Chapter 29

B ellingham was back.

Aaron had known the bastard was too mean to die.

His first thought—protect his family. As he wrote a missive to his brothers, his thoughts were on Rebekah. He would kill any man that dared to harm her. He needed to alert her of the danger. He rushed to the parlor and found a maid. "Where is my wife?"

The startled maid clutched her chest. "Uh, she went outside."

He was off and down the staircase in a flash. He ran to the back of the house and headed to the stables. He found Rebekah in the flower garden.

"Rebekah," he sighed in relief.

"Aaron? What is the matter?"

He calmed his racing heart. It would not do at all to scare her. "I need to speak with you."

She stood and brushed the dirt from her day dress. "Of course. Has something happened? Is Penelope—"

"Aunt is fine." She was at Nathaniel's, she had to be fine. He took his wife's hands in his. Good God. His wife. Would he ever get used to the term?

Her worried gaze searched his.

He took a deep breath and spoke slowly. "I have to tell you about someone from my very recent past, who is no longer in my past. He's a dangerous man. His name is Bellingham. Thaddeus Bellingham. ‘Tis a long story, so I think we should sit down for this."

"Would you like to go back inside?"

Did he? It didn't matter.

"Yes, let's go to the drawing room." He escorted her back to the house. Thank God, Rebekah was a woman who knew when to keep quiet. He could imagine another woman, or even his aunt spouting a million questions.

Cook was in the kitchen.

"Would you have Susanna bring tea to the drawing room, please." Rebekah was preparing for the afternoon. She must have suspected this would take a while.

Cook had seen his mad dash out the kitchen door. Her expression was one of confusion, but she made no comment.

Aaron took Rebekah's elbow and steered her down the long hallway. Once they were in the drawing room, he led her to the sofa. "This isn't secret information, so I'll close the door after Susanna leaves." He sat down beside his wife.

"‘Tis a long story. I'll go back a few years. When our father died, Nathaniel left, no one knew where. Edmund was running the estate as though he was the heir. He didn't want the title; he was simply doing what needed to be done until Nathaniel's return."

Lifting his hand, he used a finger to point at his ear. "Edmund had a bone pressing on a nerve that caused him severe headaches. The idiot tried to hide his megrims from everyone. He was a bear. Took quite a while for us to find out there was a problem. I wrote to Nathaniel and told him he had to come home. I thought Edmund would never forgive me for sending for our brother. But that's another story."

Unable to stay seated, he stood and started pacing.

"You'll have to get Joyanna to tell you her story with Edmund."

"She has already told me some."

Aaron stopped, and turned to look at Rebekah? "She has? Well, that's good." He took another look at his wife's face and could kick his own arse. His wife was terrified. He went back to the sofa and sat down.

"I'm sorry, darling. I didn't mean to scare you." He rubbed the back of her hands with his thumbs. "I'm so glad to have you for my wife. I mean that."

She smiled. "I am glad I married you, my husband."

He kissed her fingers, then lowered her hand to his lap. "Bellingham is a swindler, to put it kindly. He carries illegal goods on his ship, and tried to get his hands on Greystoke Manor. Along the coast there are caves. Perfect for his smuggling operation. At the time Edmund was having his headaches, Bellingham took advantage and used the caves to hide his cargo. When Nathaniel came back, everything came out in the open." Aaron rubbed a hand through his hair. "Including the kind of man Bellingham truly was."

"There is so much I have to learn. What happened?"

"Nathaniel was shot, for one."

Rebekah gasped. "He what?"

"Nathaniel, Edmund and I went to the caves, the smugglers caught us, and Nathaniel was shot."

"Good Lord, Aaron. I mean, I don't know what to say first. Were you okay? Are you all right. Obviously, Nathaniel is alive, but how bad was it? I can't believe you are telling me this so calmly."

"The idea was not to upset you. I have failed, miserably."

"No, you did a good job of keeping yourself calm. Surely you did expect some reaction from me. I mean, Good heavens!"

"Yes, Rebekah. We all are fine. It was touch and go there for a while with Nathaniel. That's a story for Serena to enlighten you."

"We did a lot of talking. She and Joyanna both said they had long stories, but my heavens, I had no idea.

"Aaron, are you truly all right. You seem physically fine …"

"Darling, I'm good."

"You promise?"

He lifted her fingers to his mouth for a lingering kiss. Then for good measure, he leaned in and took her mouth in a heated one. When he pulled back, he and Rebekah both were breathing heavily.

"If you want to hear the rest, we have to stop that." Damn, he'd rather take her to bed.

"Postpone." Rebekah grinned.

"Yes, postpone." It amazed him how much he cared for his wife. Every day, every moment with her was astonishing. Now that they had been honest with each other, the hours they spent together were perfect.

He hated that those moments were about to change.

"Rebekah," he sighed, and could not continue. Her eyes dug a hole all the way to his soul. He wanted to say the words. Hell, why couldn't he say the words.

"I know, Aaron." She placed her palm to his cheek, with her love shining in her eyes.

"When you look at me that way, I can't think," he whispered.

He shook his head to break the spell he was falling into.

"We tried to get rid of Bellingham." Aaron ran a hand through his hair. He seemed to be doing that a lot. "I thought he was gone, but he's back. I just found out he's in London."

"What does that mean? Should we leave? Are you safe?"

"I'm sorry, Rebekah. We need to be careful, but I will protect you with my life. You have no reason to worry. I won't let him near you."

"What about you?"

He was dumbfounded for a moment. "Me?"

"Aaron, I trust you. But who will protect you from him?"

He grinned a satisfied, gratifying grin. He placed his hands on both sides of her face.

This was the moment.

He felt more for this woman than he knew was possible. She held his heart. He wanted Rebekah forever. Now that he finally admitted his love, he needed to tell her.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?"

She gasped. She stared at him as tears filled her eyes. "Oh, Aaron. I love you. So much. For so long."

What? So long?

"I've been an absolute cad." He brought her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her. "I had no idea what I was feeling. I suppose I've been in love with you for a while, too."

She cried in earnest. He felt her tears soaking his shirt.

"I hope those are happy tears."

She balled her fist as she leaned back. "You know they are." She wacked him on the shoulder. "I am happy. I'm so happy. Oh, Aaron, I love you."

When she leaned in, he gathered her as close as he could, kissing her with everything he felt, everything he had been feeling.

It was bliss.