But she was so shocked when she heard him say, “Marry me, Babble,” that she forced them to stop. She was so obviously incredulous that he grinned. “And here I thought having Storm at my side would greatly improve my chance to persuade you. Did it not work?”
She was still shocked, but peered deeply into those amber eyes. “You actuallywantto marry me now?”
After one last tender kiss, he told her, “I wanted to from the night we made love. You’ve affected me in so many ways—your tender care of me, your concern, your courage, your determination. You got past my defenses so easily, despite who you’re related to. I’ve never known anyone quite like you, Brooke Whitworth, and I want to share the rest of my life with you.”
She started to cry even as she smiled at him.
He rolled his eyes and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “It never ceases to amaze me how women can produce a water fountain for the wrong reasons.”
Brooke laughed and helped him get the tears off her cheeks. “I’m deuced if I know.” But then she said in surprise, “But you let me leave your house. Why did you do that if you already knew?”
“Because I had the thought that without the Regent’s edict casting a pall over us, I could ask you to marry me and you would know it’s what I want, not what I was forced to do. And I would know it’s whatyouwant, if you accepted. I didn’t want us to start our marriage under those forced conditions. So even though I’m still annoyed with my mother for interfering, if you say yes now, I will thank her profusely.”
Her smile got brighter. “Of course I want to! I did as soon as you stopped growling at me. But the day I left, I was very much in love with you. So why didn’t you come to me and ask me sooner?”
“Because your choice had been denied you with me. I wanted you to have it back and all normal options with it. I wanted you tochooseme, to be absolutely sure of your feelings before I asked you to marry me. You made me love you. I wasn’t sure if you felt the same. And you deserved to have that Season you had been looking forward to.”
“The Season I haven’t been enjoying without you at my side? That Season?”
He looked abashed. “I’ve been miserable, too, and taking it out on everyone. But I loved you enough to wait for you to enjoy a bit of the Season. Well, I thought you would. However, I hear you ended up with many suitors. Perhaps I should have stayed in town to bare my teeth and snarl at a few of them.”
She grinned. “You’re pretty good at teasing. Were you always?”
“Only with my sister. She was easy to tease.”
Ella! She’d nearly forgotten and now felt like groaning. His reaction could go either way. He might not want to give his word that he wouldn’t kill Benton. He might get angry at his sister for putting him through such grief. She wondered if they could get married first before she told him....
Seeing her worried brow, he asked, “What?” But then he guessed. “You’re remembering that silly bargain of yours, aren’t you? Not that you had anything to bargain for.”
She blushed. “No, you told me that on the ride home from the ball. But why haven’t you asked what brought me here today?”
He hugged her closer. “Something other than your unspoken feelings for me?”
“Yes, although I did have high hopes that it would lead to what just happened. I did so want to end your grief and now I can. Your sister isn’t dead. She’s very much alive.”
He shot off the sofa, leaving her on it. For a moment she thought he was going to accuse her of lying, his expression was so anguished. “How can this be? Her body was found!”
“That wasn’t her.” Brooke quickly added, “And she’ll come home if you’ll swear you won’t kill the father of her child.”
“I’ve already made that pledge.”
“He’s not the one, and before I can tell you who is, I have to hear you swear you won’t kill him. Fear of that is why Ella faked her death, Dominic. She doesn’t want him dead or you imprisoned for it. So swear. It’s her condition that you do, not mine.”
“She’s really alive?” he asked incredulously.
Brooke nodded. “Both she and your niece are.”
“My God, how?”
She told him what she could about the faked deaths without revealing names or locations and admitted how she was able to find Ella. “At first I hoped to find proof that Ella’s death was an accident, not a suicide. Then it became apparent that her baby might still be alive. I hoped the child, at least, would ease your pain. We didn’t expect to find them together.”
“Where is she?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Damnit—”
“I can’t! She made me promise to hear you swear first.”
