The Duke’s Lady (Duke Dare #4)

Chapter One

She was the helper. The sidekick. The nurturer. The one off to the side offering a gentle word of encouragement or reproof, depending on what the situation called for. She was good at it too.

Until there was no one close to her to help anymore.

Zenobia ran her fingers over the barrel of the gun in desperate need of shooting practice.

The house party was over and she would be home in a few hours, but she couldn’t resign herself to sitting in the carriage just yet.

It wasn’t a long ride home, but it was just long enough that she wanted to delay the confinement for a short while by getting some much needed exercise.

Besides, when was the last time she was unable to hit a bullseye?

Never. And that wasn’t bragging, that was the God’s honest truth.

Since she first started shooting, she had an eye for hitting exactly what she wanted.

After that, it was a simple matter of deciding what she wanted to aim for.

Because, to be perfectly transparent, aiming for the bullseye every time got rather old.

It was sometimes much more diverting to aim for a small mark on the target that only she knew she had picked out.

Then when she hit, she could celebrate her self-acknowledged victory.

Though it left others wondering at her skill, that wasn’t the point. Nobi was never about being the center of attention or receiving accolades. She was good at what she did for the sheer pleasure of getting it right. For herself.

After a while, her sisters had caught onto her tactics, but they were the only ones who knew about it.

And they always knew that she hit what she targeted. It was just her way. If she didn’t get it on the first try, then she’d take a second, and possibly a rare third if the target called for it. So now…the fact that she hadn’t been able to hit her target was muddling her mind.

As she marched toward the target practice, she couldn’t help but recall the slow descent of accuracy in her shooting over the summer. It was as though with each of her three sisters being matched (and therefore leaving her), her ability to accurately aim a gun was also abandoning her.

Dash it all! It was vexing to have her skills so contingent upon the relationship statuses around her.

Especially when she preferred order, consistency, routine, loyalty. Nobi was the one who never missed chocolate in the morning, tea in the afternoon, and sherry in the evening. Come to think of it, her life revolved around drinks a little too much.

When she needed someone to talk to, she always counted on her sisters.

But slowly, one by one, they had each found love earlier this year.

Coincidentally, they had each found love in a brave attempt to encourage her to pursue love.

Essentially, the love of her life, in fact.

Right. Well…she wasn’t sure she would ever be ready for what that entailed because the only love she knew, she couldn’t have.

Now her sisters were gone. Practically. Boudicca was on her honeymoon, hopefully coming home soon. Mimi may as well be on her honeymoon, since she only married yesterday. And Joan was engaged; therefore, she was spending all her time with her betrothed.

At least she still had Chris. Though she couldn’t find him this morning.

She had intended to say goodbye before she left, but she hadn’t been able to find him anywhere.

They were friends, so she knew she would see him soon.

All the same, she had wanted to talk with him about Mimi and Sam’s recent nuptials.

She was pretty sure they were a perfect match, though at first it hadn’t seemed that way.

And she wanted to hear Chris’s opinion on it again.

Even though they had talked about it several times already…

now, she wanted his opinion on it post-wedding.

How did they look during the ceremony? Was it as beautiful as she thought it was? What did Chris think about it all?

Yes. Chris. About him…she didn’t really feel like thinking about him anymore. For the moment. Especially given how many moments they had shared recently. It was nice. Nice. It. Was. Nice.

She told herself again even as a small pain prickled through her chest. They were friends. And they had just been spending extra time together at this house party considering the relationship statuses of her sisters. Everyone was paired up, leaving Chris and Nobi the leftover singles pair.

Again with the relationship statuses. That’s all that had been on her and her sisters’ minds since the ridiculous duke dare. Snag a duke, they said. With a laugh and a sip of alcohol that was far too strong for the sororal lightweights.

Well, it had all been in good fun. And Nobi was happy—yes, happy, no, elated—that her sisters had all found love. It was nothing short of a miracle. Three sisters with three young, handsome dukes. Miraculous, indeed. So of course she was ecstatic that they found good men.

She could hardly contain her euphoria. In fact, her delirious happiness was driving her to shoot a gun.

March. March. March.

She was nearly there. There she could take aim and blast away whatever happiness she was feeling.

