Chapter 79 Challenging Claus
The guard caught up to the carriage. He stopped, eyes darting between me and his master. Confusion? Shock? Probably wondering why the girl who claimed to have a stomachache was now trapped inside with the Duke.
I stared at my lap. My cheeks burned. Caught.
Claus gave a signal. The carriage jolted, iron wheels grinding against the cobblestones. I was sealed in. Boxed in with the most dangerous man in the empire.
Claus stared at me. A slow, predatory smirk playing on his lips.
"Stop it," I snapped. My voice trembled. I shoved my hands beneath my dress, clenching them into fists to hide the shaking.
He didn't care. He folded his document, set it aside, and leaned forward. His gaze was clinical, cold. He was dissecting me with his eyes, looking for a weak spot, an insect pinned under a microscope.
"Do you think I'm an idiot, Miss Varannes?" His voice was low. Flat. Piercing. "Four times in one week at the harbor. Visiting my subordinate's office—a place that is clearly not your territory. And when you saw my guard? You ran like a criminal."
"I was handling family business," I lied. Firm. My throat felt like it was closing up, but I forced the words out.
He laughed. A short, dry sound that curdled my blood. He lunged forward, closing the distance until his knee pressed against mine. He didn't stop. He pressed his shoulder into my space, boxing me against the carriage wall.
"Business?" He tilted his head. "I know you're hiding something. Secret documents. Did you really think I wouldn't notice the way you're guarding that corset?"
My breath hitched. He knew. He was insane, but he knew. My pride took a nosedive, crushed by the sheer terror of it. If he found that letter, Gisella was finished. I was finished.
"I have nothing," I said, locking eyes with him. I refused to look away. I refused to blink. In this game, looking away was an admission of guilt.
Claus smirked. That look—it was raw, hungry, and entirely devoid of respect. He stared at me with such intensity that I felt like he might rip the dress off me right then and there just to see what I was hiding.
Fury spiked in my chest, burning hotter than my fear. Why did he always have to be such a nightmare? My pulse thundered in my ears, drowning out the fear. Did he think he could break me?
I threw caution to the wind.
"Search me then," I blurted out, my voice laced with defiance. "If the Duke is so sure I'm hiding something, go ahead. Search me!"