There was so much emotion to the racket, so much purpose. It had to be her husband. Somehow he must have found them and now everything would be lost and Aiden would be destroyed alongside her.
Tears filled her eyes and she blinked at them. She needed to be strong now, especially if she was going to find some way to save Aiden. Save herself. At least for a while.
“Who is it?” Aiden called out.
“It’s me.”
Emilia shoved the curtains aside at the sound of that voice outside. Even muffled through two doors, she knew it. Would have known it anywhere. Her heart soared with it, roared with it.
Wren. Wren was here, even though they hadn’t called him. And she was afraid and thrilled in equal measure.
CHAPTER2
Aiden
Aiden’s hands shook as he turned the key in the lock and opened the door. He only had a moment to take in the tall, broad-shouldered man who was standing outside with the sunshine haloing him like some kind of angel before Wren shoved past him and into the cottage.
“What were you thinking?” he snapped with no preamble, despite the years that had separated them. He pivoted back at Aiden, face alive with emotion.
Aiden gulped in air as he shut and locked the door again. By God, but Wren was the same. Only…bigger somehow. His gorgeous face was rougher with stubble, though the full lips Aiden had dreamed about for so long were the same. His dark blue eyes were bright with anger, and yet as they moved over Aiden they were also filled with the same desire they always had been.
“Why are you here?” Aiden gasped out.
Wren folded his arms and shook his head. “I’m here because I was invited to Lord Wilburn’s home yesterday afternoon. And he hired me to find you because he believes you kidnapped his wife. Please tell me you didn’t kidnap his wife!”
The door to the bedchamber behind them clicked open at that shouted demand and both men turned. Emilia stepped out, her hands clenched at her heart, and Aiden felt the air come out of Wren just as it had come out of him the moment he saw her again after all those years of longing and loss.
“Wren,” she whispered.
Wren was silent for a moment, just staring at her, and then he pivoted back on Aiden. “What the hell did you think you were doing, Aiden?”
“Will you report this back to him?” Aiden asked and immediately wished he could take the question back when Wren’s expression fell, darkened.
“How dare you?” he whispered, his voice cracking. “How dare you ask me that.”
Emilia lunged forward and wedged herself between them, keeping the tension from escalating with her presence. “Please!” she gasped out. Then she looked up at Wren. “How did you find us? Did he know where we were?”
Wren glared at Aiden. “No. I am an investigator. It’s my job to find out things. And I wouldnevertell that bastard a thing about either of you, not if he gave me a thousand pounds, a hundred thousand, a million.”
“I’m sorry,” Aiden said softly.
Wren bent his head and for a long, charged moment none of them said anything. Then he turned back to Emilia and caught her hands, drawing her in for a long hug. She clung to him, trembling, just as she had trembled when Aiden had done the same in his carriage after he swept her away. And he was so relieved to have Wren here, for them to all be together again.
He needed help.Sheneeded help. They had always done better as a team.
“Come, let us talk,” Wren said as he released her. “You two can explain yourselves and then we can work out what to do.”
Emilia’s gaze flitted to Aiden and he nodded slightly, encouraging her. She sighed and then moved to the settee in front of the roaring fire Aiden had set not half an hour before. He took the place beside her and Wren just stared at them. Then Wren drew in a shaky breath and, to Aiden’s surprise, settled into the space on her opposite side. Emilia’s breath hitched ever so slightly but none of them acknowledged the intimacy of the seating arrangement.
She looked toward Aiden and he reached out, covering her hand. “Tell him, just as you told me. He’ll understand.”
“I want to understand,” Wren said softly, and reached across to stroke his own fingers across Aiden’s. He shivered in response and so did Emilia. “Please.”
They all pulled away and Emilia nodded. “I-I’ll try,” she whispered. “I’ll try to tell you, but please understand this is difficult. So difficult.”
Aiden ached for her as she drew long breaths over and over again, struggling for words. Wren said nothing as she did so, he simply held the space for her to find her own way. And at last, she did.
“I tried to be happy in my marriage,” she said softly. “I knew I couldn’t have what I wanted and Itriedto be settled with what I had. I had nothing in common with Wilburn, but he was not unkind…at least at first.”
