“I’m yours,” she said happily.
He was silent long enough for her to worry.
“Ben?” she prompted.
“For years, I was an opium user.”
His jarring words made her sit up and face him. “Pardon?”
“You should know this part of my past.” His expression was bleak, but he met her gaze readily. “I had an opium habit. It started before you first met me and lasted until two years ago.”
As her shock wore off, pieces fell into place. She remembered his pallor and bloodshot eyes, his painful gauntness. The times he’d seemed listless and ill.
“Have you…do you…?” She didn’t know how to ask.
“Not for two years and never again,” he said resolutely. “I don’t touch spirits either. Opium is in my past, but I felt it was only fair that you know. In case it…it changed anything.”
His raw honesty humbled her.
“Nothing could change how I feel about you,” she said softly.
He let out a breath that she hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Good.”
Can I trust you to feel the same way?If I told you my secret, would you still…
She drew her brows together, realizing that he hadn’t spoken of love yet. But they had covered a lot of ground this eve, and the fact that he accepted his desire for her was enough for now. She did not doubt his care for her and was certain he would get to love eventually.
“Why the serious expression?” Ben asked.
“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking.”
“About?”
She gave the first excuse that came to mind. “Pippa.”
She regretted her choice when Ben lowered his brows.
“You must desist in your efforts to help her. I mean it, Livy,” he said with emphasis. “The situation is dangerous: you do not know what Longmere is involved in.”
An obvious fact struck Livy, one she couldn’t believe she’d overlooked.
“But you do?” She stared at him. “Is that why you were at the Black Lion Inn and Cremorne Gardens? Were you following Longmere? For what purpose?”
He studied her before replying. “I have reason to believe he may be involved in the distribution of a deadly drug. It is similar to opium but far more lethal. Several lives have been lost to this substance just in the past few weeks.”
She blinked. “And how do you know this?”
“It is a long story, and we’re at Lady Fayne’s.”
She hadn’t realized that the carriage had stopped. “Fine. You can tell me before we speak to Longmere together.”
“There is no way in hell I’m taking you—”
“I can help. Please trust me. I know Longmere better than you do.” Taking a risk, she said, “At the Black Lion, I heard him say that he wanted out of some scheme he and his cronies are embroiled in.”
Ben’s mouth formed a grim line. “What else did you hear?”
“I will tell you…if you bring me with you to interrogate Longmere.”
