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‘In the walls...?’
Summer couldn’t help but laugh. She supposed it did sound a little crazy. It was, after all, a one hundred and fifty-year-old treasure hunt. ‘The estate suffered some fire damage in the mid to late eighteen-hundreds and was rebuilt by a French architect named Benoit Chalendar.’
Theron frowned. ‘As in Chalendar Enterprises?’
‘Mm-hmm. He put in a secret recess behind the shelves over there,’ she said, pointing behind him. ‘And also built secret passageways behind the walls here in the estate for Catherine Soames’s amusement. They turned out to be a sanctuary for her. And somewhere within the passageways is a room, or a box, where the diamonds have been kept safely locked away.’
‘So, you have the key?’
‘Ithinkso,’ she said, desperately hoping that to be the case. ‘Star is in Duratra now and says that she knows where the necklace is.’
‘What does a necklace have to do—?’
Summer scrunched her nose, realising she was telling this all wrong. ‘Sorry. The necklace we found here in the library interlocks with a necklace that the royal family of Duratra have been protecting. Together, they form the key to where the diamonds are.’
He frowned, as if mostly keeping up. ‘So you have a map of the tunnels, the key is nearly here, but you don’t knowwherein the passageways the diamonds are locked?’
Summer nodded.
‘And you won’t inherit the estate if you don’t find the diamonds?’
She nodded again.
‘But if you find the diamonds, inherit the estate, then you can sell it to Lykos, so that you can...pay for your mother’s treatment,’ he concluded, understanding finally dawning in his eyes.
‘Exactly.’
‘Summer, I can give you that money,’ Theron insisted.
She bit her lip and shook her head. ‘In exchange for?’
‘What? No, there would be no strings,’ he said. For a moment he appeared offended that she had thought such a thing. But he’d said it as if he actually believed it.
‘Oh, so maybe when we have a disagreement about me having a home birth—’
‘A home birth?’ he choked.
‘Or the name of our child, or where I live with our child, or—’
‘Wewillbe getting married.’
‘Orwhetherwe marry... Theron, if I take your money for my mother’s treatment it will always be there. We are going to be parents together. We are going to look after a baby, a child, a teenager and a young adult. Wehaveto be equals in this. I could not spend the rest of our lives in your debt.’
It was probably the only thing she could say to cut through the fog of his indignation and incomprehension. Because Theron knew the weight of such a debt. He felt it every single day. Even now, thinking of Kyros, he felt the hot ache of guilt. Coming to England had been the first time Theron had ever lied to him. A new client. The words had stuck in his throat when he’d lied to the man who had given him so much that no repayment could ever be compensation enough. Theron should have never kept this—kepther—from him.
‘I will stand for nothing less, Theron.’
‘You shouldn’t,’ he agreed, swearing to himself that he would never do such a thing to her. The pride he felt seeing her determination, seeing the spark of golden fire in her hazel eyes, was bewitching. In that moment he knew that she would be fierce as a mother, protective, sure and powerful. It humbled him.
And then it scared him. What kind of father would he be if his first act had been to cast out the mother of his child and accuse her of...? His heart pounded in his chest and he clenched his fists, trying to refocus himself as a cold sweat broke out at his neck.
‘How long have you been searching the tunnels?’ He forced the words out, trying to distract himself.
‘Skye sent pictures of the map about a month ago.’
He cursed, his mind moving from himself to her in a heartbeat. ‘You’ve been searching these tunnels on your own for a month?’
‘We’re all doing our bit,’ she said defensively. ‘Skye is in France with Benoit—they’re figuring out a few things through the engagement and Star is in Duratra trying to get the key back from Sheikh Khalif Al Azhar. And I’m supposed to find the jewels, except I can’t.’
