Chapter 26

Thel clenched his clasped hands between his knees as he perched on the edge of a plush horsehair sofa in Olivia’s receiving room. The confrontation with Felix had gone as poorly as he’d expected, with the man refusing to admit he’d done anything wrong. Now Felix was in the process of finding a new residence, but instead of trying to repair his relationship with his brother and prevent his family from fracturing further, Thel was waiting for Olivia to see him.

When he’d arrived, her butler had bustled him inside and vanished. No other staff had entered since. He was beginning to wonder if they had left him here rather than tell him Olivia didn’t want to see him. That would explain the drawn curtains and cold fireplace. But he would not leave. As long as he stayed, there was a chance Olivia would forgive him.

If she refused to see him, he would leave, but it would take a long time for him to heal. His love for her had grown through his soul like the roots of a tree. Pruning her from his life would take a significant amount of time and effort.

He stared at the door, willing Olivia to walk through and see him. He would go down on his knees and speak the words from his heart. Even if it was hopeless, he had to try. He was staring so intently that he barely heard the other door opening and the soft gasp that followed. He imagined Olivia bending down before him, picking up his hand and pressing it to her cheek and—

“Thel.”

She stood in front of him, her hands clasped at her waist. “I was hoping you would come.”

“You were?” This was not going the way he had expected.

“I had just decided to come to you,” she said. Then she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. Although shocked for a moment, he quickly tilted his mouth and brought his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. She tasted like strawberries, and the sounds she made as he plundered her mouth drove him wild.

She put her hands on his thighs, shoved them wider apart, and then moved into the space. Her soft stomach pressed against his hardness and made him groan. He ached for her. Having finally experienced what he had long denied himself, he found he longed for more.

When his resistance had been sawed thin, and he was about to heft her in his arms and take her deeper into the house for a proper bed, he withdrew and cupped her face in his hands.

“I love you,” he said. “That is what I should have told you when I asked you to marry me. I want you to be my wife not only because we are compatible, but also because I cannot imagine a future without you in it. Marry me.”

The following few seconds of silence were some of the longest of his life. If she declined, he wasn’t sure there was anything else he could offer her. He had laid all of his cards on the table.

“Yes,” she said.

“Thank God,” he said. Then he threaded his hands into her hair and drew her in for a deep kiss.

He wanted to feel her spasm around him and then spend himself deep inside her. He wanted to bring her to heights of pleasure she had never experienced. He wanted to bridge the gulf between them and learn everything she knew.

Her bedroom was a good place to start. He’d started to lift her into his arms when a knock came at the door.

Olivia twisted out of his grasp. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips bruised and bright red, her hair falling out of her chignon, but with a few quick movements of her hands, it was as if nothing had happened.

“Come in,” she said.

Mrs. Quill entered, looking more disheveled than he had ever seen her.

“Mrs. Quill?” Olivia stepped forward. “What are you doing here?”

“It cannot be what I think it is,” Mrs. Quill said. She stumbled a step, looking pale and sweaty. “There must… There must be some other explanation!”

“Take a seat before you faint,” Olivia said as she guided the woman toward the couch.

Thel came to kneel in front of Mrs. Quill. Her eyes were so wide that he could see the whites all around her pupils. “What is it?”

“It’s your daughter, my lord,” Mrs. Quill said. “She’s vanished.”

###

The time between leaving Olivia’s home and arriving at his own passed for Thel like a blur. When they reached Constance’s room, the door was open.

Olivia touched the wood with her fingertips, and it creaked open. Inside, pillows were strewn over the floor, the dressing table was set on its side, and the window was open.

The facts worked their way through his mind. Constance was missing, and her room was chaotic, as if there had been a fight.

He took four long steps over to the cord in the corner of the room and tugged it twice. His butler appeared at the door at once. “My lord?”

The words would not come. The moment he spoke, his worst fear became true. He tried again, clearing his throat, only for Olivia to step between him and the older man.

“Have any carriages approached the house in the last hour?” she asked.

“I don’t believe so, Lady Allen.” His butler looked around the room, his eyes widening. “I-I will ask the housekeeper and the kitchen staff if anyone saw or heard anything.” He spun and left. The sound of footfalls echoed through the hallway, slow at first, before increasing to a rapid pace.

“Where could she have gone?” Thel whispered. He walked over to the bed and picked up the book they had been reading. There was no slip of paper or flower to mark her progress. She always left a bookmark after reading.

“Dawson,” he said. When he found the man, he would strangle him.

Constance was a prize too valuable to give up. By encouraging her to take more time to consider her prospects, he had been certain that she would eventually see that Dawson was not the man he claimed to be.

Perhaps Dawson had realized that, too.

His knees buckled, and he grabbed the pillar of Constance’s bed to keep from collapsing. He had ruined everything. His daughter would be shackled to a man who cared only about her fortune. Dawson could not afford to allow her to stay within her father’s reach. He had to know that Thel would stop at nothing to get her back, even if it meant operating outside the law.

He had to go after them and stop Dawson before he did whatever awful thing he was planning. But where to start?

A hand touched his cheek.

“We will find her,” Olivia said.

He gathered her against his chest, and the tight places inside him eased.

The door swung open, and his butler rushed in. “The cook says that a carriage pulled up to the back entrance recently. She only noticed because she thought it was a delivery from the grocer. She watched from the window as two figures entered. They left down the back alley.” He cleared his throat. “I’m afraid that’s all we have.”

“Prepare my carriage,” Thel said. Then he turned to Olivia, but before he could say anything, she spoke.

“Do not even suggest that you pursue this without me,” she said. “I feel as responsible for this situation as you do.”

He put his hands on her upper arms. “This man is dangerous. I don’t know what he will do, or where he will go.” He knew what she was going to say next, so he barged ahead before she could say it. “I trust your instincts, and I know you can take care of yourself. You’ve proven that.” He remembered the man from the garden, lying prone on the ground. Constance and Olivia were formidable women. If any man tried to do anything they didn’t like, he would not get far.