Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
It was raining in Hampshire. The heat wave had broken, and England’s default weather pattern had returned—rain and clouds. Chloe rolled over in bed, looking out into the night, sleepless as always.
It was five days from the time Bastien had managed to guide the yacht back to the boat slip, five days from the time Bastien ended up in the hospital. The bullet had just missed his kidney, and they’d kept him several days before they were allowed to go back to Hampshire to recover.
And from then on, she hadn’t been able to get anywhere near him.
The children were ecstatic to see their father, and Sylvia immediately insisted on spending the night in his room to make sure he didn’t need anything.
The next night it was Swede. By the time Peter’s children started demanding a turn, Genevieve put a halt to it, and he was finally alone tonight.
Children adored Bastien. His own, of course, but Peter’s children and in fact, almost any child he met. There was something about his strength and gentleness that appealed to children, the knowledge that not only would he listen, but he would protect as well.
Chloe felt like small potatoes next to him, though she knew her children loved her deeply. But they adored Bastien and flocked around him whenever they could.
Peter and Genny lived in a sprawling old house that was always in need of repair.
Among its many bedrooms was a dedicated hospital room for any member of the Committee who needed it, and they’d put Bastien in there once he’d gotten out of the hospital.
They’d put up a cot for the children who wanted to watch over their hero, and Chloe had stayed in the background, willing to let them.
She wasn’t ready to face him and all that lay between them.
She wasn’t precisely angry anymore—Bastien always had his reasons for the choices he made.
But as she curled up alone each night, she was haunted by the sound of the gun, the expression on Luc’s face with the bullet hole in his left eyebrow, as he fell into the river. They’d found his body the next day.
The sound of the rain overhead was soothing, and she tried to snuggle down, looking for comfort. Tomorrow, she would talk to Bastien, and together they could work out the tangled mess of what had happened. For tonight, she would sleep alone.
Five minutes later, she was moving down the darkened hallway, her bare feet cold on the old carpeting as she went. Genevieve was just coming out of his room when she saw her, and there was no missing the relief in her broad smile.
“He’s been asking for you,” she said. “Not now—he’s asleep—but all day. He loves having the children in there, but he misses you.”
All Chloe could do was nod. “I don’t want to wake him up…”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s you he needs, not sleep.”
Guilt washed over her. She’d been so caught up in her own trauma that she hadn’t thought about him. Without another word, she opened the bedroom door and slipped inside.
He was lying in the hospital bed, sound asleep. All the tubes and electrodes had been removed a couple of days ago, and he looked pale in the moonlight that filtered through the rain. She didn’t bother to turn on the light; she simply took off her bathrobe and climbed up onto the bed beside him.
His arm came around her, pulling her close. “Where have you been?” he whispered.
“I didn’t want to get in the way of your fan club,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. He was shirtless, a wad of dressing over his wound, and she moved closer, so that their bodies touched everywhere. “The children come first.”
“Not always,” he said in a disgruntled voice. He lifted his hand to stroke the side of her face. “How are you?”
He knew her so well. Her voice was tight with pain when she answered, “Fine.”
“Of course you are.” He kissed her forehead. “It’s been a walk in the park.”
They stayed silent for a long moment. “I killed a man.”
“A very bad man, who was going to kill me,” he said gently.
“You would have been all right,” she said. “Nothing can kill you.”
“I could tell you he drowned. That the wound was only minor,” Bastien suggested softly.
She shook her head slightly. “We don’t lie to each other. Except when you think I’m in danger,” she added bitterly.
“I wanted you safe at home.”
“You should have known I would follow you anyway.”
There was a long moment of silence, and he sighed. “What in the world made you come after me in the first place?”
“I’ll always come after you,” she said.
He nodded, accepting it. “I don’t want you in danger.”
“Then don’t go racing off in the middle of the night when someone named Le Faucon calls you.” He was absently stroking her arm, and she wanted to close her eyes and sink against him, but there was still one problem to solve. “What about your wife?”
“You’re my wife.”
“Le Faucon…I mean the old man…said you really married Maddelena. Which makes our marriage bigamous and…”
“I’m not married to anyone but you.”
“But Le Faucon…”
“Le Faucon was wrong. Ask Peter if you have any doubts.”
“Why would Peter know?”
“Because he’s the one who married Maddelena and me.”
Relief swept through her. “I thought I lost you,” she said in a very small voice.
“You’ll never lose me. I’m yours, body and soul. Even when I had no idea who you were, I couldn’t keep my hands off you. I was a man who didn’t believe in love and yet I jeopardized everything I thought was important for you. We’re mated, bébé. For all time.”
“Call me bébé one more time, and I’ll punch you.”
“But I like you when you’re mad,” And he kissed her. “I like you when you’re happy. Bébé.”
She sighed happily. “You’ll be sorry.”
“No, I won’t,” he said, and moved over her.
He was hard, and she was shocked. “We’re not doing this,” she said. “You’re still recovering.”
“This will do me good. Then I know you’ve forgiven me for the way I treated you.”
“Bastien, you’re incorrigible.”
“I know, bébé,” he said. And there was no more need for words.