“Get her from the kitchen. Tell her I will pay her handsomely for protecting you.”
Li-Na’s eyes grew troubled. “You fear for my safety.” She looked down at her hands. “I am too different.”
“Different is good. Different shakes things up. Different exposes problems that need to be fixed like a steward who has been embezzling for years.”
She nodded, but he could see the fear in her eyes.
“We’ll talk about it this evening. Stay with Mrs. Hocking now.”
“Should I go back to London?”
Panic cut dark and hot through his chest. She couldn’t leave. He’d just found her! “Absolutely not. I can handle this.”
She nodded, but her head had already dipped low, her hands were folded in front of her belly, and he knew what she was thinking. She was planning on running.
“I cannot keep you here, Li-Na. Not against your will. And not if you run at the first sign of trouble.”
She lifted her eyes and met his. “You are a titled lord. You have the strength and power to stand and fight—”
“And I will! I will fight for you.”
“Then who will fight for Stefan or Mrs. Hocking? Who will help the countess with Joseph? And who will care for the people around you?”
He grabbed her arms and pulled her around until they faced one another fully. “Why do you think I can’t fight for all of you?”
“Have you heard how they talk about the witch woman? I am not even your wife,” she whispered. “You cannot protect me.”
He pulled her chin up until she met his gaze. “Wife or not, I can and I will.”
She held his gaze. She bit her lip in worry. And then, in the end, she whispered one word. “Yes.”
“Yes, you will stay? Yes, you have faith in me? Yes, you will wait?”
She nodded. “Yes,” she repeated.
He kissed her, and she wrapped her arms around him. And when they pulled apart to breathe, he held her tight. One night together. One night and one morning of laughter. That’s all they’d had together. He would not lose it now because of one thieving steward.
He would not!
“Oh my!” came Mrs. Hocking’s sing-song voice as she stepped out into the sunlight. “Did the man have a fit? Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bastard. Want me to call the vicar to pray over him?”
Daniel tucked Li-Na tight against his side. One last press of her body before he had to entrust her to Mrs. Hocking.
“I’ll handle him,” he said grimly. “Please take Li-Na with you to safety.”
The woman pursed her lips and spat. “Seems like you already handled him. But he’s got friends, here. People who benefited from the way he treated the rest of us.”
Damnation. How had he not seen this before? “I’ll handle it,” he said. “Can you—”
“Yes, yes. Come on, Miss. I’ve been wanting to check on my middle youngest anyway.” She took Li-Na’s hand and started leading her away. Then she stopped to look back at Daniel. “And mind you throw out the pot of tea. It won’t set well in yer stomach.”
Daniel groaned. Good lord, had she meant topoisonthe man? He pushed away the thought and spent one last moment watching Li-Na. Her expression was locked down, her hands clenched together, but her gaze met his.
“I’ll keep you safe.”
She nodded. “I believe you.”
Twelve hours later, he broke that promise. And the pain of that ended any hope for the future together.
