Chapter Twenty-Eight

Lily’s soft, naked body pressed against Adam from shoulder to knee, a benediction and a torment. His arm looped around her shoulders, rising and falling with her breath. He stared at the dark ceiling. The knot in his chest tightened like a noose. He didn’t want to leave the bed.

He didn’t want to leave her.

But the longer he thought, the more inconsistencies arose in his mind as he tried to recall the burned papers. The messy scrawl, the inconsistency in the seal, they all added up to one thing. Those documents had been copies. Perhaps legal once, perhaps clever forgeries, but either way he highly doubted they were the only pieces of evidence Chatterley had against him. Now that Lily’s sisters had told him in no uncertain terms that she would not deliver the artifact, Chatterley would be looking for a scapegoat. He would not hesitate to tear Adam down. And if Adam didn’t hurry to intercept him, the aftermath might draw Lily under along with him.

He’d come to London to deliver his surprise, something he had worked on for the past four years while they’d been apart. A gift meant to make amends. But whether he was dangling from a hangman’s noose or shot in a duel, her gift would come to her anyway. The only question was whether she would be in any sort of position to accept it.

He needed information. He needed time. He must know what Chatterley was planning, and whether they were already too late to circumvent his revenge.

Adam’s eyes burned. No matter what, Lily must live. She must be comfortable and happy. If he never did another good thing in his life, he would die satisfied with having saved her further grief. He loved her, body and soul.

He had to fix this. Which meant that he had to return to the dragon’s lair and learn what he could. Perhaps he might even convince Chatterley to see reason. If Chatterley had ever cared for Lily, he would keep her out of it.

Adam waited a while longer, listening to the sound of Lily’s breathing and savoring the feel of her relaxed body against him. When he was certain she was in a deep sleep, he shifted, slipping out of the bed beneath her and laying her gently on the pillow. She stirred but didn’t open her eyes. He didn’t have the heart to wake her and explain his anxieties. With luck, he would return before she woke, armed with the knowledge of Chatterley’s next move. They might have to make a decision quickly. Sleep would ensure that at least one of them operated at full capacity. He waited a moment more, unwilling to leave, before he lifted the sheet to cover her shoulders.

Should he leave her a note? No, he’d be gone an hour, two at the most.

He dressed in the dark, not caring about his appearance. As his fingers brushed against the barrel of his pistol, he nearly tucked it into his pocket. But he’d left the navy. If he killed another man, it would stain him for the rest of his life. He left the pistol behind.

He walked to Chatterley’s house, using the exercise to warm his blood and limbs. When he knocked on the door, the valet let him in without question. He followed the stoic manservant into the study, where he was left waiting in the thin light of a single candle.

His reflection was thrown back at him through the glass of the window. His eyes were deep, haunted. His expression was that of a man who had made his decisions, who would live with his sins. Adam had no regrets. Thanks to his efforts these past four years, Lily would live happy and safe. She would be provided for, even if he wasn’t around to see it.

And, damnation, he intended to be with her this time.

A figure stirred in the glass behind him. He took a deep breath and turned, meeting Chatterley’s furious gaze. The man stormed inside, pistol in hand. This time, Adam didn’t fight him. Weariness sinking into his bones, he leaned his hip against the desk and mustered one last smile.

“Before you pull that trigger, I think we ought to have a word. About Lily.”

Chatterley’s expression twisted beyond recognition. “I’m through listening to your prattle.”

He fired the gun. Adam’s instincts overtook him and he threw himself to the side. The shot went wide. His skull struck the corner of the desk, the pain a spiderweb from the point of impact. His body went limp.

…

Lily woke to the sheets tangled around her in an empty bed. For a moment, she lay still, straining her ears. Outside, the sounds of London awaking streamed in through the cracked window. In the house, she caught the patter of footsteps, too delicate to be Adam’s. Where was he? When they had slept together in the past, he’d always woken her when he woke, pressing a light kiss to her mouth and warning her if he meant to leave the bed.

He might have left for any number of reasons. Perhaps he’d needed to use the chamber pot but hadn’t wanted to stink up the room. Or, a more romantic notion, he might have gone to fetch her a cup of chocolate to drink in bed in celebration. They had triumphed after months of laboring beneath the shadows of the future. From here on out, they would be happy.

She swallowed against her dry mouth and turned, facing the window. Daylight peeked beneath the drawn curtains. Despite the return of the late summer heat, a chill shivered down her spine. This bed reminded her too much of her marriage bed. This morning reminded her too much of the morning she’d woken to find him gone.

Of course, then they hadn’t been in London. They’d been out in Bristol for their honeymoon. She’d lain abed, listening to the crashing of the ocean waves against the shore, before realizing that all was not as it should be.

How long was she going to lie about this time, lying to herself?

A sob gathered in her chest like building storm clouds. She swallowed thickly, holding it at bay as she swung herself out of the bed. “You’re being ridiculous.” At any minute now, Adam would slip into the room and tease her for her worry. He loved her, and he intended to spend his life with her. That was why they gone through all that trouble of breaking into Chatterley’s house and burning the papers.

Or had Adam used her to avoid capture by the navy? Had she played into his hands again? She pressed the heels of her hands to her burning eyes. Lying abed would not solve the problem. Thrusting aside her anxiety, she rose from the bed and dressed swiftly in the same clothes she’d worn last night.

She found Willa downstairs in the breakfast room. “Have you seen Adam?”

Willa frowned. “I thought he was still abed.”

Lily shook her head, unable to speak.

“Maybe he went out this morning. He might have had business.”

Lily’s lower lip quivered and her eyes filled with tears.

“Lily?”

She couldn’t speak. The chair clattered to the floor, a jarring sound as Willa stood. Lily held herself stiff as Willa embraced her. Just for a moment, before she pressed her face into the soft fabric covering her sister’s shoulder.

“I’m being foolish. You’re right. He must have gone out.”

Still, she couldn’t stop her shoulders from shaking. Holding her breath, she held onto the threads of hope. He would return soon.

He loved her.