Chapter 27

T he great, big, lummox.

In all the time he'd known her, Raina's husband hadn't learned a single thing about her.

Not. One. Thing.

Locking her in rooms. Ordering her to stay there. Assigning Mauley to guard her. Stationing men on either side of the hallways, while he marched off to meet the brother who'd ended his career and attempted to have him killed?

The list went on and on.

"Oh, I think not, dear husband," she muttered under her breath.

Raina did a slow walkthrough of Severin's rooms and contemplated her latest prison cell.

Alas, with no Millie to rely upon, Raina would need to find her own way out, which was fine, as she'd learned from the best.

She paused beside the doorway connecting her and Severin's chambers.

Dropping her arms akimbo, she drummed her fingers, and continued to think.

There were guards around the perimeter of Severin's office, but most of her husband's men were outside.

She frowned.

Why would Mauley send so many of Severin's men out?

Raina ceased her distracted tapping. A slow smile curled her lips up.

The fact Mauley moved so many guards out, also meant there were less inside to protect her. Or…say, notice if Raina slipped out.

Knock-Knock-Knock

Her heart leapt.

Or even better, perhaps Severin's meeting hadn't taken all that long, after all.

Maybe, there'd been some kind of misunderstanding. She frowned. Or your brother lied .

As high as her heart climbed in thinking Severin had returned to her, was as low as it fell thinking Gregory might have betrayed him a second time.

Knock-Knock-Knock

That pounding grew more incessant.

She furrowed her brow. Severin wouldn't know. He might kick a door down, but he'd never knock, especially at his own door.

And he'd absolutely announce himself.

But…she hadn't locked the door, and Severin hadn't actually locked the panel. He'd just instructed her to remain inside.

Her senses went on immediate alert.

Intuition taking over, she slipped inside her connecting rooms. Instead of shutting the door, she carefully drew the panel wide until her back touched the wall.

Lucy chose that moment to appear from Raina's closet. "My—"

Raina touched a finger to her lips. "Shh," she mouthed.

Wide-eyed with fear, the young girl nodded frantically, and swiftly retreated back inside.

Click.

Whomever knocked, had now breached Severin's rooms.

Not even daring to breathe, she waited for them to declare themselves, prayed it would be her husband, but knew it would not.

"Where the hell are you, you bloody, bothersome, bitch?" he muttered so faint she would have never heard him, had she not been listening so closely.

Closeted away in her own room, Raina, drew back.

Mauley. But Severin's charming secretary as she'd never before heard him.

The…the audacity of him to speak so about her.

It took everything in her to not tell Mr. Mauley exactly what she thought of his foul mouth, horrid manners, and shockingly bad temper.

The secretary's footfalls, usually very deliberate, rose and fell loudly and clumsily.

"Raina, your husband, is hurt," he called.

Reflexively, she took a step.

Mauley stopped.

" Rainaa ," he said, in a sing-songy voice; chills scraped along her spine. "Where are you, dear? I understand you're scared. Let me take you to Mr. Cadogan. The doctor has been summoned, but he is asking for you."

There was an almost franticness to his movements, further emphasized by his increased mutterings.

Mauley's steps drew increasingly nearer. "You probably heard me curse and that was unpardonable, but I'm worried over His Lordship."

The hell he was.

Nothing had befallen Severin. Her heart would know; the organ would have ceased to beat.

Holding her breath, Raina tiptoed closer to the wall.

She'd never complain about slippers again.

" Fuck !" Mauley whispered.

And then, his steps were moving away from her rooms, and further and further.

Raina edged away from her hiding place and slunk closer to the hearth.

The floorboards groaned.

Bloody hell.

Raina squeezed her eyes shut, and prayed he'd not heard.

But he, like Severin, had served the Home Office.

Mr. Mauley stopped.

"Lady Raina?" he called, his steps drawing nearer.

Biting the inside of her cheek, Raina pressed her back against the wall, and stretched her fingertips towards the fireplace poker.

He froze at the entryway.

Creeaaak.

"Hullo, sir," Lucy emerged from the closet, wearing a flirtatious smile. "You looking for Her Ladyship? Because," she dropped her voice to a whisper. "I'm happy to share she slipped off a bit ago. Something about a meeting His Lordship was attending…"

Lucy ran a fingertip over the modest neckline of her uniform. "We'll have even more time than—"

Mauley's curse cut off the rest of Lucy's promise.

"What, sir?" she cried. "Tired of me already, you are?" As Lucy chased the secretary from Raina's room, the girl gave Raina a sly wink.

They shared a victorious smile.

Their triumph proved short-lived.

Severin's thundering baritone shook the walls of both rooms. "Raina!"

Severin!

Did he know Mauley was up to something nefarious?

Mauley let fly another curse.

Shooting Raina an unwarranted, apologetic look, Lucy took flight, and headed right back to the closet.

Raina grabbed the fireplace poker the same moment, Severin stormed his chambers.

"Mauley."

The hate and lethality coating her husband's voice, indicated not only had he deduced some manner of treachery from the man, but that it'd be the last greeting Mr. Mauley every received.

"Mr. Cadogan," Mauley greeted.

"Where is my wife?"

"She's gone. Snuck off, as is her way."

She wrinkled her nose.

Severin growled like the beast Mr. Mauley had turned him into. "Quit the fucking games,"

The floorboards shifted, as Severin stepped into the room.

There came the click of a pistol being cocked.

Oh, God. No. Please, no.

Nausea burned in her belly and bile burned her throat.

"Not a step more."

"I vow before God, Mauley, if you hurt her—"

"If I hurt her," His voice tipped up, in a mark of his rising hysteria. "You'll what, Cadogan ?"

Raina bit her lip so hard, she drew blood. Severin had the disadvantage. He no doubt carried a weapon, but by the time he drew it, Mr. Mauley's bullet would have found a place inside her husband.

