the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Anticipation

Cassian Ashford had a problem.

Unfortunately, he was intelligent enough to recognize it.

Even more unfortunately, he was intelligent enough to understand exactly how serious it was becoming.

The realization arrived the morning after the library.

And, like most unpleasant realizations, it appeared while he was trying to work.

A stack of reports sat open across his desk.

Trade figures.

Agricultural summaries.

Military expenditures.

The sort of documents that normally held his full attention.

Today they were losing badly.

Because every few minutes, his thoughts wandered.

Toward Marian.

The realization annoyed him immediately.

Not because it was new.

Because it wasn’t.

The problem was that it was becoming normal.

And normal things were dangerous.

Particularly when they involved Marian Valmont.

Cassian leaned back in his chair.

Closed his eyes.

And immediately remembered her expression in the library.

Relief.

The memory arrived with startling clarity.

She had been looking for something.

Or someone.

And when she’d found him—

Relief.

The thought settled warmly inside his chest.

Which was precisely the problem.

Because hope was a dangerous thing.

Hope encouraged stupidity.

Hope encouraged optimism.

Hope encouraged men to imagine futures they had absolutely no business imagining.

Cassian had spent his entire adult life avoiding exactly that kind of foolishness.

Now?

Now he was apparently failing.

Spectacularly.

Wonderful.

Absolutely wonderful.

A knock interrupted his thoughts.

"Enter."

His steward stepped inside.

Several documents tucked beneath one arm.

For the next hour, Cassian forced himself back into work.

Meetings.

Reports.

Discussions.

Decisions.

The responsibilities of a duke never ended.

Which was usually useful.

Busy men had less time for idiotic thoughts.

Unfortunately, Cassian discovered that one could discuss trade agreements while simultaneously thinking about Marian.

A deeply disappointing discovery.

By midday he had become convinced the universe was conspiring against him personally.

There was no other explanation.

Because every road his thoughts traveled seemed to arrive at the same destination.

Marian.

The realization became impossible to ignore.

Cassian wasn’t merely enjoying her company anymore.

He was looking forward to it.

The thought stopped him cold.

Because there was a difference.

A very significant difference.

Before the forest, seeing Marian had been pleasant.

After the forest—

Seeing Marian had become something he anticipated.

Something he expected.

Something he wanted.

The realization sat heavily inside his chest.

Because wanting things created problems.

And this particular thing came attached to an alarming number of complications.

Adrian.

The Crown.

The engagement.

The future.

Every path ended there.

Which explained why Cassian spent the next several minutes staring at a report without reading it.

Again.

Wonderful.

Absolutely wonderful.

Meanwhile, across the city, Marian was experiencing problems of her own.

Specifically, her father.

Duke Valmont had always possessed an unfortunate talent.

He noticed things.

Not everything.

But enough.

Far too much, in Marian’s opinion.

Which was why she immediately regretted entering the breakfast room.

Her father looked up from his newspaper.

Paused.

Then narrowed his eyes.

Marian froze.

Immediately.

Because she recognized that look.

It was the same look he used before interrogations.

A deeply concerning development.

"Good morning, Father."

"You seem happy."

Marian sat down.

Very carefully.

"I am always happy."

The Duke lowered his newspaper.

"That is a lie."

The betrayal.

The audacity.

The complete lack of paternal loyalty.

Marian gasped.

"You’re very rude."

"I wonder where you inherited it from."

Marian stared.

Her father stared back.

The resemblance between them suddenly became deeply unfortunate.

For several moments neither spoke.

Then the Duke sighed.

A strange expression crossed his face.

Something softer.

Something thoughtful.

"You’ve been smiling more."

The words caught Marian off guard.

Immediately.

Because they weren’t teasing.

They weren’t joking.

They were honest.

Marian looked down at her tea.

For a moment, she didn’t know what to say.

The Duke continued watching her.

Not pressuring.

Not demanding.

Simply observing.

As fathers sometimes did.

"You seem lighter."

The words were gentle.

Unexpectedly gentle.

And suddenly Marian remembered something.

The months before the forest.

The arguments.

The tears.

The disappointment.

Her father had seen all of it.

Every painful moment.

Every attempt to pretend she was fine.

Every smile that wasn’t real.

The realization tightened something inside her chest.

Because perhaps she hadn’t been the only one hurting.

Her father had watched.

Helplessly.

Unable to fix any of it.

Marian swallowed.

Then smiled.

Small.

Genuine.

"I think I’m doing better."

The Duke studied her for several seconds.

Then nodded.

Relief flashed across his face so quickly most people would have missed it.

Marian didn’t.

And suddenly she loved him very much.

The old man was becoming emotional.

A deeply embarrassing condition.

She decided not to mention it.

Out of mercy.

Naturally.

The Duke appeared equally determined not to mention it.

Instead he returned to his newspaper.

Which was probably for the best.

Some emotions were easier when left unspoken.

Several days later, an invitation arrived.

It was delivered to Cassian’s estate shortly before noon.

A hunting gathering.

Three days.

Several noble families.

Political networking disguised as recreation.

The sort of event Cassian normally tolerated.

Nothing more.

He opened the invitation.

Read the guest list.

The invitation remained on the desk.

A simple thing.

Paper.

Ink.

Several days of hunting and political networking disguised as recreation.

The sort of event Cassian normally tolerated.

Nothing more.

Yet his eyes found Marian’s name again.

Immediately.

Effortlessly.

Automatically.

The realization was annoyingly revealing.

Because he hadn’t looked at the guest list and thought about politics.

Or alliances.

Or obligations.

He had looked at it and thought:

Marian will be there.

Cassian exhaled slowly.

The problem wasn’t that he had noticed.

The problem was that he was looking forward to it.

The truly unfortunate part was that this realization wasn’t new.

He had recognized the danger weeks ago.

Apparently recognizing it had done absolutely nothing to stop it.

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