Had she allowed herself to hope for too much? No. She hadn’t reached, she assured herself.She had only dreamed.
Alastair didn’t seem to notice her tension. Instead, hewrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her close, warming her with his touch until she exhaled and melted against him.
“I told you,” he murmured against her temple. “I refuse to be a burden.”
“I know,” she whispered, tilting her head to rest against his chest.But what happens now?
She turned in his arms, lifting her gaze to his, searching for an answer she wasn’t sure she wanted. “I just…”
“I need to speak with my uncle.”
The words sliced through the moment.
Daisy stiffened. “But?—”
“Until I figure out who tried to kill me, every day spent in your home puts both you and your brother in danger.” His voice was steady, determined.
Resolved.
She shook her head. “But your injuries?—”
Alastair silenced her with the brush of two fingers against her lips. “Physically, I’m fine. And with most of my memories returned, I need to seek out the truth.”
The truth. Meaning, the identity of whoever had tried to kill him.
And just like that, the delicate world they’d built between them was slipping through her fingers.
Again.
“But what if… what if it was your uncle?”
Alastair shook his head. “My father’s brother would never harm me. There was too much love between them.” He touched his hand to his heart. “It’s impossible.”
Daisy didn’t completely agree, and she couldn’t help remembering times in the past when he’d been optimistic—when he’d assured her they could be together. Forever…
But… How could she argue?
How must Alastair feel to hear someone suggest that his uncle would try tokill him?
She could be wrong. She wanted desperately to be wrong.
Something that was entirely possible.
Especially when the articles she’d saved suggested Alastair had, in fact, cultivated more than one powerful political enemy.
“It would be good,” she spoke cautiously, stepping out of his arms, “If your uncle could help. When will you go?”
But she already knew.
“First thing in the morning.”
She dried a dish, placed it on its proper shelf, and then turned around to meet his stare. “Will you come upstairs?” she asked. “Later?”
She didn’t want to risk her brother discovering the two of them, but she felt… afraid.
Desperately afraid for this man.
Alastair had been in her life once and then disappeared for what could have been forever. She would never take him for granted again.
