Chapter Twenty-Two
William’s next words calmed her. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Rose told him without hesitation.
“Then we’ll leave it at that for now.” He kissed the end of her nose and then seemed to reconsider, capturing her lips with his own for a tender assault.
As she tried to wind her hands around his neck, William stopped her and gently sent her inside before closing the door behind her.
***
Finn slammed the door as he left his room early the next morning, unable to shake the anger that had dogged him since watching Rose leave the theatre with Woodsom. Somehow, he had thought after he had rescued her — after he had held her in public! — that she would go home with him. Irrational, foolish thought.
From the moment they’d spotted each other four years ago, he’d been the unexpected object of Rose’s devotion, even as she had hidden their association from her family. More than flattering, her attention and affection had been miraculous, incredible.
Finn had basked in the love she’d shone upon him and had returned it a hundred-fold. Even after the years apart, it twisted his gut every time he witnessed her spending her precious attention on Woodsom.
Yes, he could plainly see she loved him, but could she truly feel for this other man as deeply as she had felt for him? Worse, did her love for Woodsom supplant her love for him?
It’s your own damn fault,he reminded himself.Your own insecurity cost you everything.
The thought flitted through his brain as it did every day since returning to Boston. However, it was still sorely difficult, nearly impossible, to believe it was too late.
Reed Malloy had kept the divorce agreement secure in his portfolio that day at the police station, and Finn had not brought it up. He had told the detective what he knew and then he’d left.
Apparently, what with two thugs going after Rose, nothing had changed. After all, what could the police do? There were no suspects except for Liam, and he was as dodgy as a slippery eel. They would question him, maybe they had already, but to what aim?
Today, Finn intended to track down Master Builder Gilbert, if the man worked, as Liam had said, at the Navy shipyard in Charlestown. Easy enough to reach by trolley though he wasn’t sure if they would let him onto the yard or exactly what he hoped to discover. A full confession of incompetence from Gilbert was highly doubtful, though perhaps the man would at least demonstrate some humility and remorse for the lives lost to a bad design.
“State your business,” a sentry said to Finn when he reached Gate 1 on Water Street.
“I’m here to see Master Builder Gilbert,” he’d offered, peering past the man so he could see all the way down First Avenue, which spanned the yard’s entire length.
“Is he expecting you?”
Absolutely not. That was one thing Finn was certain of. No one expected a dead man.
“No, and I’m not sure he’ll know my name. I used to work for him at a yard in Eastie. May I meet with him?”
The guard sighed. “You a civilian?”
“Yes,” Finn told him.
“That’s ok. There are plenty working here nowadays, but you’ll have to be escorted. Wait here.” He disappeared inside the guard hut. When he came out, he had an official-looking ledger. “Can you write?”
Finn bristled. “Of course.”
“Don’t get hot,” the sentry said. “As many as can, can’t. Anyway, write your name here,” and he handed him a stubby pencil.
After he scrawled his name on the line and wrote the date, the first sentry gestured to another guard. “Take him to the Muster House.”
“Muster House?” Finn questioned him.
“Gilbert’s clerk said he should be on one of the upper floors with the civil engineers. Mind your step. We’ve got a lot of work going on around here.”
“None too soon,” Finn muttered and fell into step beside his escort.
The place was outdated compared to where he’d worked in the United Kingdom. The Charlestown yard had nearly been closed in the last decade, which would have been a shame, he thought. At present, the yard did mainly rigging work for the Navy, producing tons of rope. Yet no naval ships were built there anymore, not from scratch, for the dry dock was too small.
