Chapter 44

44

T he afternoon sunlight spilled through the windows of Adrian's study, warming his face as he looked out at the garden where Samantha strolled. A smile pulled at his lips when she glanced toward him with happiness in her eyes and waved. He raised his hand to return the gesture.

Two days had passed since their wedding, and they had been the best damn days of his life. For the first time since he could recall, he was content. It was as though Samantha had filled a gap he hadn't realized was there.

And to think they'd not even consummated their marriage yet. He'd have thought that would make him go slightly mad. To his astonishment, he didn't experience any need to rush ahead in that area though. Instead, he enjoyed speaking with her, learning her thoughts about various issues, figuring out who she was as a person.

The result was a deep satisfaction that seeped through his body and left him with a wonderful feeling of rightness. For the first time since Evie's death, he looked forward to what tomorrow would bring, to moving ahead with his future. He no longer had to do it alone. Samantha would be there with him, every step of the way.

He took a deep breath and allowed himself to accept the joy that settled within the deepest recess of his heart. Tonight they would go to the theatre, and tomorrow they'd head off to Deerhaven Manor.

He looked forward to showing her where he'd spent the earliest years of his childhood.

A knock at the door preceded Murry's arrival. Adrian abandoned his view for a moment and glanced at him, a sliver of apprehension forming between his shoulder blades when he saw how grave his servant looked. "Yes?"

Murry stepped forward, as solemn as a pallbearer at a funeral. "Forgive the intrusion, but there's been a development that I'm forced to address with you at once."

Adrian turned to him more fully. "What's happened?"

"The matter pertains to your wife. It turns out she's not what she appears to be." The pained look in his eyes was nothing compared to the ice that was forming in Adrian's stomach. "She has secrets I failed to uncover until this morning, when I was out running an errand and happened to see her step into an alley."

"So?"

"She glanced over her shoulder first, as though to make sure she was not being watched or pursued. Standing across the street and some distance away, with a parked carriage between us, she failed to spot me. A scruffy looking errand-boy emerged from the alley less than a minute later, followed by your wife, who checked her surroundings once more before stepping back onto the pavement and walking away."

"It's probably nothing," Adrian said even as his heart trembled. He refused to believe what Murry suggested. Samantha was loveliness incarnate. The idea of her posing a threat was absurd.

"I chose to chase down the errand boy and finally caught up with the lad. Took me until now to get the truth out of him. He's loyal to her, but my threats eventually managed to sway him." Murry looked directly at Adrian, just as Kendrick had done when he'd come to deliver the news of Evie's death. "Your wife passed him a note in that alley – a note intended for Chief Constable Kendrick. I let the boy deliver it but not before I read it."

"And?" Adrian gripped the back of the chair standing before him, his fingers digging into the wood until it felt like his knuckles might snap.

"It merely said, ‘Please confirm that my orders remain the same.'"

This couldn't be happening.

It felt like the ground had opened up beneath his feet.

She was his bloody wife now.

His lungs grew unbearably tight. He couldn't breathe, yet he somehow managed to ask, "Anything else?"

"Apparently, she's been in constant contact with the chief constable since the two of you met. More than that, she used the boy to track your movements. I…I have no words, sir. No excuse will suffice, so I understand if you want to punish me for failing you."

Adrian stared at him while the happiness he had experienced these past few days unraveled. "If I didn't see what was right in front of my bloody eyes, how can I expect you to have done so?"

"Sir, I—"

Teeth clenching as steel pushed through every limb, banishing all traces of softness, he turned his back on Murry. "Leave me."

The valet was wise enough to know not to linger or to say anything more before slipping out of the room. The door closed with a soft click that stood in complete contrast to what Adrian felt. He wanted to smash his fist through the window – shatter the glass as surely as the illusion his wife had crafted had just been shattered.

Whatever dreams he'd had of sharing the details of his life with her had been torn from his grasp. She'd deceived him, wormed her way into his heart, convinced him she was on his side—while actually working against him.

Incredulous, he stared out onto the garden where she still strolled. Rage didn't come close to describing the ravenous beast now sinking its teeth deep into his flesh. Betrayal. The woman upon whom he'd thought he could fully depend, the person closest to him, was his greatest foe.

He couldn't trust her.

Worst of all, he was stuck with her until death did them part.

She sent him another smile. A wave followed – an eager request for him to join her.

He'd rather eat poison, but managed to smile past the anger instead. A painful knot in his chest reminded him of the place where his heart had once been as he stepped out into the garden. Strolling through beams of sunshine, he went to greet her. She met him with fondness in her blue eyes, and he placed a soft kiss to her cheek, murmured something sweet in her ear, all while allowing one truth to cement itself in his mind.

There was no coming back from this. He would never forgive her.

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