The Duke Who Loved Me

by Rachelle Stevensen

  The Duke Who Loved Me

  The Men Who Revered Us

  Rachelle Stevensen

  Copyright © 2019 by Rachelle Stevensen

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover and formatting by Forever Love Covers & Design

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  The Duke Who Loved Me

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Epilogue

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  The Duke Who Loved Me

  Aidan St. Andrew, the Duke of Ablewood has lived a sheltered and lonely life since the death of his brutally evil father scarred and almost killed him. He lives and works at his country estate with his family in a solitary existence, away from society and the dictates of the ton. Afraid of hearing the gossip people say about his scarred face, Aidan stays on his estate, working and staying as far from people as necessary. They say he is cursed and Aidan is starting to believe it. Until one stormy day, he stumbles upon a woman in the woods. She is wet, cold and muddy, yet she is the most beautiful woman Aidan has ever seen. Will Aidan care about the dictates of society about her status as a commoner? Or will he claim her for his own?

  * * *

  Rhiannon Forester has lived a quiet life in London with her parents. Until the fateful accident that took her mother and crippled Rhia for life. She has fought hard to live a normal life, to walk again, albeit with a severe limp, and after the death of her father, has decided to live a solitary life in Scotland. Away from the loss and sad memories of her only family. On the road, Rhiannon has troubles and is found trapped in a storm by the most handsome man she has ever encountered. Will she follow her heart when she finds out who Aidan really is? Or will she run when hard times come for them?

  Prologue

  Aidan

  Northumberland, England December 12th 1806

  Screams of pain jolted Aidan St. Andrew out of bed. The bastard was at it again and judging from Lydia’s screams, Aidan could tell that his mother was not going to walk away from this unscathed.

  Hurting Lydia was second nature to the Duke. It was as if he had a vendetta against her. And she swore over and over to Aidan that she didn't know why.

  He took his anger out on her more than anyone else, and it was difficult on all of them to see their father’s hatred, and complete lack of love or caring toward her. How he stopped resembling a kind and loving person long ago.

  The Duke relished in his punishment of her, that he could make her hurt, make her pay for some unknown indiscretion that she caused, and Lydia had told them that one day, he would kill her, and have no regrets at all after he did.

  Aidan felt deep down in the pit of his stomach, that tonight was the night Lydia had said would come. Before this night was through his mother wouldn’t see the next morning. It wasn’t going to end well. That was the absolute truth.

  Aidan thoughts were a blur, trying to figure out if he should intervene. He knew he had to, but he was afraid. He most likely wouldn't walk away from this alive. And even though that thought terrified him, he would rather be the one who ended up dead instead of his mother.

  To say his father was a tyrant was being kind. Tyrant didn’t even come close to what he should be called. Except there wasn’t a word harsh enough to describe his father.

  He was the most evil man Aidan had ever met. He couldn’t even fathom knowing someone worse than Jacob. Didn’t think anyone else alive could be so twisted and cruel. He knew there wasn’t anyone in London who was more insane or unhinged than the Duke was.

  He couldn’t believe someone could almost ooze evil from their pores. He carried a taint about him, like a cloud of pure hatred, venom, fear, and complete malevolence.

  Jacob terrified not only their family with his evil doings, but also the staff that worked for them. He was so unpredictable and unhinged that Aidan felt sorry for the staff who stayed on, even though they lived in fear. Felt for his family that they had to suffer the abuse Jacob dealt them.

  People stopped working for them quickly when Jacob came around. Each time Jacob came to visit more staff would leave. More staff would be abused. Once, when Jacob had come home in a particularly bad mood, two maids had been found dead, after being raped, and used in such horrific ways it didn’t bear to recall. Lydia almost didn't recognize which of the maids they were. They had been so badly disfigured from the abuse.

  Lydia had made certain her children were spared from the scene, but it haunted her still. Aidan remembered her saying as much one night while they were working late. Knowing the man she married wasn't a man, but a monster, a demon. The devil.

  Word spread like wildfire of their gruesome deaths, and no young women came to work for the household anymore. Everyone was simply too afraid for their daughters, their sisters or wives to send them to their home to work. Nothing was worth dying over. Not even a job in a prestigious household.

  Aidan recalled his father’s anger over it. Recalled being so scared for anyone who still worked in their home. He had been right to be so afraid for his staff. Because after the incident with the maids, three stable hands had also been beaten so severely, his mother struggled to keep them alive. She was a skilled healer, but this was taxing on her, and put her skills to the test.

