Camila has lived and worked all her life in Hawthorne Manorhouse. It's all she's ever known along with the kindness shown by her boss after her mom's death. But now she's gone too and her future is uncertain.
The Manorhouse is to be inherited by som...
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"Good morning, Your Grace," I greet the Duke's mom as soon as I open the door for her.
She's - as always - in her perfect posh outfits with one of those ridiculously expensive little hats that nobility thinks is fashionable but they're hideous and pointless.
"Where is my son?" he asks, pushing past me into the Manor.
"The Duke has been warned of your presence, Your Grace." I start and she glares at me for not telling her where he is right away. "He asked for you to wait in the Visit room while he finished getting ready to come down."
"Is he in the office?" She dismisses my words. "I'll meet him there."
Once again, her shoulder bumps mine with a little more force than was needed to push past me and head to the staircase. She's trying to prove a point - that she is the one above me - but it's pointless because I know my place and I am just following orders.
"Your Grace, the Duke was very clear about-"
"I don't care what you say my son said," she glares at me. "You will not order me around."
With that, she turns her back to me and starts climbing up the stairs.
"I was expecting you in the visiting room." Vincent's voice sounds when she reaches the third step, halting her movements.
The Duke is standing at the top of the staircase, dressed in a classic button-up and dark grey slacks. At first look, he seems relaxed, with his hands inside the front pockets. But as my eyes wander around his figure, I can see the authoritative stance in him: legs slightly apart and a serious expression with a quirked eyebrow.
I can't help but press my thighs together at the sight of him. Memories of the things we've done together, of what he's done to me flood my mind. My heart pumps faster, heating my body.
Especially my cheeks.
"And I was going to meet you in your office," she defies him, cutting - just slightly - my dirty thoughts.
"Well, I was clear about my intention of spending time with you in the Visiting Room and since it's my house..." he trails off, coming down the stairs and extending his arm out to her. "Let's go, dear mom."
She huffs but still intertwines her arms around his when he reaches her at the bottom of the stairs and lets him guide her to the room where she was supposed to be waiting for him from the start.
"Camilla," the Duke calls, turning his head back to me.
He pauses slightly, eyeing me up and down with a knowing smirk on his face and making me gulp in response. It affects me, and he knows it, of course.
"Bring us the tea and biscuits please," he asks politely with a tiny hint of that husky and seductive tone he used on me last night.
His mom doesn't even turn around to spare me a second and that's reason enough for Vincent to wink at me before disappearing with her into the room, leaving me all hot and bothered in the main hall.