"The arrogance of you," Mauley chortled; his maniacal laugh raised the gooseflesh on her arms. "I've got a gun trained on you and your hands are empty, and you still come in here threatening me."

Raina breathed in slowly through her nose, and concentrating on her steps, she tiptoed towards the ensuing fight.

"But that is your way, isn't it," Mauley sneered. "You're infallible, unstoppable, there's nothing you cannot do, including getting yourself somehow married to the most exquisite beauty London's seen in decades."

"I don't understand."

Severin was stalling; waiting for his men to arrive.

"Why, Mauley?"

"Because I'm a bloody fool," Mauley spat. "Upon learning your next assignment, would lead to you dead, Lord Thurso came to me. He asked me to help end your career. You had me stuck behind a desk as your goddamned minion. I wanted the field and had I not intervened I'd be in an intelligence role."

As she inched closer, Raina's mind raced with each discovery. Severin's brother hadn't been a complete villain. If Mauley was to be believed, the marquess's intentions had been good."

"I couldn't see you d-die." The secretary's voice warbled. "But I admired you. I wanted to be you. I saw you as a brother and friend," Icy steel reentered his voice, "but you kept me back for selfish reasons."

"You didn't want me dead then, Mauley," Cadogan said, in a calming, quiet way. "You don't want me dead now."

This time, Mauley roared with laughter. "The ballocks on you."

Raina tightened her grip on her makeshift weapon. "I know your every method, Cadogan. Don't try them on me. It's a—"

Raina surged forward.

Both men, distracted by her entrance, turned at the same time.

With a cry, Raina clubbed Mauley in his legs.

Severin's betrayer let loose a bestial cry and collapsed in a writhing heap. The gun slipped from his fingers.

The moment his weapon hit the floor, it discharged.

Plaster came tumbling from where the bullet struck. Raina kicked the weapon away. In the hall, shouts went up.

As Severin rushed over, Raina's fingers went slack; the iron bar fell from her fingers on the back of an agonized Mauley's head.

The secretary collapsed and his sounds of misery stopped.

There came a beat of silence.

"My God, Raina," Severin cried, running his hands all over her. "Did he—?"

"He was going to hurt y-you," she whispered.

Several guards spilled into the room; the trio formed a tight circle around Mauley's prone form.

The reality of how close he'd come to death and her entire body began to tremble. "I hit him in the legs," she whispered. "I didn't want to kill him."

Severin hauled her into his arms. "He deserves killing, love."

"Alive," Chase announced, sounding morbidly regretful.

"Alas, he lives," her husband murmured, kissing her temple.

How blasé. How casual. And yet, this is the world her husband had once belonged to. Never again. No more.

She and Severin were now the institution to be preserved.

Raina curled her fingers into his chest. "You almost d-died. H-He would h-have shot y-you. I—" Her teeth began to chatter too bad for her to finish the rest of the horrifying possibility.

"Shh, love," he whispered.

Severin drew her in closer and held her tighter. He massaged her back. Until, those smooth, rhythmic circles, combined with the warmth and weight of him drove away all terror.

The moment Severin's team carried off a stirring, and handcuffed, Mauley, a tall, wiry, stranger she'd not noticed until now, stepped aside so they could exit.

Raina made a grab for the poker, but Severin intercepted her efforts.

The handsome blond man blanched.

"Worry not, love," Severin murmured, gently prying the weapon from her fingers. "This gentleman is my eldest brother, March."

She opened her mouth and closed it several times. "Oh. It is…" She looked to Severin for help. "Uh…?"

"You may say ‘lovely to meet you'." He nodded towards the distinguished figure at the entryway. "March came to explain his role in saving me from a doomed assignment years ago, and now, for a second time, in revealing Mauley's' role, he's saved me, and possibly you."

"Given what I've heard on the way upstairs, I believe Her Ladyship is quite adept at saving herself."

Raina found her first smile since the events. "I see where my husband receives his charm from."

Severin growled. "A moment with my wife, brother."

"Yes. Uh…it was lovely to meet you, my—"

"Raina," she said gently. "Please, call me, Raina."

Severin and his brother locked gazes for a long while; some unspoken communication happening between them. Then, exchanging nods, the marquess quit the rooms.

Her head continued to spin under the dizzying turn of events.

"We went from a ‘treacherous betrayal to a family reunion," she said bemusedly. "I must know the entire story, my—" the rest of her lighthearted words were consumed by the heat of Severin's kiss.

Sighing, she kissed him wholeheartedly into return.

Raina's lashes fluttered.

"I promise, we'll speak about all of it later, love," he said huskily.

The force of emotion emanating from his eye touched every part of her being and soul with a beautiful, healing, warmth. How different he was, from the man who'd first interviewed her.

"For now, the only story I want to share and celebrate, is the one of you and I, my Queen, and the love we found in one another."

"Mmm," that dreamy exhalation slipped out. "Shall we begin with the tales of my subterfuge,"

"Which you learned from, dear Millie."

She gave him a playfully arch look. "Which proved very helpful today, I'll add."

Severin smiled. " Very helpful, as my you, my dear wife, saved me." His levity faded.

He moved a somber gaze over her face. "You saved me in every way, Raina." His eyes gleamed with emotion.

Raina twined her arms about his neck and lifted herself up until their gazes met. "You promised a celebration of our love, my husband," she said, throatily. "I would like to know more about this celebration ."

Desire darkened his eyes. "I can do better than that, love."

He slipped his hands under her buttocks and drew her hard against his length.

That familiar ache only this man wrought, settled between her legs.

"C-Can you, now?" she asked, breathless.

Severin's lips curled into a slow, tempting, smile. "Allow me to show you."

And he proceeded to do just that.

The End