Chapter Twenty-Nine
Vanessa stood backas Morgan gave a heart-wrenching cry and dropped to his knees beside Anne’s body, cradling her in his arms. “Anne,” he sobbed. “Oh, God, Anne! Wake up, sweetheart. Wake up.”
Vanessa’s own eyes filled with tears as she watched him, but she had no idea how to help him. Tentatively, she moved forward and wrapped her arms around him, trying to offer what comfort she could. All she could think about was the night she and Adrian had spent at their house, how convinced Anne had been that Morgan was losing interest in her. She wished with all her heart that her friend had faced her end with the knowledge that this man loved her more than she possibly could have imagined.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, over and over. “I’m so sorry, Morgan. She told me to tell you that she loved you. That she wanted the baby to be named Felicity, that you and the children were her whole world.”
Morgan didn’t acknowledge her. He just kept rocking Anne, sobbing her name.
A noise on the stairs caught her attention, and she looked over Morgan’s shoulder to see Adrian and Lucien coming down. The look on Adrian’s face when he saw his twin cradling Anne’s bloody, broken body made her heart break all over again. He would take this all upon himself. She knew it to the depths of her soul. All of the progress they’d made, all the happiness he’d almost managed to believe he deserved would be shattered by this.
Morgan stiffened, and then he slowly lifted his head and turned to look at his brothers as well. “This is all your fault!” he screamed, his eyes pinned upon Adrian. “I told you that if you didn’t stop being Prometheus that something like this would happen. Now, look what you’ve done! Look at her, you bastard!”
Adrian flinched as though he’d been hit. “You’re right,” he whispered. “Morgan... I’m so sorry. I never meant for anyone else to be hurt by this. I was trying to help them, the children...” He broke off and moved as though to comfort Morgan, but then stopped at the look in his twin’s eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
“Do you think that means anything to me now?” Morgan snarled. “Do you think that you can just say sorry and it can erase the fact that my wife is dead?” He shrugged Vanessa off, and she scooted away from him, knowing the last thing he wanted now that his anger had ignited was her comfort. “It should have been your wife, Adrian. If there was any justice in the world, it would have been her.”
He turned his seething gaze upon Vanessa, who couldn’t believe this was the same peaceful man she’d come to know. He looked as though he wanted to kill her.
Lucien drew in a harsh breath and stepped forward, ever the big brother. “Morgan, I know you’re hurting, but that’s enough. This is not Adrian’s fault. Roger made this happen. He’s the one you should blame.”
Morgan shook his head, unwilling to listen, his hatred still burning bright. Vanessa knew he was just lashing out, as wounded things tend to do, but it was unbearable for her to watch because she knew how much Adrian loved his twin.
Lucien obviously came to the same conclusion because he stepped forward and helped Vanessa to her feet. “I’m glad you’re all right,” he murmured in her ear as he gave her a quick embrace. “Morgan didn’t mean that. Get Adrian out of here. Leave the baby with me, and I’ll find a wet nurse for the child. I’ll also take care of the constable. Being an earl does have some perks. Take him home and reassure him that you don’t blame him, and neither does Morgan. He’ll come around. He’s just grieving.”
“Thank you,” she whispered back. “Take the baby to Fiona at Brookhaven. She’ll find a wet nurse and take wonderful care of Felicity until Morgan is ready.”
“Good idea,” Lucien agreed. “Thank you.”
She stepped hesitantly toward Adrian, who had the same haunted, devastated look in his eyes that he’d had after she’d made her horrid marriage proposal. He looked as though everything he’d loved or believed in had just been taken from him. Vanessa carefully took the baby from Adrian, turning and placing Felicity in Lucien’s surprisingly capable arms.
He ran one fingertip across the baby’s face, the ghost of a smile tracing his lips as he met his niece for the first time. “She’s beautiful, Morg. Come, meet your beautiful daughter. She’s got her mother’s nose.”
“I can’t bear it,” Morgan said, almost inaudibly. “I can’t bear to look at her.”
Lucien dropped to his knees beside Morgan, embraced him with his free arm, and began quietly comforting him, rocking the crying baby at the same time. She couldn’t understand everything he said, but she had faith that somehow he would get Morgan through this. Now she just had to do the same for Adrian.
The thought that Lucien had trusted her with that made her feel she had finally truly become a member of this family, though it broke her heart all over again to realize how lost they would all be without Anne. She put her arms around Adrian’s waist and rested her forehead against his chest. She could feel his heart beating as though he’d run a marathon, feel the tension in him, and knew how close she was to losing him. He would want to run from this, throw himself back behind the mask and hold everyone, including her, at bay.
“Adrian, take me home,” she whispered, shamelessly using his sense of responsibility against him. “I’m not feeling well...” She wondered if she should fake a swoon, but Adrian shuddered and finally wrapped his arms around her.
“I need to stay here,” he said reluctantly. “I killed two men. The constable is coming, and Morgan needs me.”
“Lucien will take care of all of it. The constable can come to speak to you when he’s done here,” she assured him, shivering a bit at the thought of what he’d had to do to save her and Felicity. “And Morgan needs a little bit of time to grieve his loss. Lucien has him. And I just want to go home, away from this place.”
She lifted her gaze, staring into his troubled eyes. “Please, Adrian.”
He leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead. “I know what you’re trying to do. Maybe you’re right. Having me here is just upsetting Morgan more.” He sighed and stepped away, taking her hand and leading her toward the stairs.
* * * *
