Chapter 57 Derek
Derek
Derek drummed his fingers on his thigh at the same rate the rain poured on the carriage’s roof as he and Ryker sped along the London streets.
They turned a corner, and the conveyance lurched to the side.
Derek’s hands shot to the side wall to stop from crashing into it.
But he didn’t care. All he cared about was getting to Livy as fast as possible.
A fire.
A bloody fucking fire.
“She got out, Dunmore. Relax.”
Derek glared at the mismatched eyes across from him. Amusement danced back at him, and he wanted to plant the man a facer. “Relax? The woman I love almost went up in fucking flames.”
And he hadn’t even told her yet. He had a feeling she knew. His clever girl understood him in a way no one else did. Either way, he’d make sure there was no doubt as soon as he saw her. Fucking hell.
“Yes, well, she didn’t. But my building did.” Ryker let out an exaggerated sigh. “Thankfully, I’m a remarkable businessman and insure all my buildings.”
Derek gaped at the man. “Did you just… Did you just relate the loss of your building…to me almost losing Miss Forester?” He shook his head in disbelief. “One day, Ryker. You are going to fall so bloody fucking hard. And I am going to laugh at you, I hope you know.”
When Ryker had shown up at Ironcrest House with the news…
God bloody damnit. Derek wasn’t certain how much more his heart could handle before it just stopped working on him.
The past month had been one thing after another.
As soon as the word fire had left Ryker’s mouth, a part of Derek had died inside.
It was rare a fire didn’t end in catastrophe.
Even when a building was insured, and the fire brigade was alerted immediately.
They might arrive in time to stop the fire from spreading, but those inside…
it was usually too late. But then Ryker had followed immediately with “no casualties”.
The man’s lips curled up. “I could never limit all this to one person.”
Derek rolled his eyes. “I don’t understand how you can find one person to put up with you, let alone more than one.”
“I would have thought you were familiar with partners appreciating you for what’s in your breeches and not your personality, Dunmore.”
He supposed the man had a point.
At that moment the carriage’s pace eased, and Derek sprang up, ready to jump out as soon as it was safe to do.
The wheels creaked as they slowed. That had to be good enough.
He threw the door open and jumped out. He stumbled, and his knees hit the ground, but he was back up in the next breath, frantically scanning the scene.
Rain pelted him, and he was soaked through within minutes. Where was she?
The fire brigade was still bustling, furiously working their fire engine that was attached to the fireplug in the street.
Derek couldn’t see any flames, but the smoke was thick, mixing with the rain so that it seemed to rain down black sludge, and heat radiated through the area.
Onlookers filled the streets and surrounded the men working, making it near impossible to find—
There she was.
Beneath a building overhang, she sat huddled with her aunt, sipping from a tin. He ran through the crowd, not caring that he jostled and shoved people out of his way. All that mattered was getting to Livy as quickly as possible.
“Livy!” Derek’s shout was muffled by the rain and commotion around him, but her head lifted, and she searched the street, brows pinched like she wasn’t certain she really heard something. Then her gaze landed on his, and he was sprinting.
He was on her just as she got to her feet. He collided with her, nearly taking them both down, but he didn’t care. She was alive. She was in his arms.
“Derek.”
His heart splintered. Her voice was so hoarse, the word barely got past her throat. “I’ve got you,” he croaked. “Hell, Livy. Please tell me this is real. You’re alive. You’re unharmed. Please tell me this nightmare is over.”
She buried herself deeper into him. “The nightmare’s over, Derek. Now that you’re here, the nightmare is over.”
He pulled back, fingers digging into her face. He searched her eyes, her soot-covered face. His throat tried to close over, but he wouldn’t fucking let it. “I love you, Livy. Bloody fucking hell. I love you. Christ, I was so fucking scared.”
Her forehead dropped to his, and his eyes sank shut. “I love you too,” she whispered. “I made you a promise, Derek. Nothing will take me away from you.”
His gaze found Lady Elliot’s from where she sat on the steps. She smiled softly at him, completely uncaring about their improper display. He really liked the woman.
“Are either of you injured?” He scanned Livy.
“I was only told there were no casualties.” Both Livy’s and Lady Elliot’s faces were streaked with black, rivulets of rain clearing through the soot.
Their garments were blackened. His attention caught on singe marks on the bottom of Lady Elliot’s skirts.
His gaze snapped back to Livy’s. “What happened?”
“An oil lamp was tipped over,” Lady Elliot said, her voice not quite as hoarse as Livy’s. “We were trapped inside.”
Derek’s stomach swooped. And then Livy’s next words turned it to lead.
“Someone locked us in, Derek,” she said quietly.
“What?” He couldn’t possibly have heard correctly.
She leaned against him like she couldn’t stand on her own.
Even under the cover of night, the signs of exhaustion were prevalent.
Lids heavy, shoulders slumping, her body trembling lightly in his arms. “We were making sure all the donated items were accounted for where we were storing them when a lamp was overturned. The door was locked when we tried to get out. The door only locks from the outside.”
“I gave you the key, Miss Forester,” came Ryker’s voice as he sidled up next to Derek. “I’m the only other person who has keys for the building.” His gaze bounced between the two women, eyes sharp.
Livy rubbed her temples and shut her eyes.
“I…had left them on the hall table outside the sitting room while we stored everything away. I planned to lock up as soon as we made sure everything was set.” She opened her eyes and shook her head slowly.
“Everyone else had left. It was only my aunt and me.”
“Clearly not.” Ryker glanced back at his ruined building. “Sounds quite a bit like arson.”
“Sounds quite a bit like someone was attempting murder,” Derek growled.
Lady Elliot laughed, the high-pitched sound tinged with hysteria. “That cannot be.”
Derek found Livy’s gaze and saw the same grim understanding reflecting back at him. She thought so too. Why else would someone lock them in?
“Everything is lost, Derek,” Livy said quietly. “The fire destroyed it all.”
His lungs stalled. When Dorothea had arrived home after the event, she’d informed him of its success, that they’d raised the funds needed. He swore harshly. Gone. All of it, up in flames.
He shook his head. “We’ll find another way, come up with another plan. You’re safe. That’s all that matters.”
She collapsed against him, and a jolt of alarm shot through him. “Livy?”
“I’m well,” she murmured, but her words were faint. “Just exhausted.”
He squeezed her tight. He needed to get her and her aunt home. Seen by a physician.
“It’s too large a coincidence,” he said to no one in particular.
It had to be intentional. An overturned lamp in the very room all the auctioned off items were held in?
Christ. At every bloody turn, they were thwarted.
But to have locked Livy and her aunt in the room too?
Why hadn’t the person just waited for the women to be gone before they started the fire? It didn’t make any sense.
Ryker’s eyes lit, a thrill glittering in their depths. The unmistakable thrill of bloodlust. “So, who stands to gain from derailing the funding of your foundling home, and who would want Miss Forester dead? And the better question: What are we going to do with them once we find them?”
There was only one person Derek could think of who had motive. But would he truly go to such lengths?
It looked like Derek had a call to make.