He turned his gaze to the fire, still looking troubled. “I’m trying.”
“That’s all anyone can really do, isn’t it?” She laughed roughly. “I think we’re all just doing the best that we can on any given day.”
“I suppose so.” He reached for his glass and took another swig of the brandy. “I really wish you’d tell me who the new Prometheus is. I’ve turned it round and round in my head and can’t think of anyone other than you, Vanessa, and Serenity who knows of the connection between Prometheus and Brookhaven.”
Her breath caught in her throat. Was this why he’d truly come? Were all his sweet words just a way to disarm her, a way to learn what he truly wanted to know? And he was absolutely right. She and his brothers’ wives were the only people who could possibly know. But the fact that it hadn’t yet occurred to him that she or one of his sisters-in-law could be Prometheus was a bit insulting. Why couldn’t a woman be as brave and daring as a man?
“You’re not thinking the problem through,” she said finally. “The answer is right in front of you. You just can’t see it.”
He sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face. “I don’t like puzzles.”
She shrugged, all the pleasant warmth of the evening disappearing. “I can’t give you any more than that, I’m afraid. And I wish we didn’t have to talk about this.”
“I’m sorry,” he said swiftly, obviously realizing how her mood had changed. “I didn’t mean to ruin things.”
She sat up straight, which caused his hand to dislodge from her shoulder. “It’s fine. But I think that you should go. It’s very late, and I really need to get some sleep.”
He looked as if he wanted to protest, but he slowly pushed himself to his feet. “I’ll go. But promise me that you’ll stop avoiding me. Please.”
She sighed. “I do appreciate that you came tonight. And I’m sorry I can’t tell you more about Prometheus.”
“It’s all right,” he said, giving her a pale imitation of a smile. “I’ll see you sometime tomorrow, then?”
“Yes,” she answered, though, in truth, tonight had made it more imperative than ever that she stay away from him because of the danger to her heart that he represented.
Chapter Eleven
Morgan had hoped thathis late-night visit to Fiona would make things easier between them but instead, it had only made things worse. The next week continued as the week before had. He showed up at Brookhaven every day to work on the murals, and she did her best to avoid him. When he did manage to run into her, the air between them practically crackled with tension and awkwardness.
But for some reason, he couldn’t leave it alone. He couldn’t stop thinking about what it would mean to have her in his life, though he still had no idea what that would look like or what exactly he wanted from her.
At his wit’s end, he finally realized that Adrian and Lucien were not the ones he really needed to talk to about the matter.
Which was how he found himself being shown into the gold parlor at Lucien’s house on the next Saturday afternoon for an audience with his sisters-in-law, Serenity and Vanessa.
“Morgan,” Serenity cried, rising to greet him with a hug. “It’s so good to see you.”