Nobi looked up at the targets and noticed one was a bit off kilter. Wanting to practice on a perfect target was essential to rebuilding her confidence, so she ambled over to the target to recenter it. As she walked, her fingers brushed over the unique embellishment on the pistol’s handle again.

Just as she reached the target, she overheard some voices behind the large trees bordering the property.

Even at the first words they spoke, she knew they were trouble.

She held her pistol to her chest. Their voices were harsh, crude.

Maleficent. A cackle for a laugh wrenched through the air, but it didn’t float anywhere, it stabbed at anything in its path.

These men were ruffians, and they were up to no good.

But she was alone with little protection.

Thank God for her gun, though they probably had one too.

What if they saw her and thought she was spying on them?

Her stomach churned aggressively inside of her, like a tidal wave she had only read about.

And she was a tiny boat sailing across what she thought were smooth waters.

But no, the waters were violent. Which only meant one thing…

she needed to find out what they were doing here.

Her insides were jostling about, and she instinctively felt as though she might cast up her accounts. Of one thing she was sure, there was no chance in hell she was shooting her pistol while they stood so close. There was no way she wanted to make them aware of her presence.

She was just close enough to hear them, but the trees and bushes were thick, so they couldn’t see her.

Something about their tone signaled that they were about to divulge important news about the nefarious plans they had at play, so she quieted her breath and calmed her pulse.

In the same manner that she would do to take a more challenging shot, and then she listened.

“You’re sure he’s here?” A gruff voice asked in annoyance.

Nobi stood perfectly still waiting for the reply. She didn’t want to breathe, she was so nervous. Afraid that at the tiniest movement, all those butterflies swarming her stomach would unleash and escape, thus drawing attention to her whereabouts.

And worse, they might turn on her gut instead.

“I’m sure, I’m sure. He’s here,” an equally abrasive baritone responded.

“You better be right. I don’t want to waste my time. Again.”

The voice answered in an increased pitch and volume, with a slight tremor like a witch might have. “Again? You must be out of your mind. Last time was your fault.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t.”

Oomph! The second voice let out a small cry of pain. Or perhaps wounded dignity. “No need to rough me up before we nab him. You know I bruise easily.”

“Don’t be a peach. I’ll do whatever I want to.”

For a second time, the man that she could only envision as lankier than the other let out an Oomph! “Knock it off. If we’re going to grab this man, we both need to be ready for him. I hear he’s strong.”

Nobi’s heart plummeted to her toes and rose up again on a wave.

Who were they going to take? She needed to listen longer in hopes that they might say his name.

There were only a few people left at the house party.

Then she remembered that a few had left last night.

Perhaps they had missed their target. She could only hope.

“Aye. That’s why we’re going to knock him out and tie him up, you idiot.”

“Don’t call me that. You know I’m sensitive.”

“Aww shut up. Fine. I didn’t mean it, you sensitive ape.

” One of them must have pushed the other, because a slight shuffling of feet and a grunt could be heard before the man continued, “Now be alert. The word is that they’re all leaving the party this morning.

We should see him shortly. Then we’ll just follow his carriage until he’s out of view and grab him. ”

“Are you sure he hasn’t left already?” The first voice was sure a whiny fellow considering his career choice.

“I got eyes, you dolt. I think I would have noticed his carriage.”

Something about that sentence struck Nobi in the gut, like it should mean more to her than it did in the moment.

“I’m not a dolt.”

“You forgot your gun, didn’t you? That’s what I thought. You had one job.”

“Two. I had two jobs. Ha! At least I can count. And I didn’t fail in the other. I brought the rope.”

“Well at least you got that right.” Harrumph. “We’ll be fine. It shouldn’t take long to get what we need.”

“Aye. You’re right. I’m sure you are.”

“I know I am. Now, keep quiet.”

Nobi didn’t need to hear anymore. Not that they were going to continue talking.

And she certainly didn’t need to see any more. Or rather, anything at all. All she could see were the large bushes. She knew enough, and now she really needed to find Chris and talk with him. He would know what to do. She trusted him. With her life. Of that, she could be absolutely certain.

He would help restore the equilibrium. Bring everything back to normal. To a calm state. He would settle her and the situation because that’s what he was, a settler.

Well, that was a peculiar way to put it, but the man oozed peace. With him around, there was no chance for chaos to ensue. He was like her solid rock. A firm foundation of safety and peace. See? A settlement.