“We need to talk. Let’s meet in private after the hearing ends,” he murmured.
If she heard, she gave no sign. Her head continued to point forward, her eyes refusing to meet his. Why? What had he done wrong?
He had confessed to a room full of judgmental strangers that he had fallen in love with her! Did she think it was easy for him to do so? He would have wanted to confess his feelings in private, to work out their differences without an audience. But she had not given him the chance.
She had disappeared and evaded him for over a month. After the disaster with the video call, he was afraid today would be the last time he would ever see her. He thought that confessing his feelings was a good place to start. He would go down on his knee, make a fool of himself, if that’s what it took for her to look at him. But her remote expression didn’t allow for any closeness.
“The deposition has concluded,” the president proclaimed.
Kalli stood up and made for the door. Fuck, no. She was not slipping away again. He set off after her, determined to not let her out of his sight until they had talked. Until he had convinced her of his feelings and that he needed her by his side.
“Kalli, don’t leave. Don’t hide from me anymore. We must talk. There’s so much I need to tell you. Please.”
“The ruins,” she said, her voice strangled, before slipping through the doors.
“The ruins? When?” But she was already walking away.
He followed.
“Mr. Kincaid, meet me in my office in five minutes.” Lord Chesterton’s voice rang out through the hallway.
“I can’t—”
“Go talk to them,” she interrupted, and his eyes snapped to hers. “You must, after the bomb you just dropped. We’ll talk later.”
“The ruins? You’ll be there?” he asked, torn between wanting to follow her and the need to settle matters here.
She nodded, turned, and walked away without looking back.
CHAPTER 43
He had not come. Shehad waited for him by the ruins since she returned from London. The sky had turned gray. Low clouds had rolled in with the promise of rain. And still he had not shown up. Her heart beat a sluggish rhythm of misery as she trudged to her cottage in the dark, the only light the one cast by her lantern. He could still show up. Despite the darkness, it was not too late, as the sun set early in December. But she wasn’t about to wait in the cold and dark of the night. And he didn’t know of her cottage.
Damnation. It would have been more prudent to wait for Dariux at Whitehall and allow him to explain. He seemed eager to speak to her. But her brain had been urging her to run. Run as fast as she could. Get out of there as soon as possible. It was all she could think about as she hurried out of the building and into her waiting vehicle.
She had not cried. She had not crumbled in front of all those people. If she had stayed, if she had allowed Dariux to talk to her, she feared she would have. They would talk later. After she had had time to process his words.
