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“When it comes to Victoria, not really.” Charlie shook his head. “I know there is a lot between you, and it’s all complicated. But you really need to stop hiding away from her.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Rafe swallowed. “I love her, Charlie. I don’t think I could cope if she rejected me like that.”
Charlie stopped and stared at him.
“Did you just say what I thought you said?”
“You make it sound like a big deal.”
“With you, it is. I figured you two would either be at each other’s throats, or you would have a tenuous truce. Not that you would end up in love with her. That wasn’t a situation I would have expected, given the circumstances.”
Rafe sighed.
“I wasn’t expecting it, either.”
“Why don’t you tell her?”
“Tell her that the man she suspects of killing her brother is in love with her? I’m sure that’s going to go down well.”
“I thought she said that she believed you now.”
“There’s always a chance that a part of her still believes I did it.” Rafe rubbed his chest. “It’s not something I’m willing to…well, I’m sure even if I tell her how I feel, she will still withdraw from me.”
Charlie was looking at him like he had gone mad.
“I don’t understand you anymore, Rafe. You’ve become a mass of contradictions. I don’t recognise you now.”
“You’re not the only one,” Rafe grunted, adjusting his coat. “I’m still not used to all the fine clothing and the like. I would still prefer to be in simple clothes out in the wild.”
“We’re better-looking in these.”
“I still feel too fancy.”
Charlie chuckled.
“You don’t normally have a problem with it. You look more at home than I expected, and you know it.”
Rafe frowned.
“Are we going to find Asante, or are we going to stand here talking about fancy clothes and my inability to show my reluctant wife that I love her?”
“From what I’ve seen of her in the last couple of days, she’s hardly reluctant.” Charlie beckoned Rafe to follow him. “But you’re right. We need to get moving. Asante might decide to leave the house, and we will have missed him.”
Rafe hurried along after his friend, both of them fading into the shadows as they neared the house Asante was staying in. They had chosen black clothes for this, and Rafe felt like he was back in the American wilderness. This was something he was good at, hiding away and waiting for the prey to come by so they could pounce. That had been interesting to get used to, but Rafe felt more at home doing that than being an Earl.
He certainly never expected to bring his tracking skills into play back in England.
The house Asante was apparently in was at the end of a row of terraced houses, overlooking the beach on the other side of the road. There was a light coming from a downstairs window, shining through a thin curtain. Charlie reached the window first, peeking into the house while Rafe hovered by the corner.
Hopefully, nobody would come by and see them, that would really give the game away. Rafe didn’t think he could explain why an Earl was prowling around in the dark.
Charlie came back.
“He’s inside,” he whispered. “I saw him at the table. He looks like he’s been drinking for a while.”
“That might make getting answers out of him easier, then, if he’s sauced.”
“Let’s hope so.” Charlie frowned. “But we can’t barge in to demand answers. There are children in there. His sister’s children. They don’t deserve to hear that.”
