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“Thank you,” she whispered, relieved that Delilah wasn’t likely to walk into the room.
“It was too close, Sophia. If we hadn’t turned up when we had we -” He couldn’t finish his sentence. The words lodged in his throat and he couldn’t even croak them out.
She stroked his too pale cheek gently. “What is it? What aren’t you telling me?”
She knew from the way he sighed that there was more. The tension running through him was palpable. There was also a lot she needed to say but, from the gravity on his face, his news was considerably more important.
“I love you,” he whispered.
He captured her gasp with his lips and clung on with everything he possessed. His hand reached up to cup the back of her head, but she had no intention of pulling away. She couldn’t. This was what she wanted. He was what she had lived for.
“I love you too,” she replied when he found the strength to lift his head.
“Thank Heavens for that,” he replied with his first smile of the day.
“There is more you are not telling me.” In spite of his smile, and their kisses, he still had not relaxed in her arms. She sensed he didn’t want to worry her because of her injury, but she didn’t want secrets between them. She started to suspect that she knew what was wrong, though, when his gaze kept returning to the marks around her neck.
“They will fade,” she promised him.
“It makes me livid to think of what she has done to you. What she might have succeeded in doing.” He shook his head and rested his head against hers for a moment. “God, my life would have ended with yours if you had been stolen from me.”
“I am here. I don’t plan on going anywhere for a while,” she whispered.
“Good. See that you don’t.” He cemented his warning with another very thorough kiss.
Reeling beneath the force of his devotion, Sophia snuggled against him in contentment.
Jeb had never felt anything so wonderful. To hear her heart beating so steadily against his chest reassured him she was indeed going to be alright and, for the first time since entering the gardens, he began to relax.
“Did Delilah kill Mrs Banks and Tabitha?” she asked.
She could remember nothing about her ordeal, but was relieved by it more than worried. Right now she didn’t want to think about it. The sooner she could put it all behind her and move on with her life the better she would heal, both emotionally and physically.
“No. That was the man we saw her arguing with, or her boss. Either way, it wasn’t her.” Jeb looked down into her face and knew instinctively what she was really asking; when he was going to leave her alone again. There was a silent plea in her soulful eyes that made him hold her tighter.
“We have work to do in the village yet. There is a list of people, Myers, the man you saw Delilah arguing with, has working for him. Once we have their details we can start to arrest them and stop them stealing. We also need to capture his boss, a man called Bamber, from stealing the Squire’s jewels. Once we have done that, we need to interrogate Myers and Delilah, and get as much information out of both of them as we can.”
“Then you will move on to London,” she whispered, dreading the moment.
“Not really,” Jeb replied and surprised her.
She jumped and leaned back to look up at him. “Really?”
Jeb nodded. “My father asked me to come here to help catch the thief. Given that the thefts from large houses sounded similar to the work we are doing in London, I agreed. I needed a break and some time to decide what I want to do with my life. I love my work for the Star Elite but of late, several of the men in the unit have found wives and settled down to matrimonial bliss. I had wondered if it is time I did the same even before I met you.”
He looked at her and gave her such a winning smile that she blinked and stared at him in awe. He was truly a remarkably handsome man when he smiled like that. She wished he would do it again, as often as possible. Her heart fluttered with sheer joy and she smiled back.
“Then I met you and knew for definite that I wanted to settle down, but only with you.”
“I am glad you did,” she replied with heartfelt fervency.
“So am I,” he whispered. “You have made me reassess my life and what I want from it. While I have always been happy to spend as much time as I need investigating crime, I want more out of life. My father has been on at me for years to settle down and spend more time at Briggleberry. But, because I haven’t shown any interest in the place, he has employed an excellent man of business, Philip Everson. He is adept at working the estate, albeit with my father. They are happy with the arrangement at the moment but need additional help now that Algernon has purchased yet more land in the hopes of increasing the estate’s crop yield. I think it is time to settle down at Briggleberry, and give them a hand, and hope to work for the Star Elite when I am needed.”
“You work is very important,” she admitted with confidence. She now had first-hand experience of just how crucial men like Jeb were to people’s safety.
“My life with you is more important,” he murmured. “I will quit if you really cannot abide the prospect of a life with me working with them.”
He couldn’t resist it when she looked up at him. Keeping his gaze locked on the warmth within her eyes he kissed her with all of the fierce emotion that swept through him. In deference to her recuperating state he didn’t allow matters to go too far, he just left her with no misunderstanding as to just how important she was to him.