  Lydia had even called in a doctor to save them. That was how badly she feared for their lives. She had to make certain they wouldn’t suffer any ill effects later down the road.

  Those men were just doing their jobs. But the Duke, in his twisted, and unrealistic expectations, believed they weren’t doing them correctly, or fast enough.

  He interrupted the work day to select a few random men from the staff, and made everyone gather in the foyer.

  The staff believed he was just going to reprimand them verbally, which was bad enough, because the Duke terrified the majority of them and they were right to be afraid.

  Instead he stood the three men up in front of everyone, where he then proceeded to beat them within an inch of their lives.

  He used fists, his belt, his boots. He needed to prove a point, and he did. Aidan could tell from what the staff had told him that Jacob felt complete joy in having everyone witness his controlling dominance.

  Jacob screamed at the rest of the staff after the beatings, telling them all that no one did things correctly, that everyone was so incompetent, and they couldn’t just figure out how to do the simplest things. Jacob gave them a warning then, that if you couldn’t just do what you were supposed to do,
the consequences would be severe.

  With that, he walked away. Didn’t look back, just went to his study and shut the door. The three men, left broken and bleeding on the floor.

  No one did anything for a time, they were all just stunned into silence, shock on some faces, fear on the rest. Too scared to step one toe out of line. They didn’t want to be next. They stood there, silence reining in the house.

  Until young Aidan walked in the foyer. Seeing the men, and their severe injuries, Aidan didn’t hesitate in calling for Lydia.

  The staff snapped out of the trance they were in, and did what they could to help. Though it was still done in complete silence. With most of the staff planning their escape from the hell they didn’t want to endure any longer. No one dared upset the Duke. Their very lives depended on it.

  He remembered how tense that day was, how no one spoke a single word unless spoken to first. How everyone was shaking, their hands unsteady, while handing Lydia what she needed. How a few of the older maids had cried, their fear plain to see written on their faces.

  Aidan had felt for them, had hated that they had to go through that. Loathed his father for terrifying innocent people.

  For hurting those men over something so mundane, that Aidan couldn't fathom the cruelty these men had endured. He understood why people had left. Why they wouldn’t stay after those instances.

  Aidan knew there had been many more things Jacob had done to the staff, and around the home, but he couldn’t remember them all. There were too many to count.

  He also didn’t count his own beatings he had taken regularly either. They were quite numerous and painful to recall. He didn’t need their reminder, he had them often.

  He tried to save his twin brother Cole, from them. He didn’t need to suffer too. As well as trying to save his sisters. Remembering how angry his father had gotten when he stepped in to intervene.

  So far, he had done a pretty good job of taking their father’s anger, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he wouldn’t be able to save them from it. He dreaded those days.

  He had failed them only a few times, and each time it had happened, he was determined that it would never happen again. He hated seeing the marks their father left on his siblings. Each was like an arrow pointing out his failure to protect them. He would take any beating his father dished out to save them from the pain. It was his job. He was the oldest, he should take the brunt of their fathers’ anger.

  Aidan heard some thumps, and another scream. The sounds ripping Aidan out of the past and right back to the present. Tonight, he knew he had to step in or his mother wouldn’t be alive in the morning. Hell, she wouldn’t be alive in the next ten minutes.

  He was tired of living in fear of never knowing what would come next. Tired of living day by day, with no reprieve from the man who ascended from the bowels of hell to haunt their lives. Aidan knew his father would finally snap one day, and decide to kill all of them.

  The Duke was in a kind of state that he would have no regrets in doing something that horrible to his family. Had been in that state for years. Aidan knew Jacob had held back in a lot of his punishments, and he never knew why. Didn’t care to find out. This night, Aidan would try to do what was necessary to help his family once and for all.

  Aidan’s internal struggle with his thoughts about whether he would survive this night or not, cost him valuable time. But who wouldn’t question if stepping in to save their mother at the cost of their own life was the best decision? Who wouldn’t be afraid to meet death? He certainly was.

  After all, Jacob, was on a rampage worse than Aidan had ever seen him. And that was telling. Because there were numerous times Jacob had come home on a rampage. So, the fact that yesterday when he had gotten home on his rampage, and it frightened Aidan worse than he had been before didn’t bode well.

  Jacob had gotten back to the country from London yesterday. Arriving with the usual fanfare, he had found things not to his liking at all. They hadn’t celebrated enough for Jacob’s liking. And much to their dismay, Jacob had noticed for once that there hadn’t been enough staff, and that wouldn’t do for a Duke’s household.

