“Ellis,” she whispered.
He pocketed the note and pushed to his feet. He cupped her cheeks and examined her face closely, as if he were trying to paint her image in his mind.
“Please.” She felt the sting of tears in her eyes.
He smoothed his thumbs along her jaw, across her lips. Then he leaned in and kissed her gently. Without possession, without aggression, without desperation. He kissed her like it was the first time. He kissed her like it might be the last.
Then he stepped away. “Don’t be afraid anymore,” he said softly. “There’s nothing to be afraid of anymore.”
Her breath caught as he backed away a step, an eerie calm in the room around them. Until, that was, the door to the study flew open and Rook Maitland stepped into the room.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he burst out, his brown eyes darker than she’d ever seen. And he was glaring at Ellis like he was ready to throw hands.
Chapter 22
Ellis should have been preparing for an attack if the expression on his cousin’s face was any indication. But he didn’t. Instead he simply stared at the man who had been his friend, his blood, his partner for almost his entire life. He stared at him and felt the swell of love and regret.
“Answer me,” Rook growled, and stepped toward him.
Juliana gasped as she threw herself between them, her arms up as if she could protect Ellis. His Valkyrie from mythology, except she was real and in the flesh.
“Stop,” she burst out. “Stop it now. You won’t hurt him.”
Rook flinched. “Hurt him? I wouldneverhurt him. But I won’t let him hurt you, either. Anne would never forgive me for that. I’d never forgive myself.”
“He isn’t hurting me,” Juliana said, and reached back to take Ellis’s hand. Her fingers were warm against his. Heavy in his palm. A weight that reminded him of his love for her even as he watched her love in return being demonstrated.
Rook’s expression crumpled. “Juliana,” he said softly. “What have you been doing?”
“You all cut me out of your plans,” she explained softly. “So I’ve been helping Ellis with his.”
“You allowed her to do this?” Rook asked him this time, talking over Juliana’s head. “Are you so far fallen that you would involve yet another innocent in your schemes, even after all the consequences the others have suffered?”
Ellis flinched. “I was selfish, as usual. But it’s over now.”
Juliana gasped and pivoted back toward him. “Ellis!”
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. “It was always going to end, angel. And I’ll never regret it. But now Imustgo.” He let her hand go, his own fingers shaking as he backed away. “Don’t follow me. Just let me do this. Let me do this one right and good thing in my life.”
He was moving toward the study window, and Rook caught his breath. “No, no!” he cried out.
But it was too late. Ellis flicked his wrist behind him, unlatching the window with a burglar’s skill. He flipped backward over the sill and toppled into the bushes below. Thankfully it wasn’t too far a drop—he landed flush and bounded back to his feet.
Rook leaned over the window. “Don’t go!” he called out, but Ellis ignored him.
Even though it broke his heart, he ignored his cousin’s voice and Juliana’s as he took off across the garden, toward the waiting horse that would take him to the end. Of the game. Of the danger. And of his life.
Juliana leaned out over the windowsill. If she could follow him, she might be able to catch him, stop him. But before she could make the same leap Ellis had just made, Rook caught her arm. He dragged her back as she struggled, away from the window and the vanishing figure of the man she loved.
“No!” she cried out as she spun around and glared up at Rook. “How could you do that? He isn’t doing something wrong! Not this time. He’s trying to protect you and Gabriel and—and me. He’s trying to be better and all you’re doing is—”
“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Rook said softly.
She broke off in her rambling and stared up at him. There was no judgment on his face, no pity. Only a gentle knowledge that couldn’t be denied. She didn’t want to deny it.
“I do,” she said. “I love him with all my heart.”
He pursed his lips. “It seems you two have been very busy behind all our backs.”
