It helped, of course, that she didn’t see him.There were no trips to Dionysus to check on the boxing ring, and certainly no visits at night…
But the time of shutting herself off from him, she knew, was at an end.
“That Mr.Sinclaire is back,” Strachan grumbled from the doorway of the drawing room.
Heloise, who was perched on the edge of her chair, nodded with as much poise as she could manage.“Thank you, Strachan.Please show him up.”
The housekeeper gave her a scathing glare before she harrumphed and turned about to make her way down the stairs.
Beside her, Julia fretted, her slender hands tearing at her handkerchief.“What was I thinking?”she babbled, voicereed thin.“I cannot meet Mr.Ethan Sinclaire.I thought it would help.But what if this is a trap?What if he’s lying—?”
“Mr.Sinclaire is not lying, Julia,” Heloise said firmly, laying a comforting hand over the girl’s.No, Ethan was not lying to them.He truly was trying to flush out the villain in his club.He’d had no part in the cheating, was as much a victim as Julia was.
Which made the way she’d used and tricked him all the more abhorrent.Truly a feat, considering how horrible she’d already felt deceiving him before receiving confirmation of his innocence.Her control slipped as the rogue thought came through.Which was when Ethan entered, his bulk filling the doorway, snapping the tight leash she had on her emotions.
“I’m glad you acknowledge that, Mrs.Marlow,” he said, his voice even.As before, she felt the chilly use of her married name down to the very depths of her soul.
But while she could not hope to control the heat in her cheeks from his overhearing her, she could retain her composure.Ignoring his comment, she dipped her head in his direction.“Mr.Sinclaire, thank you for coming.”
He nodded in response, but his eyes slid past her and anchored firmly on Julia, who, in her anxiety, gave a small squeak at Heloise’s side.
“This is the woman you were referring to?”he asked.“The one who is a victim of Dionysus?”
It was not the first time Heloise had noticed him indicating that Dionysus as a whole was at fault.Though he didn’t know the identity of the one creating havoc in his club, he could easily put the blame on that person.
Yet by indicating the club itself was at fault, as owner, he was essentially taking the blame on himself.Something softened inside her chest at the very thought.
But no, she reprimanded herself, it was the least he could do in such a situation.As the head of the beast that was Dionysus, it was his duty to assume responsibility for such things.Sylvia would do the same should something occur in the course of one of the Widows’ investigations.
The realization, however, did little to refreeze her quietly thawing heart.
But she was heading down a slippery slope.Once she truly allowed such thoughts to take hold, she was done for.
“Mr.Sinclaire,” she said as he took a seat across from them, “this is Miss Julia Marlow.”
“Marlow.”His gaze darted to her, his surprise evident.
She dipped her head in acknowledgement.“She is my late husband’s sister.”
What was that sudden change in his eyes?A sad realization perhaps?
A moment later, however, it was gone as he turned his full attention to Julia.
“I am very sorry,” he said, voice gentle and expression somber, “that you have suffered at the hands of Dionysus.”
Julia, clearly startled, darted a quick, anxious glance Heloise’s way.Heloise smiled in reassurance, though her insides were quickening their thawing, sending her emotions in a spin.She had not expected much from Ethan beyond a cold gathering of facts.
But she saw now she had been a fool.Yes, he could be brusque and hard.Yet she had seen that softer side of him, the vulnerability beneath the surface that he disguised so well.It felt like a gift, that he had revealed that part of himself to her.Her heart constricted in grief that she would never be given that gift again.
“Th-thank you,” Julia said, fingers strangling one another in her lap.
“I certainly don’t deserve your thanks,” he said.“I should be the one thanking you for coming forward.I know you must have already disclosed the details of your ordeal several times over.But would you mind doing so once more for me?”At her pause, he continued in an even quieter tone, as if he feared she was a skittish rabbit that would bolt at the first wrong move, “It would help me immensely in making things right.”
The effect of Ethan’s words and tone on Julia was by no means immediate.Yet Heloise, seated as she was beside her sister-in-law, could feel Julia’s body slowly relax, her rigid pose easing.
“Yes,” she said, voice shaking only slightly.“Yes, I can do that.”
Over the next hour the two talked quietly, with Heloise silently watching.Every detail was gone over meticulously, and yet with such care on Ethan’s part that at times it brought tears to Heloise’s eyes.Why did he have to be so wonderful to Julia?Why did he have to take such care in making her feel at ease?And why, when she should be relieved that Julia was being treated with respect, was she getting so damned angry?
