She opened it with a confused frown.
It was not a promissory note.
“What is this?”
“It occurred to me that you never received a wedding invitation.”
May looked at the neat cursive on the paper. A cordial invitation to celebrate the union of Lady Hannah and Lord Spencer.
“I… see.” She swallowed. “I’ll try my best to attend.”
By the time the wedding came, she would be back with Justina, working as a maid again, in a completely different London than the one Elias inhabited. She would not be able to face him—not like that. Once she walked out of this estate, she would not be coming back.
“You better not be thinking of shortchanging me.”
“What?”
“It seems you are thinking of running off already.” He smirked. “Am I such a terrible employer? I still haven’t figured out why you took on the job. You do not seem like the mercenary type. Oh, do not look at me so—you are wily, yes. But not nearly as cutthroat as I’d expect.”
May was too raw to invent an answer. “You said your father knew better. Well, so did mine. But, in the end, a dream is just that—a dream. I thought I took this on for my family.” A family that wanted her to have the world. Instead, what she ended up with was no family at all. “Perhaps, that was just a story I told myself to feel better. Perhaps, I’m just doing it because that is all I can rely on.”
“That is notall.” His voice dipped low.
May’s entire body thrummed in recognition of what passed between them.
The love, the hope. Did she dare believe in it?
“So don’t you think of taking off.” He was fierce as he tilted her chin upward with his index finger until she had to face his blazing eyes. “Though your work is well done, our agreement is not yet complete. My dearest co-conspirator, our contract was very specific. This isn’t done yet. Not until somebody says, ‘I do.’”
Salt coated her throat. May raised her eyes to the sun, as if it could purge her heart of turmoil, her head of the memory of Elias’s binding eyes.
He did not mean to let her go.
Not yet.
She got to stay by his side. To live the lie that felt like desperate hope more and more each day. Until the wedding, she would have everything. But today… she did not have enough. Not for the necklace.
May knew all she needed to do was ask for his help, and she would have it. She could still march into that pawnshop, lay down the money, and restore her mother’s necklace into her possession.
She could have her family. The last remnant of her home.
Ask. Just ask.
Yet, as moments went by, May said nothing. The lie of her true identity lingered between them like a ghost—imperceptible, but always there, always a question mark, the final “what if.”
Elias trusted her now, but how could he trust her once he knew who she really was? That deception was bad enough. She would not wreck him further by using him for her ends. But in that moment, all May wanted was for Elias to know her. The real her. She had lost the last piece of her mother today. She could not lose her love, too.
May kissed him, desperately, hungrily seizing his lips. Though she caught him unprepared, it took mere moments for their bodies to adjust to one another. Elias leaned into her kiss,and May allowed herself to brush her fingers through his hair, unwilling to come up for air just yet. He tasted of berries, and inexplicably… he felt likehome.
In the end, she could not have both her mother and her love. In reality, she could not have either. But she could have this moment, and however many could fit until a bride walked down that cursed aisle.
“Well, then,” May broke away with a smile, “until such a day, I remain at your full disposal, Your Grace.”
CHAPTER NINE
When May stepped into Lady Hannah’s rooms, she thought she’d walked through the doors of the finest boutique. Every divan and seat was filled with boxes: dresses, hats, accessories. Everything dazzled and shone with precious jewels, fine silks, and silver thread. She quickly made her excuses and prepared to retreat, but instead was pulled straight into the mayhem. Every piece was examined and judged until Lady Hannah collapsed on the settee with a tired huff.
“I cannot convey how much I appreciate your help. Although I am sorry to busy you with my wedding. I hope I am not a nuisance to you. I know you have quite a need to see yourself settled on the marriage mart. Husband hunting… It’s not the easiest thing, is it?”
