Chapter Six
Fiona hurried Ginny, the child she’d just stolen from a horrible fate, into Brookhaven’s kitchen. The little girl had obviously been drugged with something. Her eyes were wide and glassy, and she didn’t seem aware of her surroundings.
Heart still racing with fear and adrenalin, Fiona guided Ginny into a chair and then collapsed beside her. This time had been even more terrifying than the last. She’d managed to make her way into the building through a service door, then stole down the hallways until she’d found a housemaid who had told her where the young girl was being kept. She’d disguised her voice, trying to make it sound rough and manly, but she wasn’t sure the woman had been fooled. However, she’d still helped, which had been a small miracle. Fiona was all too aware of how badly things could have gone for her.
She’d made another mistake by keeping the cape and mask on when she’d run down the street toward the hack. The driver had seen her as Prometheus, but since she’d paid him to wait there for her, he’d also seen that she was a woman. He’d picked her up and returned her to Brookhaven, so if he was questioned, or if he chose to go to the authorities, she was caught.
But once she’d spirited the girl through the window and almost immediately heard the alarm sounded behind them, she hadn’t been thinking of anything but escape.
Her only hope was that the sight of the little girl and her hurried explanation of what had happened had touched him. She’d begged him to keep her secret, and he’d promised that he would, but she had no reason to trust him.
She had no reason to trust anyone.
Scrubbing her hand over her face, she tried to find the energy to get up and get Ginny settled. It was two in the morning, and she’d get little enough sleep as it was.
Before she could move, however, someone tapped lightly on the kitchen door behind her. She jumped, her heart lurching in her throat. She whirled around, fully expecting all of Scotland Yard to be standing on the other side.
“Mrs. Bohannan,” a familiar voice called instead. “Mrs. Bohannan, it’s me, Morgan Strathmore.”
Heart still racing, she glanced back at Ginny in consternation. There was no hiding her. Besides, Morgan already knew that Prometheus had been bringing children to her. All she could do was try to bluff her way through this.
Girding herself, she crossed the kitchen and then opened the door. Morgan was impeccably dressed, as though he’d been to the theater, and he strode quickly inside, his blue gaze scanning the kitchen and fixing on Ginny.
“Is Prometheus still here?” he asked without preamble.
She blinked, wondering how he knew, and realized he must have followed her here. She put one hand on the back of a chair to brace herself, then squared her shoulders. “No,” she whispered, her voice rough. She cleared her throat. “He feared someone was following him.”
“It was me,” Morgan admitted. He shook his head, then cursed softly under his breath. “I really wanted to speak to him.”
“Why?” Fiona asked, forcing herself to go to the stove and put the kettle on to boil. It didn’t appear that Morgan intended to leave anytime soon, and she needed something to keep her busy so he couldn’t see how shaken she was. “I wish you and your brothers would just leave him alone and let him do his work.”
“I was there tonight,” Morgan said, a strange note in his voice. “I wanted to understand why you and Adrian were so passionate about these children. I wanted to see...”
She looked at him over her shoulder and found that he was kneeling beside Ginny, tilting her head so he could stare into her eyes. The little girl didn’t react at all.
“Those bastards drugged her, didn’t they?” he muttered, aghast. Then he sat back and met Fiona’s gaze. “It was terrible. They treated those girls like they were animals, and the things they planned to do to them...”
She shuddered and finished lighting the fire, then placed the kettle on the burner. “I know. I deal with the aftermath of those horrors every day.” And she’d experienced those horrors herself, though she’d never admit that to him.
Silence fell between them for a long moment and then he was right behind her, putting his strong hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently. “I’m so sorry for the way I behaved that first night,” he whispered softly in her ear. “I didn’t really know such ugliness existed. That children were sold like cattle...”
She stiffened at his touch, and her first reaction was to pull away. She’d not been touched by a man in so long and never with... tenderness. He meant to comfort her, and the strength and warmth he infused into her with his gentle contact was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. She found herself melting back into him instead of pulling away, content for the moment to accept what he was offering as he cautiously wrapped his arms around her and then hugged her tightly.
For an untold time, they remained that way, but then the kettle whistled, jerking her out of her momentary weakness. She lurched away, face flaming with embarrassment. “I don’t need your pity.”
“It’s not pity,” he assured her, staring at Ginny with a troubled gaze. “What you said the last time I was here... you were right. I was only worried about how this false Prometheus affected my family. But now... having seen what I saw tonight, I would like to help him.”
She stared at him suspiciously, wishing she could trust him as she did his twin. “This isn’t something you can dabble in, Morgan. You can’t play at this just because you’re bored or searching for something.” She cut herself off from saying what she really wanted.Don’t make me count on you and then fail me. I couldn’t bear that.
“I know that.” His blue eyes were imploring. “I don’t mean to play at anything. If you knew me at all, you’d know that whenever I commit to something, I do it wholeheartedly.”
“That’s just it,” she said, busying herself with making three cups of steaming tea, hoping the scent and warmth would rouse Ginny to some degree. “I don’t know you at all. I certainly can’t trust you with my children.”
“Why not?” he asked softly. “I trusted you with mine.”
She scoffed and placed a cup of tea on the table in front of him. “By all accounts, you weren’t in your right mind then. It was Adrian who trusted me.”
“Doesn’t the fact that he’s my brother give you any faith in me?”
