Chapter 22: Return Of The Shrew

Dinner was a rowdy affair. Devin had regained his sense of normalcy and was finding great joy sticking his tongue into his vanilla pudding and licking it like a dog.

"Devin. We don't do that in polite society. We use a spoon." Talia handed him a plastic spoon.

"No spoom," he shook his head.

"If you eat your pudding with a spoon, I'll watch Riding Hood with you." She promised.

For whatever reason, Devin loved Little Red Riding Hood and constantly laughed at the wolf who came and pretended to be the grandmother.

"Widing Hood. Watch Widing Hood." He insisted.

"Spoon." She handed him the spoon and Devin acquiesced.

As he watched the back and fort between Talia and Devin, Cedric smiled. This was exactly what the boy needed. A mother's love.

His eyes flared with pain.

His most recent foray to find Viviene had not only been fruitless, it also nearly killed him. What was worse was that once again, he was out of leads.

His mind continued to rummage through the mess of the failed trip with a single nagging thought.

The hunters were waiting for him, armed with silver bullets. They knew he was coming.

Hubert said there were six men with him, but he had only seen two. The remaining four would have to be found, dead or alive.

They were almost done with dinner and was starting on their dessert fruit tart when an alert sounded.

Hubert stood up and consulted with the house guards for a few minutes before returning to the Duke and whispering something in his ear.

The Duke waved a dismissive hand.

Hubert leaned in again, whispering something.

The Duke shook his head. "We're not done with dinner yet."

"But we can't just—"

"I'll take some ice cream with that fruit tart." He said and turned to Talia. "I think we have some fresh vanilla ice cream that the chefs just made today. Try some, Talia."

She nodded, as a serving maid placed a single scoop of ice cream onto her plate.

"Aaaaahhh." Devin began waving his spoon around. He had picked up on the wondrous smell of ice cream.

"No. Not 'aaaaahhh'. Use your words. What do you want, Devin?"

"Maaaaaaamaaaa. Ice queam."

"And what do you eat it with?"

"Spoom." He held up his spoon.

With a single gesture from Talia, the serving maid gave Devin a small plastic bowl with a half scoop of ice cream to which he began digging in with great joy.

"Sir," another manservant entered the dining area and bowed. "The authorities are outside our gate. They are insisting that they need to speak to Lady Talia."

At the sound of her name, Talia looked up.

"What is it about?"

The manservant turned to her.

"They wouldn't say, Milady, but they are insistent that they speak with you."

The authorities, eh? Talia stood up. She was never one to hide from any adversaries.

"Pardon me. It looks like I need to go deal with this myself."

Instantly the Duke rose from the table.

"I will come with you."

Talia nodded. It was good to have moral support in times like this.

The Duke turned to the manservant.

"Invite them into the parlor. No reason for us to be out there talking in the darkness through an iron gated fence."

"Yes Sir."

The manservant bowed and left.

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"Shall we?" He held out his hand.

Talia nodded for Anna to watch over Devin and took hold of the Duke's hand.

He led her to the east wing of the house where the main parlor was located.

As soon as they entered through the arched entryway, Talia could tell things were going to get ugly.

The Countess Evelyn Larabee had been wheeled in by one of her dark-suited attendants. Standing beside her were two police officers who were talking into their police radios,

The Countess did not look good.

Without the heavy makeup that she had slathered on when she first entered the mansion, the woman looked like something the cat dragged in.

Her hair was no longer the perfectly coiffed red bob that she had worn when Talia first met her. Her green eyes were sunken deep into her skull, looking bruised and blackened, no doubt by the trauma that had been done to her nose, which was bandaged with a large white gauze.

Her back looked to be in some type of brace and was causing her some pain.

Talia looked away. She did not derive joy in causing people pain, but let this be a lesson to Evelyn. Nobody better mess with her or Devin, or they would be in a wheelchair.

The Duke led Talia into the parlor, his large frame leading the way in protective stance.

"Gentlemen." He nodded at the officers. Then he turned towards the woman in the wheel chair.

"What brings you here at this time of night, Countess?"

Countess Evelyn glared at him with those sharp green eyes.

"I'm sorry Sir," one of the officers spoke up. "We are here on her behalf to press charges against Miss Talia Fabian for alleged assault and battery on her person."

The Duke narrowed his eyes at the officer.

"Assault and battery? Pray tell, what makes you think that's what happened?"

The officer indicated at the Countess' pathetic condition.

"Obviously, she is badly injured, and one of your people took her to the Emergency Room to get treated. We just need to ask a few questions."

The Duke's eyes glittered with fury.

"No one will not be speaking to you tonight. If you have any questions, you can ask our lawyer in the morning."

For a few moments, the two officers consulted each other. Then they called their office and spoke a few words to their commanding officer.

"Very well then." The officers nodded. "We will be seeing your lawyer in the morning."

They took their leave of the Duke's estate with some relief. This was the Duke's territory. It was better just to steer clear of this whole mess and let someone else deal with the lawyers in the morning.

As soon as the officers had gone, Cedric turned frosty eyes at Evelyn.

"Why are you here?" He asked her curtly.

"Aside from pressing charges against that scullery maid, I'm here to take you back to Faria. You have been gone for over a year. You need to give up this wild goose chase and come home with me."

"Evelyn, I'm not going anywhere with you. The fact that you come to my home when I'm not here and terrorize my household is something I haven't even addressed yet."

"I come to visit my fiancé and I get assaulted by the hired help." She hissed. "Why are you protecting her and not me? I'm the one who's hurt!"

The Duke's smile was venom-filled.

"I protect all those who live in my household. Since you do not live here, my protection does not include you."

"I am your fiancée!"

"Until we are married, you are merely a potentiality. You have no legally recognizable status that is any different from anyone else walking around outside."

"But she attacked me!"

"How, Evelyn? How did she attack you?"

The Countess' eyes began to spill over with huge tear drops. With an angry snarl, she pointed an accusing finger at Talia.

"She threw a phone at my face and broke my nose, and then she kicked me into the wall and broke one of my ribs!"

Cedric turned a calm face towards Talia.

"Did you do those things?"

Talia lifted her chin. She hoped he would keep his promise to listen to her side before condemning her.

"Yes."

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