“Aye,” he finally said. “I’ll do this for you.”
“Then we won’t have to fly back with Darius, and I won’t have to see him again,” Eve said, only partly relieved.
* * *
Darius stoodby the partly open hospital room door, holding a vase of flowers. He hadn’t meant to eavesdrop and glanced at Joe who stood nearby. Scanning the hallway, the bodyguard had his back to Darius. Had Joe heard too?
“Well, I guess that answers my question,” Darius said softly. “I’ll leave these with the nurse.”
“You should talk to her before you go,” Joe said.
“And say what?”
Until Darius had a chance to speak with Melanie there wasn’t anything hecouldsay to Eve. He’d called Bill and asked him to get hold of a private number for Melanie, but they hadn’t heard anything back from her yet. She’d probably thought she was done with Darius and hadn’t appreciated the reminder.
Had Eve meant what she’d said to her father about him having thrown his father away? Could she not see that she was doing the same thing to Darius without giving him a chance? But what if Melanie refused to talk with him? What if she did but wouldn’t release him from his promise, even if only to tell Eve? There were too many what-ifs.
Joe turned to face Darius. “What are you going to do?”
“I have to speak with someone before I can try talking to Eve.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to walk away though. It’d be a sign that you’re giving up too easily.” Joe raised his brows, his expression meaningful. “It might reinforce the impression Eve has that when things get too hard you walk away.”
“How did—”
“It’s my job to be informed about who I’m guarding, and that includes things from their pasts. It’s not like it wasn’t in the Boston newspapers.”
Darius put the flowers on the floor by her door and turned toward the exit.
“You also don’t strike me as the kind of man who’d leave a woman standing at the altar.”
Anger flooded through Darius, and he stopped. He should never have agreed to keep quiet.Hewas the one who’d stood there that day and stared at his bride-to-be, dressed in her beautiful gown, minutes away from walking down the aisle, watching while she’d sobbed and professed her love for another man.
Darius had felt like he’d been gut punched, but he’d loved her and wanted to help her, to take away her obvious pain. Maybe it’d been a barrier of denial he’d thrown up to protect himself. All he’d seen was the woman he loved begging him to help her.
She’d said that just that morning the other man had professed his love for her. He wanted to marry her, but he was running for Congress. It’d be all over the press if she walked away at the last minute. She’d taint his reputation if she left Darius at the altar for another man.
“If you love me,” she’d said, her eyes pleading, “you’ll be the one to walk.”
Darius had stared at her, numb and stupid. He hadn’t been able to get his head around it all. She’d said she lovedhim, wanted to spend her life withhim. But now she didn’t. She loved someone else. All Darius had ever wanted was her happiness. If it couldn’t be him, then she must be with the man she loved.
“But you have to promise me you’ll never tell a soul the truth.” Melanie had clutched his hands, her eyes full of tears. “If you love me, you’ll promise to keep this a secret.”
So, Darius had given his word. Then he’d stood by while her father escorted her up the aisle, had even entered the church. He’d met her gaze before he’d turned and walked out.
Darius had turned off his phone and spent the rest of the day walking the city. He must have looked strange wandering around in a tux. Only when it had gotten dark had he begun to come back to himself. He’d turned on his phone. His normally empty voicemail box had been so full, it’d stopped taking messages. He’d called his father, who’d come to pick him up.
While Darius’s family had ranted at him, his mind had kept going over that conversation with Melanie. How could she have fallen in love with another man all the time she’d been professing her love to Darius? How long had she been seeing the guy—all while she’d been wearing Darius’ ring? Long enough to falloutof love with him andinlove with someone else. Why hadn’t he noticed when she’d begun pulling away from him? Had she ever been in love with him?
Standing in the Scottish hospital, Darius had to clench his jaw to keep from shouting out what had really happened eight years earlier.
“Make sure you don’t burn any bridges here.” Joe clapped Darius on the shoulder and said, “Like good old Will was fond of saying: the truth will out.”
Darius blinked. He guessed he should have expected his bodyguard to quote William Shakespeare.But the words were true. Itwastime for the truth to come out, even if the only ones who knew it would be himself, Melanie, and her husband. And Eve.
“Let’s go then. I need to try that number again.” He only took one step toward the exit again before Joe grabbed his arm.
“I swear you REKD Gaming guys have one-track minds.” Joe nodded toward Eve’s door again. “There’s a young lady in there who’s hurting bad, and she was hurting even before someone almost killed her. Did you hear what I said? You can’t go back to the States without leaving her some kind of message. She may not think she wants to hear from you, but she does.”