  Jacob had walked the halls, inspecting every inch of the home. Aidan knew that while he and his family had done their best, the manor was a large one, and without a full staff, it was hard to keep up on.

  They had to shut down a lot of the manor, because with that, and their outside chores, it was too much for just the family and their very few staff to handle the upkeep. But, when Jacob arrived, the things he had seen, had inspected with a critical eye, had apparently angered him so much that he destroyed a room completely.

  He shut himself in a large sitting room and ripped old and expensive tapestries and priceless paintings off the walls. Threw furniture everywhere, so there were shards of wood embedded in the walls and the floor as well as scattered all over the floor. Broken glass was everywhere as well. Jacob had hurled glass after glass against the fireplace.

  Aidan had seen the destruction, and he was left with such a pit of dread in his stomach. It hadn’t let up, and he needed some occupation to keep him still and decided something to help. He went to clean up the destroyed room. It hadn't been the right thing to do, because Jacob had found Aidan cleaning, and had punched Aidan in the face so hard, Aidan currently sported a black eye.

  Jacob also backhanded one of his sisters who had come to investigate the noise of the destruction. Lily now had a split lip. Aidan was only grateful he hadn’t done worse. He usually did, and Aidan knew it was coming. Could feel it hanging in the air like a cloud before it rained.

  Aidan was scared of Jacob, more than he ever had been before. He didn’t like that his father could still cause him to be afraid, but tonight? Aidan truly believed that the devil had come to call, and was going to collect. He knew something had set Jacob off, he just didn’t know what it was. Not that it took much to do so.

  Aidan could practically taste the evil on his tongue. It was thick, full of such hatred that Aidan wanted to retch. He knew deep down inside that their family would never recover from the events this night. And it terrified him.

  The last time Aidan had felt evil somewhat like this had been a few months ago. But that day was nothing like this night. That horrible day, the malice wasn't so concentrated. Wasn’t so thick in the air.

  Tonight though, it was filling their home, permeating the air, poisoning everything it touched.

  They tried to be as prepared as they could, but how could you prepare for someone like Jacob? You couldn’t. He was too unpredictable, and completely unstable.

  Aidan had to step in. Tonight, he would not fail. He had failed over and over again, but he had to try tonight.

  Inside his head, he was screaming in terror of knowing his death would come and sooner than he was ready for. His body was trying to overcome it. Knowing that he had to be the one to stop it. There was no one else. He wouldn’t ask Cole to help. He needed his brother to live, to be the man he should be. To carry on, even when it was hard, and to help their family in any way they could. To protect their legacy, and the girls no matter what. Because Aidan was going to do what he could do to protect them, whether they wanted him to or not. He would sacrifice it all and he would do that by trying to kill their father.

  He wouldn’t survive, that much was true, but Cole had to. He would take nothing else as the alternative. He didn’t want this to taint his brother, to ruin him. Cole had already been around too much. Seen too much. And Aidan hated that Cole had ever had to see what he had. The last time Jacob had been here, Aidan knew Cole had saved his life. And while Aidan was forever grateful, he didn’t want this on Cole’s conscience. Not like he had before.

  Jacob had been here a mere six months ago. At that time, he’d beaten Aidan with a whip so severely he almost died. It had been the worst day of Aidan’s life. Up until tonight of course.

  Aidan remembered the pain. How every single strike of the whip had felt. How hard he had t
ried to keep from screaming, from making a sound at all. Especially when his back split and bled, his back forever ruined by that whip, but he had stayed silent.

  His back hurt continually from the whip marks. To this day they still hurt. They were still healing -as was he- and some of the whipping marks were deeper than others.

  He was still struggling to regain his full strength. Trying to get back to normal. His stamina not what it was before, and not being at full strength and stamina scared him the most.

  Aidan had some of deepest lashes open when he worked too hard still. It was hell on recovery, but he dealt with the pain of it. Everyday. Work needed to be done. No matter if he was sick or injured. There was no one else to do it, it was up to them.

  Jacob felt everyone was beneath him, and he was raised to believe that it was beneath the future duke to work like a servant. To treat servants like they were more than their station.

  It was not allowed by the polite gentry of the ton. It was frowned upon by anyone who held titles. Work should be done by servants, not by the owner of the house, or someone who held a title. No matter how rich or poor. But Aidan had had no choice.

  Here he was, a titled lord, and he worked like a servant every single day. Was a servant, because there was no one else to do the work. Not any longer.