Edwina fidgeted nervously as handmaids busied around her. She tried to stay as still as possible so the makeup artist could complete her work, but while her eyes were wide waiting for mascara, one maid was pulling her corset tight, while another was placing ornaments in her hair and yet another was attempting to tighten the strap of her shoe. One day I’m going to laugh about this, Edwina thought to herself. But according to Mrs. Mercy, there was no time for laughter this brisk morning. Everything was going wrong. Mrs. Mercy’s carriage wheel had broken on her way to Edwina’s hotel room that morning. Which meant Edwina slept in late, which meant Edwina was late to the venue, which meant that there just simply wasn’t enough time! The morning was so frantic that Edwina didn’t have time to breathe, let alone contemplate her impending marriage. She was pushed and pulled from place to place until finally, she was shoved behind a door and told she would walk down the aisle m

Claiborne was furious. He started the day fresh as a primrose and smiling ear to ear. He was excited about the wedding and finally getting his hands on the one thing he had ever desired, Edwina Knight. He practically skipped to the chapel. Even the sycophantic nobles, waylaying him as he entered the cathedral could not ruin his mood. He had meticulously planned every detail of the wedding from the guest list to the types and colors of the flowers decorating the cathedral. He let Mrs. Mercy take a lot of the credit, to keep his reputation intact. There was no need for anyone other than his fiance to know how head over heels he was. His debtors and political adversaries needed to see him as the ruthless politician he was. The wedding was supposed to start early in the morning, but Mrs. Mercy informed him that the bride’s preparations were running behind. Claiborne tried to not let the delay ruin his mood. When the musicians needed more time because a violinist’

“Yes, our honeymoon. Unfortunately, we won’t be going anywhere. We’ll just be staying here on the estate. I only have three days but I negotiated with His Majesty and got you a whole month off.”“A month! Talked to his Majesty? I can’t take a month off work!”“Are you sure? The king said you were ahead of schedule? He told me you had been working frantically up until the wedding.”“Well - I, I have been working a lot but I can’t be away from my work that long!”“Give it a week at least Eddie? If you want to go back to work after that I won’t stop you.”A week trapped in the Claiborne estate, away from all of her friends and her work. It sounded like torture. But maybe she could turn this into an opportunity. She could spend her time digging into Alex’s dirty little secrets, and when she returned from her honeymoon, maybe she would have enough evidence to

Alexander waited with bated breath, knowing this vixen could send him to heaven or hell. He had never realized he had this much passion inside of him. That day when he made the bargain, he knew beforehand that he wanted her as his wife, he didn’t know what emotions he would awaken with that decision. Alexander had spent the past few nights contemplating his feelings, analyzing them until he was sure he understood them completely. He was attracted to Edwina Knight, to her character and to her appearance. So he could say that he liked her. He liked his clothes a certain way. He liked his high end whiskey. He liked fine pieces of art. Whatever he liked, he made sure to possess. Anything that caught his fancy was guaranteed to become a part of his collection. Edwina was just another bauble. She was slightly different from a beautiful piece of jewelry or sculpture, though. She was a living breathing person, and thus obtaining her would be trickier

After all the decadence she had experienced so far, the size of the closet shouldn’t have surprised Eddie, but it succeeded in taking the air from her lungs.The “closet” was double the size of her office in the palace. The room was stuffed to the brim with all different sorts of clothes, from evening gowns to riding wear, in an extensive array of different colors. Luckily, the closet was arranged by type of wear, otherwise, it would have taken her hours to get ready just to find something proper to wear.When she emerged from the closet dressed in a green dress with beautifully embroidered accents, Alex only smiled and gestured toward the door. Eddie walked swiftly past him chin held high.Alex placed his hand right in the curve of her back, her nerves reacted to his touch. She refused to look at him. He continued chuckling and opened their bedroom door to lead her to the rest of the estate.He guided her through his estate from the kit