Scarlet squeezed Ian’s hand. He deserved it for agreeing to the invitation.
It was going to bite him later on for wanting to go where there would be a lot of Collins to question him but luckily, she would get rid of him by that ti. The gathering was weeks from now. Ian could be out of her life by then or she could have him go missing. Either way worked well for her.
"We need to talk," Leonard said, looking across the table at Ian. Strangers weren’t normally welcod to where his family gathered. They didn’t like too many outsiders as it brought in the chance of drama. "After dinner."
Though Leonard wanted to question Ian and warn him of what could happen to him, Leonard did not want to ruin dinner. It was why he chose to stay quiet now and wait for the right mont.
"Our relationship is not so serious for the two of you to get worked up," Scarlet said, trying to ease her father’s need to question Ian.
"He is here on the estate. You don’t welco many visitors," Leonard replied. Anyone would take that as their relationship is a bit serious. "It will be a small talk. Nothing to worry about."
Scarlet looked to her mother for help. She understood their concern about who was in her life but she didn’t need them questioning anyone right now. There was a lot to learn about Ian but one thing she knew was that there was not another Jack in her life.
"He is not Jack, father. Yes, him being here ans sothing but I ant it when I said that our relationship is not serious enough to need your questioning now. I am not a child or courting soone for the first ti. Mistakes will not be made again," Scarlet said.
Even with questioning, Scarlet didn’t think anyone could predict how another person would be in the future. She had taken ti to look back on the start of her relationship with Jack, trying to find how she might have missed signs of the person he was now.
Scarlet still believed that Jack was perfectly fine in the beginning. Later in their marriage, he started to have an issue with who was in control of the marriage, believing he was to lead. They were both taking care of a family business so they were often compared and it must have hurt his ego over ti that she didn’t need to follow his lead. She didn’t need him to provide for her.
Jack was spewing nonsense now because he disliked that she would not let him lead her to feed his ego. No amount of questioning in the past could have led her to know about these feelings Jack built up over the years.
When their intimacy decreased, he turned to Beth. If he had been a cheater all along with other won, Scarlet believed he would have said it during one of their argunts around the ti of divorce to anger her.
"I am fine with the questioning," said Ian. The questioning would help Leonard to be less worried about him being around Scarlet and at the sa ti, he wanted to be on good terms with them so he wouldn’t end up dead sowhere.
"We do trust your judgent, Scarlet. Your father and I just don’t want to make the mistake of not being careful about who cos around you. You’ve been placed in a terrible position where many look to use you. I can’t apologise enough," Samara said, still regretting that Scarlet had to bear this.
"It is fine. Just bearing the Collins last na is enough for many to look to get sothing from . Even other Collins do it. We should bla the others before us for passing down so much wealth," Scarlet said, jokingly.
Samara believed the sa. "That and being a duchess puts more of a spotlight on you."
"Duchess?" Ian questioned, turning to Scarlet.
’Did he not dig around about ?’ Scarlet wondered. It was well known that her father’s title would have been passed on to her when she got the estate and the land that ca with it. "I am a duchess according to the court but I don’t use the title. I’ve always been more interested in business than the duties of a duchess."
’And here I was calling her princess,’ Ian thought. Princess still fit as it annoyed her and the way Scarlet carried herself, he could mistake her for royalty. He would have to use duchess from ti to ti and more if it would annoy her.
Scarlet questioned even more if it was possible Ian didn’t dig around about her life. When she gave him a tour of the estate, he didn’t know the nas of the relatives in the portraits and he seed genuine with his reaction to her being a duchess.
All he seed to know was that she was once married and wealthy, two things to be easily found out because of all the gossip in town.
Ian wished to question why Scarlet was staring at him but could feel Leonard’s burning gaze on him. Should he try leaning close to Scarlet to whisper sothing, a knife might head this way and he believed that Leonard wouldn’t make the mistake of missing to hit Scarlet.
"So Alana, are there any plans for you to court soone? Last I heard, you were looking to marry," Samara said, trying to take the focus from Ian and Scarlet. She had seen enough and unlike her husband, she was going to sit back to watch what would co out of Scarlet’s relationship with Ian.
"I am not looking to marry right now, but I will eventually so I don’t bother Scarlet forever," Alana replied. "I don’t want to be around to disturb when she has guests-"
"How many tis have you been to this estate and for how long do you stay?" Leonard questioned, hoping Ian had not once spent the night here.
"Father," Scarlet sighed. At what age did her father think she was now?
"Dinner will now be served," Florence announced as she entered the dining room.
"Thank you Florence," Scarlet sighed in relief. "Can we please eat in silence now? I’ve had enough worrying so far."
Samara tapped Leonard’s leg. He had to stop with his overprotectiveness. Scarlet wasn’t a young girl for them to get too involved though she would always be their little girl. "No more questions during dinner."
"Thank you, mother."
Alana smiled as dinner here was quite different from the palace. She hoped that it didn’t get too silent as she enjoyed the conversation. Normally at dinner in the palace, you could hear the forks moving against everyone’s plates and it was uncomfortable.
Like Alana, Ian was enjoying it as well since he was used to eating alone or being forced to bear with Owen who ca around looking to be fed. He enjoyed it even though Leonard would like for him to disappear.
Scarlet tried to nudge her hand out of Ian’s hold since it was ti to eat and she needed both hands. To no surprise, Ian didn’t let go easily and waited for her to pull on his hand to let go, causing her to shift in her seat.
"Are you alright, Scarlet? You almost slipped out of your chair," said Samara.
"I am fine mother," Scarlet replied, making a note to kill Ian before her father did.
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