“You had every right to be angry.” Her throat cinched. “I lied to you…like Arabella did.”
“You are nothing like her. The situations are different. Night and day,” he insisted. “Arabella had affairs after we had agreed to recommit ourselves to our marriage. And she told me the babe she was carrying was mine when it wasn’t. You, on the other hand, just wanted to be who you are. Hell, you tried to show me in so many ways, but I refused to see it. I insisted on smothering you with my asinine expectations because…because I was afraid, you see.”
“Afraid of what?” she whispered.
“Of losing you. It sounds stupid, I know.” He rubbed the back of his neck, his brows drawn. “I realize now that everyone I’ve cared about has…left. Sometimes because I’ve deserved it, other times because of circumstances beyond my control. But you, Livy, you’ve been my constant for the last seven years. You were always there for me, and I loved you even before I fell in love with you. The idea of not having you in my life…”
His throat bobbed above his cravat. “I could take anything but that. And I reacted by holding onto you too tightly. In trying to protect you, I ended up pushing you away. I lost the one person who I love more than anything.”
Hearing the anguish in his voice, she couldn’t stand it any longer. She closed the last bit of distance between them, and he closed his arms fiercely around her. His heart thundered against her cheek, and being held by him, inhaling his familiar scent, she felt the world right itself again.
“You haven’t lost me,” she said. “I am right here.”
“Promise me you always will be.” He drew back, cupping her face with a reverence that made her eyes sting. “Although I cannot promise to be less protective, I will listen to you and support your desires. When we disagree, I will do my best to compromise.”
Hesitantly, she asked, “What about my investigative work?”
“I will learn to live with it.” His words were a solemn vow. “As long as you’re mine, I can deal with anything.”
“I’m yours,” she said instantly. “Oh, Ben, I’ve missed you so much!”
His eyes flared with passion…and a hint of laughter. “Although I can’t deny that I missed you like the devil, sweeting, the truth is we were only apart for a few hours.”
“It felt like ages, didn’t it? Let us never fight again,” she said with feeling.
“The thing about fighting,” he murmured, tipping up her chin, “is that there’s the making up that follows…”
Then he was kissing her with a hungry passion that made her heart sing. She kissed him back just as eagerly, losing herself in the spell of their love.
“Ahem.”
The sound of Charlie’s voice jolted Livy. Blushing, she tried to disentangle herself from Ben, but he kept her firmly tucked against his side. Together, they faced Charlie. Mr. Chen was standing there too, his austerity compromised by the smile he was obviously trying to hide.
“Lady Fayne. Chen.” Ben spoke with ducal poise. “You may be the first to offer your felicitations. Lady Olivia and I are to be married.”
Charlie looked at Livy. “My dear, you are certain that this is what you want?”
“Yes,” Livy said happily. “Hadleigh says he will support my work as an Angel!”
Charlie arched her brows at Ben.
“Whatever my future duchess wishes,” he said simply. “If it is within my power to make her happy, then consider it done.”
Hooray! Livy’s eyes rounded as she considered the possibilities.
Catching her look, Ben shook his head ruefully…then winked.
Sighing, Charlie said, “Then you might as well begin as you mean to go on. Come to the drawing room; we still have a villain to catch.”
The group gathered around a coffee table. Ben and Livy shared a settee, the Willflowers to Livy’s right, Charlie across, and Chen to Ben’s left. As refreshments were passed around, Ben gave an accounting of what he could remember of the night before. Unfortunately, his memories were hazy.
“I wish I knew which of the bastards drugged me,” he said in frustration. “But the drug distorted my senses, and he was wearing a mask. I recall him dangling Arabella’s vinaigrette in front of me, telling me that she had died from taking the contents within. He implied that he was exacting revenge on me for her death…and that of his babe, which she was apparently carrying.”
Livy laced her fingers with his. He squeezed her hand, delicate yet strong. While he would always bear regret for his past mistakes, he realized that those memories could no longer hurt him. Because he had Livy by his side, sharing her light with him, the brightness of their love chasing all shadows away.
“Those facts align with the letter we found in the villain’s hideaway in Limehouse.” With obvious care, Livy asked, “Of the Horsemen, have you any idea whom the duchess might have, um, had a preference for?”
Ben shook his head. “She was friendly with all of them. Her lover could have been Edgecombe, Thorne, or Bollinger.”
“At least that rules out Stamford,” Livy said.
There was a discreet knock; it was the butler.
“Yes, Hawker?” Lady Fayne said.
“I’ve received word from Mrs. Peabody,” Hawker said. “She was monitoring the three suspects at a club, but they caught wind of her. Gave her the slip.”
Lady Fayne frowned. “That is unfortunate. Those scoundrels are undoubtedly up to no good.”
A sudden memory surfaced in Ben’s brain.
“Bollinger said he had a shipment to pick up tonight,” he said tersely. “That he meant to take me with him to do the job.”
“Did he say where?” Livy asked.
“Edgecombe implied that there was a regular route, and I was supposedly going to take over Longmere’s delivery. Devil take it.” Ben drove his fist into his palm. “If only I had had the presence of mind to question the bastards further. We might have been able to
