Chapter Twenty-Three #2
“Should I go be with her?” Hart started for the door.
Violet reached out and grabbed his arm. “No. She is not in the mood for you. She has been cursing you all afternoon. I have never seen her so mad or using such colorful language.”
Hart took a step back in surprise. “What did I do?”
“You put the babe in her belly.” Violet laughed.
“Don’t take it personally. The midwife said it was quite normal.
I’m sure she will forget about being mad at you once the babe is born.
Come, let’s sit down. I volunteered to come down with the update because I needed a break, and I am not even the one in labor. ”
Rhys saw the instant she noticed he was in the room.
Violet’s shoulders drooped, and her eyes filled with tears.
He opened his arms, and she crossed directly to him.
Her fatigue was palpable as he folded her against him.
Tears wet his collar. Rhys brushed a hand over her hair. “What is it? Tell me what’s wrong.”
She took a deep breath in, her nose rubbing up his neck as though she were breathing him in.
He held back a groan of satisfaction. Ignoring the slack jaws of the other two men, he held her tight for another minute.
Then he gently moved them to the settee, keeping her close.
He took her hand in his and studied her face.
The panic he had felt from all the way across the room was still present in her eyes.
“Everything with Lucy is fine, truly. She is so strong.” Violet turned to Kingsbury with a watery smile. “And Adeline has been asking the midwife endless questions. Aunt Trudy kicked out the doctor hours ago, saying he was in the way. Mr. Townson set up tea for him in the adjoining sitting room.”
Hart and Kingsbury retook their respective seats.
“But then what are the tears for?” Kingsbury asked kindly.
Violet turned back to Rhys, her knees knocking into his. Her hand gripped his. “I don’t think I can do it. I don’t know if I am strong enough to bring a baby into this world,” she whispered.
Rhys gently took her chin. “You are much stronger than you think. Look at all that you have endured only to become so fierce and determined. You will be a wonderful mother.” He wiped away a tear with his thumb. “I have no doubt you can do this.”
Violet sucked in a shuddery breath. “Thank you. I was beginning to panic.”
“Have you eaten anything today?”
“Yes, I had some sandwiches upstairs when the tea tray came up.” She glanced back at Hart and Kingsbury with a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry to be such a ninny. My emotions have been all over the place with this pregnancy.”
The two men exchanged looks of surprise. They made noncommittal noises of support.
“Nonsense,” Hartwick said. “I hope you know that if there is anything that you need, you only have to say.”
Jealousy flared hot in Rhys’s chest. Fuck off, Hartwick.
She has me. Anything she needs, I can take care of her.
He reeled at his instinctive response. The truth slapped him in the face.
Christ, he hadn’t been careful enough. His foolish heart had already claimed Violet.
It raced beneath his chest in a moment of panic.
But when Violet’s hand squeezed his, even as she replied with a quiet thank you to Hart, he settled.
This beautiful woman had snuck behind his defenses as stealthily as he had snuck into her bedroom.
Or perhaps he had been waiting all this time for the right woman to love.
It was good that her husband was already dead because now he wouldn’t have to kill him to remove him from the equation.
Certainly, she needed his protection, but maybe she also needed his love?
Did he even understand how to love? He knew how to kill, how to lie and steal, but he’d had very little opportunity to love.
He’d always believed that love would make him weak.
He would think on it. Figuring out how to show her how he loved her was a puzzle he would need to unravel.
He had a sense that it could be worth it if only for the chance to hold this woman in his arms every night.
“Rhys?” Violet’s soft voice broke into his thoughts.
“Sorry. Yes?”
“I was just saying that I was headed back upstairs. Will you be here?”
“Yes, I will wait and take you home.”
Violet smiled warmly. “That would be wonderful because I came over with Lucy and Addy in the Hartwick carriage.” Then she turned and crossed the room with a small sashay of her hips.
He watched until she disappeared behind the closed door.
When he turned back to Hart and Kingsbury, they were staring at him.
“What was that?” Hart said with no preamble.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Rhys attempted to deflect.
“The lady raced to take comfort in your arms.” Kingsbury raised his eyebrows. “And she is pregnant? Is the baby yours?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. The baby is her husband’s. She was pregnant already when we met. I have been helping her find a way to get away from the bastard she was married to. He was regularly harming her. I have seen the bruises.”
“What?!” Hart sat forward. “Did you kill him?”
Rhys shook his head. “No, I offered. Trust me, I would have taken pleasure in dispensing of him. But as I told you before, I promised her I wouldn’t kill him.
We were working together to find out dirt on the duke and his son so that she could have some leverage to force him to keep away from her.
The man died by falling down the stairs, drunk.
Violet saw the whole thing happen in front of her.
They were fighting, and he tried to save himself by grabbing for her.
” The whole thing still sent a tremor of fury through him. He clenched and unclenched his hands.
“Bastard.” Hart and Kingsbury exchanged furious looks. “But why didn’t she ask for help?” Hart’s voice was laced with frustration.
“That is for her to explain,” Rhys replied. “When she is ready.”
“And between the two of you?”
“I don’t know.” Rhys shrugged. “She is far above me. Probably something I shouldn’t be touching at all.”
Kingsbury stared across at him, his expression contemplative.
“What?” Rhys said testily. He already felt raw at his revelation of how much he cared for Violet. He didn’t need judgment from these two confirming what he already knew—that he shouldn’t even be thinking of stealing the lady’s heart.
“It’s a real bitch when you take the fall, isn’t it?” Kingsbury’s smile was rueful. “No matter what your mind thinks is sensible, the heart doesn’t care.”
Rhys leaned back and closed his eyes with a sigh. “Fuck.”
The two men’s chuckles were annoying but somehow comforting as well.