36. Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Six
L ying with Willow in his arms, feeling each ragged breath as she told her story, lost in the past, challenged every fibre of Nate’s willpower not to let the building anger show. How could anyone do that? Never mind someone who claimed to love her. No wonder she reacted as she did to his appearance on her doorstep and portrayed herself as an ice queen when she was anything but. He wanted to track down this Rafe, shake him, thump him. And his grandmother, however ancient she might be. Then it clicked, the photo and her extreme reaction to the journalist’s phone call, and her aversion to the publicity of her shop.
‘He found you, didn’t he?’ Bile rose in his throat. What had that bastard done to her now when he wasn’t there to protect her? When he accepted her dismissal of their fledging relationship as a rejection of him rather than something bigger. Her nod was small.
‘Yes. That night after we went to the pub, he sent a text. Innocuous but him. Then a card arrived just after Valentine’s. That one sent me into a spiral of panic and depression. Waiting for him to destroy me and all I worked for like he promised.’
‘And did he?’ He needed to know the extent of the damage taken place in his absence however much it might hurt to hear it. The Enchanted Emporium was her baby. If Rafe had affected her business, it would hurt just as much as a physical blow.
‘No, not yet anyway. It’s gone quiet.’
‘You think he’s decided to leave you alone? What did the police say?’
‘I’ve not been to them. Not much point: apart from the text and card and my own fear, there isn’t much to go on, and I destroyed the card to make a protection spell.’
‘So, you’re saying it worked.’ Relief swept over him, his belief in magic was tentative but he believed in her; if she said it was real then it was good enough for him, especially after hearing her experience in Spain.
‘It didn’t feel like it at the time. When magic works, there’s a distinct shift in the air, an audible click as subtle as placing a jigsaw piece in place followed by a flood of empowerment or exhaustion depending on the spell. This time there was nothing.’ She shrugged, and a frown formed as if she was debating the situation, but then it was gone. ‘But it must have done. Or he’s given up.’
She couldn’t disguise the doubt in her voice and the seed nestled in his own mind. Would a man like that just let things go? With a heritage built on hate and fear, he doubted it. If she was safe, it must be the magic.
‘Would your coven help?’
‘My what?’ A smile danced at the edges of her lips. Lifting his own heart, it was absurd. Months ago, he’d have baulked at the idea of those words coming from his mouth. ‘I don’t have one. No, as much as I appreciated the help, apart from Louise and now Amber, I work better alone. Like Jax.’
‘Well, will Amber help?’ The Goth princess with her raging loyalty would conjure a dozen hexes to rain on the Amenábar family.
‘She doesn’t know. No one knows. Only you.’ He was under no illusion that her trust in him was momentous, a precious gift she gave nobody.
‘Enough now.’ She reached up and caressed his face. ‘You’re all caught up with the dark depths of my past and more recent. It’s all fine.’ She kissed him and he breathed in the lingering aroma of the shower gel, reminding him of their shared moments in there which he wanted to relive.
‘Oh my God, I’ve covered you with snot and tears. Not quite my best look.’ He handed her a box of tissues from the bedside table and she dabbed her red swollen eyes and blew her nose.
‘I’ve seen you worse and so have my shoes. You could’ve told me when you got the first message. I’d have supported you.’
‘I didn’t know you.’
‘Yes, you did. We bonded over cheese on toast and tea. Besides, I knew we had something as soon as the Enchanted Emporium threw me out of the shop. It was more meddlesome than your cat.’
‘The store didn’t throw you out. You slipped.’ Her playful retort eased the heavy tension hovering over them, easing her back into the present and emotionally calmer.
‘With a helping hand. It was either the shop, a ghost, or you. I’d rather believe you don’t hide a murderous streak for strangers disrespecting Vincent. Whoever did it, it worked. I fell in love with you. Even at your most frosty.’
***
He fumbled with his shoes, looked over Willow’s sleeping form, and resisted the temptation to slip in beside her. She shifted and lazily opened her eyes. ‘You’re going?
‘I need to be back in the office. Finish off some stuff for Henry before he takes over.’ And seal the deal on Jamie’s ludicrous scheme that had kept him apart from Willow for months. George and Jamie, through all their teasing, were right. They knew his heart more than himself and now he’d admitted he loved her, when he returned to Whitby it would be for good. Once he had got this weekend over and untangled all remaining threads of his London life, he would be free.
Down in the foyer he waited at the reception for the receptionist to finish her call. He slipped her a small package, with instructions for it to be placed on Willow’s breakfast tray. He’d arranged for room service. A small gift insignificant to many but he hoped she’d see it for its true intention. That she had captured his heart. And his future.