At the door, Damien held out his hand to his friend, but Adrian gripped his shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. Mr. Stones, Damien’s butler, looked at him wide-eyed, as if caught off guard by his master’s rare show of affection. Damien shot him a glare, and the man scurried away without a second look.
“Have faith, my friend,” Adrian whispered into his ear. “Just as you told me. Not just in Evander. But in yourself.”
Damien cleared his throat as he untangled himself from the uncomfortable and unusual display of affection from Adrian.
“Right,” he murmured, stepping away.
Adrian gave him a final wave, then turned to walk down the footpath toward the gate. Damien watched him until he reached the bright, neat street that led to the other Mayfair mansions, then slowly closed the door.
Damien stood at the closed door for a long moment after Adrian had gone, his hand still resting on the handle.
‘Show her you are more than what the rumors say.’
Easy enough advice to give. Far less easy to follow when the woman in question had already made up her mind about him.
“Was that Adrian?”
Damien jolted, completely unprepared to hear the beautiful voice behind him. He spun around and saw Caroline looking at him with an amused expression; clearly, she knew how off-guard she had caught him.
“Yes,” he blurted out, feeling suddenly sheepish.
He raked his eyes down her body, appreciation for her beauty warming his veins. She was wearing a silk buttercream yellow gown that made her creamy complexion glow and brought out the rich, deep brown in her eyes. It was long-sleeved, but they fit her arms to perfection, and the corseted bodice made the swell of her bosom evident. His gaze narrowed on her throat, where beneath her creamy complexion rested the slow pulsing vein of her pulse point.
Images of the night he had found her flashed through his mind, and he was reminded of how oddly comforted he was to feel that vein pulse beneath his palm. She had been gone for a total of two months, and it was as if he had needed to feel such a pulse to prove that she was alive.
Would she ever know how panicked he had been? How his mind had conjured the worst atrocities happening to her as he continued to fail at finding her?
Suddenly, Damien realized Caroline had said something else, and he wrenched his mind from that dark place, his gaze shooting up to her eyes.
“I am sorry. What was that?” he asked, firmly planting himself back in reality.
A look of concern gathered in Caroline’s dark eyes, but she cleared her throat and spoke calmly.
“I said it was a shame that I missed him,” she replied. “I was hoping that he would send my regrets to Bridget.”
His brows furrowed as tension filled his already taut muscles.
“Regrets for what?” he asked, fearing that Adrian might have left out some serious information for the well-being of his wife.
What was wrong with Bridget?
“For not visiting her since I have returned,” Caroline answered, her small eyebrows arching up with curiosity as she crossed her arms and took a step toward him. “I have been most busy with George, happily so. But in doing so, I have put off assuring Bridget and Aunt Nora that I am well.”
Damien let out a long, careful breath through his slightly parted lips, willing himself to calm down. There was no danger. Everyone was fine. Save for perhaps a few worried thoughts that Caroline obviously wanted to soothe.
“Right,” he muttered. “Well, I am sure your request for forgiveness is not necessary. Why do you not invite them both over? They can visit with you, and George can meet Samuel.”
Caroline’s brows rose in surprise.
“You would allow that?” she asked.
Damien huffed out a dry laugh.
“What, you think I am so awful that I would not allow your family to visit you?” he remarked.
Silence answered him, leaving him and Caroline in an awkward moment as both cast their gazes away from one another.
“I suppose with the way I have acted, you would have no reason to believe I am not that awful,” he admitted, finally looking at her again.
