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The worn, heavy old oak doors with rows of black iron rivets opened and Sloane rushed into the expansive room, barely held panic on her face. “Jules, Vicky—they took Torrie.”
The bottom dropped out of Victoria’s stomach and she had to grab onto the edge of the table to keep herself upright.
No. Not Torrie.
Jules jumped to her feet, rushing to Sloane. “What? Torrie? What about Quinton?”
Sloane shook her head. “He’s with me, all of the children are. Torrie was stolen away from the carriage after she handed him up to the nursemaid after a stop at a tavern to stretch their legs. Roe was in the tavern. We came upon him and he was tearing up the countryside searching for her, and then Lach and Des appeared, looking for Eva.”
Victoria collapsed back onto her chair, darkness seeping into her veins, her chest squeezing so tight, she couldn’t get a breath in.
Jules’s head swung back and forth. “No. No, no, no. This is impossible. This cannot be happening. Both of them? It doesn’t make any sense.” She gripped onto Sloane’s arms. “But the children? The children are all well?” She asked the question again, needing to hear the answer one more time.
Sloane nodded. “Finley and Rory accompanied us the rest of the way here. We hired an old coach so no one would recognize us. Rory is bringing them all up to their rooms. Have Eva and Lach’s children arrived?”
“They did so yesterday.”
“Good. Good.”
Jules heaved a breath, holding her stomach but then her look lifted sharpy to Sloane. “Eva—Torrie—this isn’t by happenstance, is it?”
Her face grave, Sloane shook her head. “It doesn’t appear to be. All the men think its connected.”
“Bloody hellfire,” Jules muttered.
Silence soaked into the room, hanging heavy.
Victoria barely noticed.
She was looking across the table at Rafe, studying his face.
He didn’t look surprised by any of this.
Concerned? Yes.
But surprised?
No.
Not at all.
{ Chapter 21 }
Victoria finally had a moment to trap Rafe alone in the hallway outside of his room while Sloane and Jules were settling in the children. In this part of the castle, this hallway ran the length of the south side of the castle, then turned and ended without connecting to another level.
The suspicion that had snaked into her mind in the dining hall when Sloane arrived had slithered around her skull, not willing to let go.
No. She had to be wrong. Had to be.
But she couldn’t let it go. Not without hearing it from his lips.
“Rafe.”
He turned in the corridor, his eyebrows lifting and his eyes lighting up at her standing at the top of the staircase. He also looked like hell, like he hadn’t slept since Jules had found them together in the woods.
He strode over to her, his hands wrapping around her waist. “Hell, Vic, you don’t know how badly I’ve missed touching you.”
She weaved her arms inside of his, pushing his hold off her body as she took a step backward. “What do you know?”
