"Hold me close so I can finally... breathe"
Marriage wasn't something Carina Bridgerton looked forward to. And true love was not something she dreamed of. She had declared it very clearly to her family that no marriage shall ever be expected from he...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
As Carina and Colin ride their horses to the patch of land her brothers and Simon have gone too, she hoped and prayed that they reach their on time. Pulling the reins and speeding up, Carina had only one mission in mind, to reach them before they kill each other.
Simon stood opposite to his oldest friend, all signs of friendship gone amongst the two, and whispered, "For what it is worth, I am truly sorry. But I would- I would never force Carina to marry me." "Your apology is worth nothing to me." Anthony hissed, yet confused about Simon's apology. He spoke of Carina as if he truly cared for her. "Ready!" "Ready!"
That was when Carina's horse reached them. "Stop!" Looking at them, with Simon unyielding and Anthony's gun faced at him with no sign of stopping, Carina did the only thing she could at the moment. She rode her horse straight into the middle of the duel, in Anthony's line of fire. Frightened, the horse jumped up, threw Carina down and raced away, leaving her laying on the ground under a heap of a heavy cloak.
"Carina!" Simon was instantly by her side, his heart jumping out of his chest on witnessing his Carina get hurt. He never wanted to experience that again. Losing Carina would mean losing his entire world, his purpose, his happiness. He could never lose Carina, even if he couldn't have her. "Sister!" Anthony rushed to Carina, too angry at her and worried about her all at once. "Sister! Stand aside!" "Oh, good God." Anthony said, as Carina leant up on her forearms. Simon was holding her head in his hands, "Are you hurt? Tell me! Carina!" "I am perfectly well, no thanks to you idiots." She said as she stood up.
Anthony questioned in anger, "What are you playing at?" "Says the man who just shot at me!" Carina sasses back "You rode into the middle of a duel!" He exclaimed. "I require a moment with the duke." Was her only response. "Carina..." "I require a moment with the duke." she said a bit more sternly. Noting Anthony refusing to listen, even as Benedict tried to calm him down, her jaw tensed and she angrily said, "Very well then. Free feel to listen in brothers!"
Not waiting to test their reactions, she turned to the Duke who started first, "You should not have come. You could have been hurt." "Well, I am fine." she says tersely. "Yes but you could also have been hurt. Carina, you do not-" "Simon, we were seen." she interrupted, impatient. "Cressida Cowper witnessed us in the garden. She knows." she said. Simon's face gave away his shock, "What? But-"
"Someone knows what we have done, Simon. Someone who will surely talk. We have to get married." She says. Simon had an unreadable expression on his face before he questioned, "Are you sure?" "What do you mean am I sure? Simon if this gets out, I will be ruined. Do you truly... Do you truly hold me in such low regard?" Carina was hurt, and it was clear on her face, in her voice. And clearly, her brother was about to intervene too, only neither Carina nor Simon paid any attention to anything except each other. "It is because I regard you so highly that I need you to be sure about it." Simon voiced out.
