Kate and Alessandra were two different people in her life. As a mother, she would never let Kate be with a man like William. "Get the hell out of my house before I have you thrown out of it, William."

"Throw me out? This is not the way you speak to the man who could double or even triple the amount of money you have to repay him. Let's be civilized and talk somewhere private without all of your servants watching us. Now!" William raised his voice when she refused to move.

Katrina did not want to have any sort of conversation with a man like William. There was nothing he could do or say to make her give him Kate. Kate was her precious daughter and just him hinting he should have Kate in Alessandra's place made her want to kill him right now regardless of how many eyes were watching.

What was stopping her was how much power William had to make their lives miserable. William was capable of making them have to live on the street.

"James, send everyone away from here. I am going to speak with William alone in my husband's private room. Kate, go back upstairs-"

"No so fast," William stopped Katrina before she could get rid of Kate. He was not finished with his conversation about being owed something. "Let her come too. Our chat will involve all of the Barrett's living here."

"Get back to your jobs!" James clapped his hands to make the servants snap out from spying on Katrina and her guest. He was aware of William being the one Alessandra was supposed to be with but it was not something the other servants knew. It was meant to be a secret that Alessandra was being exchanged for money.

James didn't see why it mattered anyway as no one would care about Desmond's alleged cursed daughter being sent somewhere else in exchange for money. Some people might wonder what took her family so long to get rid of her.

"Why does this man want to speak with me and you?" Kate approached her mother. Her mother appeared more shaken up than when Edgar was here which meant to Kate that this stranger had a lot of influence in their world. "Who are you?" She questioned the stranger.

"William Lancaster. I have not seen you since you were a little girl. It's a shame you could not remember me," William extended his hand out to greet Kate.

'William Lancaster? This is what the man Alessandra was supposed to be with looks like? He does look rich,' Kate thought as she gave William a look over. She didn't understand why he was here, considering the fact that Alessandra was now with Edgar.

"Pleasure to meet you," Kate went to shake his hand but Katrina pushed her hand back to her side to stop her.

"You have created a scene in my home and now my servants will be talking about this. Thank you for clearing my husband's debt but there is nothing we have left for you. Alessandra has already gotten married to Edgar so there is nothing to be done. Kate is never going to become your woman as long as I am alive. Leave," Katrina pointed to her front door.

Kate's eyes widened as the words left her mother's mouth. There was no possible way this man could think she was going to take Alessandra's place. First of all, he was as old as her father. Secondly, her friends would laugh at her as Alessandra married a young handsome Duke while she married an old man.

Kate's anger for Alessandra increased as they had somehow swapped places in life. Alessandra got Kate's life as a Duchess while Kate was being courted by William.

"Relax Baroness. When I said I am owed something, I was not referring to your daughter. She is quite the beauty but she is like every other young woman in the kingdom. Nothing about her is unique or interesting enough for a man like me to take her. Not even if she was standing naked before me," William chuckled as he insulted Kate like she wasn't standing before him.

Although Kate did not want to be with William and should be happy he was not interested in her, it annoyed her for some reason that he viewed Alessandra as the interesting one. Why was it that Alessandra was getting picked over her in every situation?

"Watch how you speak about my daughter. If it is not Kate that you want, what is it?" Katrina asked.

William smiled as the answer should have been obvious. "You," he replied.

Katrina couldn't help but laugh at his response. Why on earth did he think he was owed her? "That will never happen, William. My daughter and I are replicas in appearance. If she does not amuse you, neither will I.  I am going to remain loyal to my late husband and not remarry any time soon."

"You and Desmond are so identical when it comes to misunderstanding my words. I am not telling you to become my wife just like Alessandra was never meant to be my wife. I am telling you to share my bed. It is your mysterious past I find worthy to make you be added to my collection of women. I am wealthy and capable of offering what your-"

"I am not anyone's whore," Katrina declined the offer. She never slept with anyone in the red light district and any man she scammed for money, she slept with them on her own terms. "I am well aware of what the women you collect are like and I shall never join them."

"You should just take back Alessandra. Aren't you capable of that?" Kate spoke up.

William's eyes went from Katrina to Kate who was now starting to amuse him. "What did you just say?"

"I want Edgar and you want Alessandra more than anything right? This collection you seem to have would never be complete without someone like Alessandra. Are you really going to let her go? Help me reach where Edgar is and I will see to it, Alessandra is right where she belongs in your home," Kate said.

"Finally, a Barrett who speaks my language. How can I trust you will make sure I have her? Are you aware of the countless times your father failed to hand her over? Why should I waste my resources on you when I could simply steal her from Edgar if I wanted to?"

"This is all a game to you, isn't it? You get a rise out of families handing their own flesh and blood off to you which is why you pushed for my father to bring Alessandra. It wouldn't be fun if you just steal her from Edgar. Wouldn't Alessandra be more valuable if she came to you broken? I can toy with the life she has, make her fall from the lifestyle she has now, and send her into your arms without any hope. She would live like a quiet doll in your home," Kate promised William.

Kate continued to say, "Unlike my father, I don't have even a drop of love in my heart for Alessandra. Nothing would hinder me from bringing her to you and wouldn't it be good to have a friend like me as the wife of your enemy?"