She breathed a sigh of relief.
Daniel had to spend his pent-up energy on several things to survive the next few days.
Normally, his mind was pure logic. He would have a path to follow, a list of things to do. He would be focused on the hunt for Moses Gordon and the man who had hired him.
As soon as he woke up in the morning, his mind would already be on what he could do to keep the trail warm. The thread would always be tightly wound, always pulling him toward his next step.
Today, and all the days after, he had pleasured Lucy in the greenhouse, the thread had frayed. He was in danger of snapping and losing his trail. Not the one that led to Moses Gordon, but the one that kept him sane.
While studying the list of people who frequented docks and the vessels that might have been used for escape, he saw her instead. He would see midnight blue instead of ocean blue, and a slender arm instead of the silhouette of the man who had set the house in Suffolk on fire.
When he should be interrogating a contact about places Moses Gordon could be hiding in, he would hear her moans growinglouder as she reached her pinnacle. He could feel her mouth on the palm of his hand, hot and wanting.
He was distracted, and the investigation became a chore. It was no longer what he lived for every single day. The grim necessity that was his revenge was now a hindrance between him and Lucy.
Daniel had said goodbye, and she had somehow accepted it. He had thought he would be relieved that she had accepted his wishes, but now he wondered if all she had wanted was pleasure.
After all, she was a woman who had once almost entered Valentine St. Clair’s home just for that.
He would sometimes ride past Hyde Park, hoping to see her bonnet. He listened in on his sisters’ conversations. There were no sightings. No stories. Nothing about her.
How could that be?
Daniel’s heart used to hammer with the excitement and fear of the hunt, but now it did the same thing painfully because he didn’t know where she was. He wanted to see her so badly, but knew it was not a good idea. He would ruin her, and then he would not have any choice but to marry her.
No, he should finish what he had started first.
He slammed a fist on his desk in frustration. A few sketches and maps littered the mahogany surface, covering the ledgers that should be his only concern.
“I must find Kenneth’s killer,” he muttered.
While he tried to force himself to think of all the clues, all he could think about was how he’d like to give Lucy the good news afterward so that they could “revisit” whatever this was.
He might not even keep his promise. He might not survive. Or, he could do both, but he would lose her anyway because she could not wait any longer.
Lucy wanted freedom from her brother. What if she found someone else who could give it to her posthaste?
For the first time, Daniel wanted to know what the future could bring beyond justice. Beyond Moses Gordon’s arrest.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Ugh,” Daniel groaned. “The sun seems to be out to murder my eyes today.”
It might be the first time he thought the sunlight streaming into Stonewynn House was intrusive. It used to fill him with energy.
That was not all, though. The world seemed not only brighter but also too loud. Even the scent of jasmine and damp earth that he used to love seemed to suffocate him.
He spent the morning putting together documents and information that Silas and his men had retrieved for him through their interrogations. The ink on each page seemed to swirl before him to form a certain lady’s silhouette.
Whenever he closed his eyes, he could see Lucy’s smile when she said that she understood why he had to go. That understanding—it killed him.
He felt like a man possessed. Sleep evaded him at night, so in the afternoons, he tried to nap. When he did get some sleep, his dreams were haunted byher.
It didn’t make sense to stay in Stonewynn anymore. He needed the company of someone else. Someone who could provide him with a distraction.
Theo.
It didn’t take him long to arrive at his friend’s townhouse. He came unannounced, but the butler readily admitted him.
