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Annalise scrubbed his night stubble with her hand. Blake caught her palm against his cheek and kissed it.
“If that’s what you want,” he said hoarsely.
He lay back, pulling Annalise close to him. He placed her head in the crook of his arm and kissed her hair.
“Sleep, my darling, I shall be watching over you,” he whispered.
Annalise curled into his side and hugged him tightly. “Will you be here when I wake up?”
Blake buried his nose into her hair and inhaled. “Yes, my darling. I shall be here.”
Annalise snuggled closer to him, and in a moment’s time, she was asleep.
* * *
Blake woke up at a light rap on the door.
He was a light sleeper. He had to be. Anyone who wasn’t didn’t live long on the slave ship. He turned and grazed his hand against the warm body of his wife.
She slept peacefully snoring, her chest rising and falling with her soft breaths.
Blake wanted to snuggle closer to her and fall back to sleep, but another rap on the door reminded him that something needed his attention beyond the walls of this bedchamber. With a sigh, Blake slowly rolled off the bed, trying not to wake his wife.
She didn’t seem disturbed by either the incessant knocking or by Blake’s movements. Good.
Blake wrapped himself in a sheet and shuffled to the door. He exited the room and beheld his valet at the door.
“A visitor, my lord,” the valet whispered.
“Does this visitor know what time it is?” Blake whispered back.
“He insisted it is urgent, my lord,” the valet said meekly.
Blake heaved a sigh. “Does this visitor have a name?”
“Mr. Gunning, my lord.”
Ford. He wouldn’t come to Blake’s home without a good reason. Especially not in the middle of the night. Blake turned and threw one last glance toward his sleeping wife before shutting the door with a soft click and walking to meet his friend.
He found Ford pacing the hall. He looked up when he heard Blake’s steps and frowned at him.
“Finally, I thought you were never coming out.”
“Some of us sleep, Ford,” Blake answered begrudgingly.
“Does this include you?” Ford raised his brow. “Because I could have sworn you look like you haven’t slept in weeks.”
“Well, tonight was the first time in a while when I was enjoying my slumber.” Blake raked a hand through his hair. “But it seems like I shan’t get to rest on this earth. So you might as well get to the point.”
“Hades.”
Blake raised a brow.
“One of my men managed to secure an audience with the man. Don’t ask how. It is unheard of for him to ever arrange an audience with anyone. He finds you; you never find him. However, since this has happened, we can’t delay. We need to get to his club before dawn. Or he’ll be gone, and we shan’t have another chance to speak to him.”
Blake rang the servants’ bell, and Crane appeared at his elbow. “Prepare the carriage with all haste.” He raised a brow at Ford. “Well, what are we waiting for?”
Ford scratched his jaw and looked Blake up and down. “You might want to wear something less conspicuous.”
