He burrowed into her, and they held each other, providing the comfort they both hadn’t even known they needed until now.
Ada closed her eyes, hoping against hope that this wouldn’t be the end — that, once this was all finished, he would still want her.
She knew she was foolish to have entertained this for so long, especially when he had told her that he never wanted forever with anyone.
But fool she would remain, as she couldn’t seem to tear herself away. Everything they had done together, everything he had given for her, from taking her in to admitting to murder for her, was making her never want to let him go.
Chapter Thirty
Despite all that was threatening them from every side, Jonny still had to go to work the next morning. He couldn’t very well tell Fawkes that he had to stay home to protect his wife from the underworld where he had once lived and worked.
“I’ll walk you to the blacksmith shop on my way,” Jonny said as he sat down to his bowl of oats. Ada nodded, lifting a sheaf of papers before taking the place across from him.
“Before you go, I found something last night,” she said. “I’m not sure if it will prove anything, but it might be better than nothing.”
She slid the papers to him, and Jonny noted the date and time at the top.
“Ada,” he said as his eyes ran down the page, his heart rate picking up as he realized what it all was. “This is the manifest of the shipment. It shows everything Sharpe smuggled, how much it’s worth, when it came in, and where it’s going.”
“That’s what I thought.”
He looked up at her incredulously. “This is amazing.”
A small smile played around her lips. “It was a shot in the dark.”
“Well, we’re lucky you have such excellent aim.”
A knock sounded at the door, and Jonny met Ada’s eyes before he walked over to answer, wondering if it would be her father returned.
No, not her father, but it appeared to be someone who worked for him, judging by the horse sitting outside the door and the finery the footman was dressed in.
“For Miss Jones,” he said, holding out the note before turning to depart.
“Do you need to wait for a response?”
“No,” the footman said over his shoulder, obviously thinking that he was above Jonny as he mounted and rode away.
“Who was that?” Ada asked when he returned.
"One of your father’s footmen, I believe,” he said. He began to open the note, but Ada took it from him before he could.
“I believe it’s addressed to me,” she said, eyeing him, and he nodded, lifting his hands as he realized his mistake.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was too worried about what it said.”
She studied him for a moment, seeming satisfied with what she found before sitting beside him so that they could read it together. At her proximity, he longed to wrap his arm around her and pull her into his lap, where he could bury his nose in her hair before showing her just how he felt about having her here, in his house, in his life, in his heart — but it wasn’t the time.
Not yet.
They silently read together.
Ada,
Your actions have disgraced our entire family. We hoped wecould provide a satisfactory conclusion to avoid this, but you have gone too far this time. Never grace our door again. Never ask us for anything again.
We raised you better than this and are ashamed that you have treated us so.
Mr. and Mrs. Edward Jones.
