The Duke's Masked Wife

Alessandra could not shake the disgusting feeling she got from William. She did not belong to him. She never did. What would it take to get that through his mind?

Alessandra took a deep breath to calm herself. She did not want William to see that he was getting under her skin. It would only amuse him which was the last thing she wanted to do.

"The Duchess does not want to speak to you, mister Lancaster. Please respect her decision and leave us" Hazel ordered him. She was starting to realize there was more to the relationship between William and Alessandra since he mentioned being a friend of her late father.

"She seems to want nothing to do with her past. Want to know something special, Queen Castro? Before she was meant to marry the Duke, Alessandra was supposed to-"

"You!" Alessandra exclaimed, cutting him off before he could share about the deal he had with her father. How could he be so bold to state he was going to take her in exchange for the debt her father had?

William chuckled, amused by how much she wanted the fact she belonged to him to be a secret. "I know a special secret about the Duchess. She's somewhere she's not meant to be right now but she will soon return to her rightful place. Alessandra, I'm sure you can spare a moment to speak with me before I start speaking about your father's little secrets."

"Go ahead. Whatever my father did has nothing to do with me. You truly are disgusting to stand before me after what you intended to do. There is no ounce of shame in your body. Fine, let's talk," Alessandra changed her mind. She had a lot to say to William. She was no longer going to be afraid of a man like him.

"Good, Queen Hazel can you please-"

"No," Alessandra held Hazel's hand to keep her here. This was her private business but she needed someone here in case William might one day try to spin what they discussed here. "I have no intentions of belonging to you, William. I am a Duchess now."

"Are you upset because I did not refer to you by your title? My mistake," William apologized.

Alessandra felt the need to laugh because that was far from what she was upset about. "I don't want you to address me at all. You and I have nothing to speak about. I don't care for your condolences for my father or if you want to speak about his debt. I want nothing to do with a man like you. I will only say once to stay far away from me."

"You are more entertaining than I thought," William said. She was always a quiet little girl but now that she was older she had a little spark to her. Perhaps she was better suited as a new wife than just being added to his home.

He briefly glanced at her chest and didn't find her to be to his liking but he would still enjoy getting rid of her fire and making her like the other women. The ones who wandered his home like ghosts after losing their voice and did as he commanded them to. The last one was quite boring so she found herself buried beneath the ground.

William didn't like that Edgar had gotten to her first as he enjoyed the women he got to be fresh. The only women he preferred to be already used were the women he would pay to visit from the red light district to entertain the guest he had in his home.

Hazel wished she could get some context to what was happening. If William was an old friend of Alessandra's father, why were they talking about him having her? Did they mean as a wife? 'That is disgusting,' she thought. Hazel didn't think a man who was most likely around Alessandra in her youth should think of being with her.

"I hope that your world comes crashing down soon. A man like you does not deserve to live much longer. Whatever you are owed from my father, take that up with his wife. You are despicable, vile, disgusting, and a creep. Money has gotten to your head. I remember the timid man who would be running around with a tail between his legs following my father's every command because you were nothing back then," said Alessandra.

William scowled, disliking the mention of his past. He had risen far above that life. He was no longer trying to please Desmond. He had turned life around and enjoyed how Desmond had to run to him for help. He was stronger and wealthier than the coward he once was. Who was Alessandra to bring that up?

William thought of wrapping his hand around her pretty neck to strangle her. If only there weren't so many people here h would take her back to his home and make her eat her words. He desired to have her more than art or sexually. William wanted to break her more than she already was and hear her apologize.

Hazel wanted to cheer Alessandra on but didn't think it would be right to piss William off even more than he already was. Her heart skipped a beat when she looked behind William and saw a catastrophe heading their way. 'This isn't going to be good,' she thought.

"What the fuck are you doing near my wife? You truly have a death wish," the anger in Edgar's voice was heard as he brushed past William, not missing the chance to nudge the man with his shoulder to make William lose his balance before he went to stand in front of Alessandra. He left her alone for a couple of minutes but it was enough for this creep to ease his way to her.

Edgar was already pissed off because of what was said to him and Tobias, so returning to the party and immediately looking for Alessandra, his blood boiled when he spotted William with her. Plans for a peaceful party were out the window.

Alessandra touched Edgar's hand to calm him. She also did not like seeing William but she was not going to let Edgar lose his cool and do something to William in front of all of these people. "I am fine," she reassured him.

"Good but I am still going to kill him," Edgar lowly spoke as the urge to kill William right now was hard to ignore.  "You've got some fucking nerve waiting until I am no longer by her side to approach her."

"Now now. This isn't the way a Duke should talk at a party like this. There's no need for you to act up when you cannot harm me,'" William grinned, taking pleasure in the fact Edgar could not touch him. No weapons were allowed at the party and he could put up a good fight in a fistfight.

Edgar had the dagger hidden away beneath his clothes but he wouldn't need that to kill William. It would be more satisfying to snap the man's neck with his bare hands. Just as he moved to do as his mind wanted him to, Tobias appeared between the two men and held Edgar's hand.

As much as Tobias would enjoy Edgar killing William, now was not the right time. Tobias forced a smile and said, "It is time you step away William. Your company is not welcome here."

"Hmm. It seems so. Please excuse me, Queen and King Castro. Duchess," William smiled sweetly at Alessandra. "Till we meet again."

Edgar stepped forward to punch Willaim for having the nerve to speak to Alessandra in his presence but was held back by Tobias. With the anger Edgar felt, he considered punching Tobias for getting in his way but as he looked at his friend Edgar gritted his teeth, shoved Tobias from holding him back, and walked away.

Alessandra chased after Edgar to make sure that he was alright. She was surprised he had held back from hurting William but was glad that he did. If he punched William now, Edgar would be criticized though he was not in the wrong. Other people just did not know what William had done.

"Stay here," Tobias told Hazel before he followed Alessandra and Edgar.

Edgar exited the home, ignoring the snow falling down on him. He was full of adrenaline to hurt someone but could not let it out on the one person he wished to hit. He pushed over a large stone statue in the garden to try to calm himself but it wasn't enough.

Before Alessandra could walk out to the snow to speak with Edgar, Tobias placed a hand on her shoulder, wanting her to wait while he had a word with Edgar.

Alessandra stayed behind while Tobias went out to speak with Edgar who had thrown down another statue causing it to break when it hit a smaller statue.

"I'm sorry for holding you back there. I'm honestly surprised you listened to me since he deserved it. William has been getting on my nerves lately and after the conversation we just had, he's going to piss us off more in the future. Let's stop trying to get him using the law," Tobias said and it caught Edgar's attention. "We need to do things the old way as I am tired of trying to play nice. Gather your best men, Edgar. We're going to secretly kill William Lancaster."