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Chapter 148
"No," She pulled away from his touch abruptly, startling them both.
"Not like this. Not here."
Hastily she slid down the desk and retreated a step away from him, her hands slightly trembling as she adjusted her robe. This didn't feel right. There was no honest passion in his touch, no fierce, genuine urgency. It felt like he saw her as another duty, another chore to get through.
"I... I think I'd better go. You still have a lot of work and you need a good rest afterward. See you in the morning."
And without waiting for his reply, she fled out of the room.
Something was terribly wrong. She didn't have any concrete proof, or even clues of what was wrong, but every instinct in her told her that he concealed something from her. She determined to find out what was behind his strange behavior and she wouldn't stop until she got to the bottom of it.
*****
Ava awoke to a light kiss on he
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Amanda flashed her a smug, triumphant smile and Ava nearly tripped over the steps as Ashton pulled her roughly down the stairs all the way through the house. The servants immediately lowered their head when they passed by. Not giving up yet, Ava struggled to wrest free of his grip."She can't be far! We should search the entire house." Her stomach churned at the thought of what might happen to Eleanor after this, when they had left the house."You must believe me! Amanda is hiding a captive somewhere in this house!"*****"She was there just a moment ago, I swear it!" Ava stumbled after him as he dragged her out of the house and to the waiting coach at the backgate. When they stopped by the carriage, she opened her mouth to speak again, but immediately shut it when Ashton pinned her with a hard stare. The coachman opened the door for them, and she was thrusted into the carriage. Throughout the ride, he'd withdrawn to a qu
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