Page 80 of Stolen By the Heartless Duke

Footsteps echoed behind them. Jane turned again. Another servant appeared, this one carrying a small locked box. Her father’s study box. The one she had seen him use for important correspondence. The one he had never allowed anyone else to open.

Something in Jane snapped into sharper focus.

“Stop,” she said again, her voice lower now. She had regained control and sounded dangerous in a different way.

The servant hesitated, glancing to Lord Zachary for instruction. Lord Zachary gave a slight nod.

Jane stepped forward and physically placed herself in their path. “You will not take that.”

Zachary sighed. “Jane, move.”

“No.”

Then Lord Zachary’s tone shifted and became slightly colder. “You are making a spectacle.”

“I do not care.”

“You will,” he said. “When creditors begin knocking.”

Jane’s eyes flashed. “You are creating those problems.”

“I am resolving them.”

“This is not a resolution,” she said. “This is theft dressed up as administration.”

Zachary’s jaw tightened slightly, the first crack in his patience showing. “Careful.”

Jane stepped closer to him. “Orwhat?”

“You forget your position.”

Jane gave a sharp, incredulous laugh. “Myposition?Iam the daughter of this house.”

“AndIam acting in its interest,” Zachary said, “while you argue over sentiment.”

Behind them, another item passed; this one was a small, framed sketch.

Jane froze. She knew that one instantly.

It was her father’s favorite drawing of the estate grounds, created years before illness ever touched him. He had kept it in his study. It had always been on the corner of his desk.

She turned sharply back to Zachary. “Where are you taking everything?”

“To storage,” he said.

“That is not storage,” she said, her voice rising again. “That is removal.”

“It is safeguarding value.”

“You are stripping this house bare.”

Zachary’s gaze hardened slightly. “Enough.”

The tone landed like a command. Jane did not move.

Zachary stepped closer, lowering his voice just enough that the servants wouldn’t hear. “You are making this harder than it needs to be.”

“I am stopping you from destroying it,” she replied.