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She pressed her lips together. “I don’t want him to hurt your side. Dr. Olsen said to watch tearing your stitches.”
“Stop fussing, Georgie,” he said more harshly than he intended before catching her hand. This side of Georgina was one she’d kept well-hidden. A woman who worried over him. Nursing him. Caring for him. Leo actually liked her fussing over him far more than he should.
She’s magnificent. And mine.
“Fuss? I merely don’t want to have to explain to Welles how I let you perish in the woods of Brooklyn.” She paused and nodded. “Averell. I keep forgetting. I don’t know if I can get accustomed to calling him that. But you. Jumping in front of Masterson as if you weren’t going to get shot.” She sucked in her breath. “You nearly drowned in that damned pond.Water, Leo. That you are afraid of.”
“I’m well aware the pond was filled with water.”
Another sharp intake of breath. “This isn’t Elysium where you have Peckham and Smith at your side. Or where you can trot about like a king.”
“I do not trot.” His thumb stroked along her hand.
A ragged sob crawled up her throat, and she looked away. “I didn’t think I’d be able to get you out of the water, Leo. You got stuck in the mud. Weeds. You were bleeding—”
“Shh.” Leo pulled her hand to his lips.
Tears ran down her cheeks. “You kept begging me not to leave you to die in the dark water. You thought I was Welles. Averell. Damn it. I’m sorry. I just—sometimes I dream that I couldn’t get you out of the water. I—”
“My brave girl.” He pressed a kiss to her palm. “But you did save me. And Daniel.”
She nodded and wiped at her tears. “I did. I really did.”
Daniel made a trilling sound in the back of his throat, his gaze darting between Georgina and Leo, blue eyes wide. He reached out with one hand and patted Georgina’s arm. “Ma. Ma.”
“Mama is fine, my love.” She ran a hand through his curls.
“I assume Harold is gone?” Leo ran a shaky hand down Daniel’s body, feeling the fragility of his son. An image flashed before him of Georgina, a fierce, cold look on her face as she brought down the branch on Harold’s skull.
“Yes.” Her voice was soft. “I split his skull. I hit him more than once to ensure he would never harm my family again.” Georgina held his gaze. “You probably didn’t notice because you were in the pond. I—suffice it to say, it was quite gruesome. But I’m not sorry. Ben found us after I pulled you from the pond.” Her eyes shuttered closed, still in that clearing and far away from him for a moment. “He handled everything.”
Leo was assured Harold was gone. Cooke never would have allowed him to live. “Good, my love. He left you no other choice, Georgie. He would have killed me. You. Daniel.”
She nodded. “I know.”
“How is Lilian?” The vision of her lying at the bottom of the stairs, her dress soaked with blood, haunted Leo. Reminding him of the death of Tony’s mother and everything that came after.
“She’s a widow, of course. I suppose that is the kindest thing I could say. If William weren’t already dead, he soon would be. My father was beside himself. He never thinks anyone under his thumb will defy him. You’d think he would have learned with me. She lost the child. Which Ben and I agree is for the best, given the circumstances. Mother was here for a few days, sneaking peeks at you and fluttering nonsensically over Lilian. Eventually, she became so annoying, Ben took her to the ferry.”
Leo tugged her closer. “Come lay next to me, Georgie. Put Daniel on my stomach. He can’t do much damage there.”
When she’d settled against his good side, Leo stroked her hair, feeling her, warm and soft against him. Daniel pressed his head to Leo’s chest, giggling when Leo’s stomach grumbled.
“You smell like spring,” he whispered into her hair.
“I told you, it isn’t spring, or any other damned season, Leo. It’s soap.”
“I want to marry you. As soon as I am able to leave this bed. You might even be with child again. I took no precautions at all. Not that it seemed to make any difference the first time. The point is, you are obviously very fertile and—”
“What a terrible proposal. Possibly the worst one imaginable.” Her palm covered his heart. “I’m not even sure I should accept. You put no thought into it at all.”
“Agreed. I’ve been stuck in this bloody bed with no time to prepare.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and felt the weight of his eyelids pushing him toward sleep. Daniel had settled on his chest, his breathing even and deep.
“But my answer is still yes.”
“Good,” he whispered before drifting off.
* * *
