Dane smiled. “No one is exactly who or what they seem. We can never know the heart of a person unless and until they choose to share it.”
Asher shook his head. “Well, just because we choose to share who we are with another person doesn’t mean it will work. Or that it should.”
John shrugged. “If you determine you aren’t willing to fight for love or passion or whatever it is between you and Felicity, then itwon’twork. A self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Asher was silent, letting that sink in. Letting it burn through his veins like acid.
“But that’s not my place to say,” John said after a moment. “You’re the only one who can determine what is right to do.”
Asher bent his head. “Well, right isn’t the easiest thing to decide.”
“No, there are many shades to right,” John agreed.
Asher sighed. There was no use talking about this anymore. He knew what John pretended not to understand. That it could never work out, no matter what he wanted or shared.
“Why don’t we talk about the book, the search?” he suggested.
John looked at him a long moment, then stepped back into their walk, forcing Asher to do the same. “A fine idea. What do you have on your mind?”
“Felicity suggested a plan to me,” he said. “One I balked at, even though I know it’s a good one. Only it hinges on us finding Roger Beckford.”
John shifted, and Asher actually felt him putting on the mantle of spy. It was funny how the man’s shoulders went back, how he went on alert. Old habits, Asher supposed, not lost even though he didn’t do that kind of work anymore. Or at least not regularly.
“It’s not an easy task,” John said. “I received word from my department liaison just this morning that they are narrowing the search now. They believe he’s still in London. What does Felicity think we should do once he’s found?”
Asher explained her thoughts on his pretending to want to hurt the family, to offer to buy the secrets that pertained to them.
“And then we strike,” John finished. “Knowing the man will have what we want on his person, rather than hidden somewhere. It’s a good plan.”
“Yes. I resisted at first. But I know she’s clever and it’s likely our best option.”
John shifted and stopped again, looking off into the distance. “We’ll have to go to London.”
“You sound unhappy about the prospect,” Asher said, looking at his friend closely.
John nodded. “The last time I was there I was pretending to be a duke. A dead duke, but a duke. It was my most public deception, the one that led me to Celia. I do worry that if I return, I’ll endanger her—I’ll endanger everyone—if I’m seen and recognized as a man who is supposed to be dead.”
Asher could see the lines of worry on his face, but also his determination. This man would sacrifice for his family, Celia’s family…the people Asher had once considered his own family, foolish as it was.
“We’ll have to be careful,” he reassured him. “Keep you out of the light.”
“Yes.”
“Or perhaps you could stay here,” Asher suggested. “Work on the code and—”
“And leave you all to the danger? No, I think not. We’ll go to London. Tomorrow if we can manage it. I’ll speak to Stenfax and Gray right away. This needs to end. For the sake of Felicity, but also for the sake of everyone else involved, including my wife.”
Asher looked at him closely. “You truly love her.”
A fierceness came into John’s face then, changing him into a warrior. A man Asher could believe had been a thief and a spy and everything else he rarely showed.
“She is the only thing in my life that is worth a damn,” John said, his voice rough and low. “And I would die to see her happy. To see her safe.”
Asher drew back at the protectiveness John expressed. Not because he doubted it, but because he recognized it as a mirror to his own feelings for Felicity. But while John had somehow settled himself, accepted who he was and allowed love into his life, Asher knew it wouldn’t be so simple for him.
And he could only hope he wouldn’t cause more damage than he healed before this was over.
Felicity paced the parlor, trying to calm herself, trying to forget Asher’s words and his touch…and failing spectacularly at both.
