His words held immense weight, considering that Rachel knew how much it mattered to him to find who was behind his parents’ murder.
“You would let that all that go…” she breathed, half in disbelief, “all for me?”
“All for you.” He cracked her a smile. “Now it does not matter if I regret this or if I don’t, but…”
He stopped then, bracing himself. Rachel worried that he might say something that would hurt her again.
“But I love you,” he admitted.
Rachel blinked. “Say… say that again.”
“I love you, Rachel,” he admitted, “and I do not want to run away from that anymore.”
How she had longed to hear those words from him.
Suddenly, nothing else mattered to Rachel. He had admitted the thing that she wanted to hear from him the most. She reached out to touch his face, tears pooling in her eyes. “I love you, too.”
Simon’s eyes darkened, and then his lips crashed into hers. He grabbed the sides of her face as he kissed her desperately and with no regard to where they were.
Rachel melted into him, her hands sliding up his chest. She needed more of him.It was wild, and Rachel was convinced that they would not stop there.
But then a soft cough interrupted them.
Marina!
Rachel’s cheeks tinged red as she pulled herself away from Simon. She had forgotten that Marina was still in the room with them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“What happened?”
Marina’s expression was one of absolute confusion as she looked at Rachel and Simon.
Rachel turned to Simon for help, her cheeks still burning red from having been caught in such an intimate moment.
“How is your head?” Simon asked. “You were struck when you tried to save Rachel.”
Marina’s fingers flew to her head, which had already been bandaged up. She winced and then tried to sit up.
“No, please, you need to rest,” Rachel chided.
“No, I am fine now,” Marina replied. “I just—I remember going downstairs when I heard Rachel scream, and then… there was someone there and… I do not remember much after that.”
“You were attacked by him,” Simon replied. Rachel felt glad that he was by her side at this moment. She would not know how to explain all of this to her sister.
Marina’s eyes widened, and her gaze darted between the two of them. “Who did this?”
“A man working for Grace Langston,” Simon replied.
“That woman from the ball?” she murmured, surprise coloring her voice. “But why would she—I thought she was friends with Father. Is he involved in this?”
Simon shook his head. “It is unlikely, but we do not have all the details yet. I will promise you one thing—I will bring the man who did this to justice.”
“But Simon, you must be careful,” Rachel cut in, suddenly feeling herself growing worried. Grace Langston did not have the best of intentions, and there was no saying what depths she was willing to go to.
“I know how to handle people like this,” Simon assured her, but it was not much use. He noticed the fear in her eyes, and his voice softened. “This is not about revenge anymore, Rachel. This needs to be dealt with.”
“But can’t you just let the authorities handle it?” Rachel argued.
