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I nodded, my heart pounding, and followed him out of the closet, my mind reeling.
What had we done? What would happen now?
Edward grabbed my hand, guiding me toward the door.“Go back to your room,”he urged, his voice low.“We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
I nodded at him, my mind a whirlwind of confusion and uncertainty.
How could I explain that in the space of a single day, everything had changed? And from the way Edward had kissed me—like I was air and he was drowning—he was falling too.
The question now was, who would hit the ground first?
CHAPTER 7
Edward
"She looks like she's preparing for an execution," Daphne said, appearing in my bedroom doorway like a silk-wrapped conscience. "Though I suppose in a way, she is."
I paused in adjusting my bow tie for the fourth time, meeting her eyes in the antique mirror. "I beg your pardon?"
"Lili. She's been staring at herself in that dress for twenty minutes, convinced she doesn't belong here." Daphne moved into the room, her midnight blue gown rustling against the Persian rug. "Rather like someone else I know who's been aggressively grooming himself for the past hour."
I straightened my already perfect cufflinks, ignoring the accuracy of her observation. "Mother's charity galas are torture by design. She considers them character-building experiences."
"Right. Nothing to do with the fact that Lili will be there." Daphne perched on the edge of my bed, her knowing smile making me want to throttle her. "Looking absolutely stunning, I might add. The burgundy silk was inspired—"
"I'm sure it's perfectly adequate." The words came out more sharply than intended.
"Edward." Her voice carried that particular tone that meant she was about to meddle. "You can't keep pretending this thing between you two doesn't exist."
I turned from the mirror to face her. "There is no 'thing', Daphne."
"Oh, really? Because James mentioned something about an interesting development at Fortnum & Mason yesterday. Something about you two disappearing into a supply closet—"
"James talks too much."
"James is observant. There's a difference." She stood, smoothing her skirt. "Mother's already asking questions, you know."
That sent a chill down my spine. "What kind of questions?"
"The kind that suggest she's noticed how you look at your 'American guest.'" Daphne's expression grew serious. "Be careful tonight, Edward. Mother's in one of her moods."
After she left, I stood alone in my room, staring out at the grounds where staff were making final preparations.
White tents glowed like lanterns against the evening sky, and the sound of the string quartet drifted up from the terrace.
I thought about Mother's warnings, about duty and family legacy. About the acquisition that would make us richer while destroying Lili's dreams. About how her laugh yesterday had sounded like music I'd never heard before, but somehow always knew.
This was insanity.
She was Daphne's best friend. She worked for a company I was about to obliterate. She represented everything that should be simple in my ordered world but somehow made everything impossibly complicated.
And yet, when she smiled, none of that seemed to matter.
A knock at my door interrupted my brooding.
"Sir?" My valet's voice. "Lady Victoria requests your presence downstairs."
Time to face the wolves.