Page 27

Hating that I had to step away from Lilah but knowing I couldn’t let the comment go unheeded, I moved to the side of the room.

“Ah,” I said to Kineallen, who was glaring at the brochure I’d had printed, ready for the meeting. “Good afternoon, Your Grace.”

The man glowered at me. “No, it’s not.”

He spoke through gritted teeth, evidently concerned the vast number of guests I had managed to snag would hear him.

But what did it matter?

“Yes, it is a great opportunity for all these people to have a chance of accepting your wager,” I said in a low, yet calm voice. “I told them all Lilah’s ideas.”

“My ideas?” came a voice behind me.

I turned slowly, waiting for her to realize what had happened.

Because I hadn’t told her. How could I? I hadn’t seen any way of getting hold of her without Lilah shouting at me again. Shouting things that were completely valid, even if I didn’t like that fact.

Lilah’s eyes were wide, and all the tension that had tightened in her brow when she first saw me was starting to melt away.

“Of course your ideas,” I said quietly. “You think I was going to take them and give them to the Anderley brothers?”

She didn’t need to answer. The dark flush on Lilah’s cheeks told me precisely what her lips would not.

I took a deep breath as Kineallen stared between the two of us. Well, I hadn’t exactly expected to have to make this speech in front of Lilah’s friend, but if that was the only chance I was going to be given…

“Lilah, your ideas are good. Your reputation is good—you didn’t need someone to assist you in Society—at least, I don’t think so,” I said quietly. “You need to trust yourself. You need to believe in your?—”

“How can I?” Lilah said, her voice breaking as she glanced awkwardly at the guests, seated and waiting for the speech she had undoubtedly prepared. “How can I believe in myself, William Parris, when you make me question everything?”

My heart broke in two.

Oh, it was awful to hear the pain in her voice. I’d tried to be clever, and guard my heart at the same time—and that just wasn’t possible.

Lilah wasn’t something to play with. She was a person, the best person I had ever met.

And if I wasn’t careful, I was going to lose her. Again. For the third time.

“I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused,” came a voice I didn’t recognize.

Lilah stepped back, cheeks still flushed, as one of the guests gave me a sharp look.

“Yes, good afternoon,” I said with a broad a smile as I could manage. “How can I help?”

“You can help by explaining who you are,” said the man coldly .

“Lord Guadalencia, please do not worry,” said Lilah hastily. “This is?—”

“I'm just here for morale support,” I said as the Duke of Kineallen strode away, muttering something about time wasters.

“Morale support?” repeated the man who I assumed was the Count of Guadalencia. “What do you mean, morale—Lady Rotherwick!”

I was about to say the same thing, though with far less of the formality. Lilah had just grabbed my arm and pulled me none too carefully out of the drawing room and into the music room beside it.

She slammed the door behind her.

“I don’t understand,” she said darkly.

I swallowed. I wasn’t really sure what there was not to understand, but then, the last few weeks had been absolutely wild.

Who would have thought we would find each other again after all this time, only to risk losing each other again?

“I thought you were…well. Sabotaging us,” Lilah said flatly, folding her arms.

My heart sank. It was never a good sign when she folded her arms. Her words cut right through me.

“Sabotaging you?” I repeated.

“You were also friends with the Anderley brothers—our greatest competition!” Lilah hissed, glancing at the closed door. “William, I’ve worked so hard for this?—”

“I know,” I said softly.

Perhaps she heard a little something of how I felt in those tones.

I certainly hadn’t intended to let all my longing for her slip out, but it was too late now. Her wide eyes and astonished expression was certainly merited .

“You…you didn’t betray me?”

“I have never betrayed you,” I said firmly, stepping toward Lilah.

I needed to be close to her, feel her warmth, reassure her I had never, would never even consider, betraying her.

Lilah took a half step back, turning her shoulder away from my extended hand. “I…I don’t understand.”

“That’s because we’re too good at breaking each other’s hearts, not mending them,” I said quietly, warmth flowing into my chest. “Too good at falling in love and not staying in it.”

“You—”

“I was wrong not to go after you, all those years ago,” I said, reaching out a second time and this time being rewarded with the soft touch of her cheek against my fingers. “And I wasn’t about to make that mistake again. Not with you.”

Lilah looked deep into my eyes as though she were desperate to believe everything I said, but after a split second, her face fell into shadow again. “I…I just don’t know how I can trust you again.”

“I don’t either.” It wasn’t something I particularly wanted to admit, certainly not in the music room, but there it was. “But I think what we have, what we are together—it’s worth fighting for. Worth trying. Worth trusting. Don’t…don’t you?”

For a moment, Lilah just looked at me. Examined me closely, as though she would be able to read the truth from my face.

Then she took a long, juddering breath. “Y-You didn’t lie, you didn’t take another lover, be unfaithful to me, then? All those years ago? ”

I shook my head, remorse thick in my words. “I didn’t even know you thought that, remember?”

“And you’re not out to ruin my reputation, the reputations of those I care about?” Lilah said sharply, though she stepped forward now, her palm splayed against my shirt. “Not giving our secrets to the Anderley brothers?”

God, I loved her warmth. The connection between us, it was electric. Surely she could feel it?

“What, take over the Gambling Dukes club?” I smiled, placing a hand on her waist.

Thank God, Lilah didn’t move away. “You were working with the Anderley brothers.”

“Not any more—and I never should have done,” I said vehemently. “It’s you I want, Lilah. Not to climb any higher in Society. You.”

She leaned in, finally embracing me as I had been so desperately wanting. “So you’re not leaving me?”

I breathed in slowly, and luxuriated in this moment of understanding. Finally, we were on the right track. “Oh, Lilah. You’re the one leaving me breathless.”