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When the sound of the horse's hooves could not be heard any longer, Leah turned to Edward. "What if it was really all true? What Andrew said? That the death of your parents was just a mistake–"
"No," he shook his head even more firmly than before.
"I don't think I would be able to live with that," she admitted, her voice down to a whisper. Instinctively, Edward wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him, so that now her head was resting on his shoulder. She could hear the faint sound of his heartbeat and it soothed her. "To know that your parents were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"No," he repeated, more firmly this time. "I would understand it if Harry died in that fire alone. But he didn't. That fire took three lives with it, and I am positive that it wasn't an accident. Someone started it on purpose, someone who had planned it very carefully. Maybe we are looking at it from the wrong perspective."
"What do you mean?" she wondered.
"We have been thinking all this time that Harry was the target," he pointed out.
"Well... isn't he?" Leah echoed. "I mean, I thought they were all targets, your parents, Harry, my mother. They were working together on something."
"Yes, that is how we should look at it," Edward agreed. "There is something interconnecting them all, something that we still aren't seeing."
"Maybe that address will reveal something we don't know yet," Leah said, sounding hopeful. She knew that she shouldn't be, because there could be no one there. It could be just another dead end, and after that, there would truly be no other lead. They would be stuck, just like they'd been all this time.
"We shall see that tomorrow," he said, turning around and leading her back into the mansion.
"I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight," she said with a heavy sigh. She was excited, afraid. She was feeling a whole array of different emotions and she knew that, under their influence, she would not be able to get a wink of sleep, which she would be in desperate need of. She needed a clear head tomorrow. She needed to be well rested and ready for whatever.
"Perhaps you need some help with that?" he whispered into her ear, chuckling. She couldn't help but join in, elbowing him gently in the sides.
"Is that all you ever think about?" she teased.
"When one has a wife such as you, there is nothing else onecanthink about, my dear," he said, turning around, sliding one arm underneath her armpit and back and the other under her knees, so that now he lifted her up into the air and started carrying her toward his chamber.
"Put me down at once!" She pretended to be displeased with what he was doing, but the truth was far from it. She was giggling and chuckling, unable to cease, as he kept climbing the stairs slowly, minding each step so they wouldn't fall.
"I shall put you down," he nodded. "Right into my bed, my dear. That is where I intend to keep you the entire night, just in case you have nightmares. If you do, I shall hold your hand, so you can rest and know that nothing will happen to you now, tonight, or tomorrow, or in the next several years. In fact, nothing will happen to you for as long as you live, because I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe and protected."
All of these words simply flowed out of him effortlessly, and all she could do was listen. There was nothing to say, but just smile. She had never felt so happy, so protected, so loved. And she had this man to thank for all of that, this man next to whom she had simply woken up one night, without the slightest idea how she had gotten there.
In fact, they still didn't know how this happened. They stopped discussing it, but it was obvious that they were both equally curious about that night. Only, they had more urgent mysteries to solve first. After they had found out the truth behind the deaths of their parents, they would be able to solve the mystery of their falling in love.
It's just that Leah didn't mind not knowing this one. All that mattered was that they were in love. Everything else was irrelevant.
CHAPTER24
"Are you certain that this is the place?" Leah wondered, as the two of them eyed a house that seemed abandoned.
Edward was frowning, scratching the back of his neck. "I think so. Cobbler Street, number 75. Isn't that right?"
"Yes," Leah confirmed, although she did not need to. Edward had learned the address by heart. He knew the street as well. Many of the people here spent much of the year abroad, so not finding someone home was not such a surprise. Whatwasa surprise was the fact that the house was completely devoid of any life. There was no butler to inform them that the master or mistress of the house was away. There were no servants in the garden. There was no one. That was the puzzling part.
"I suppose we shall have to return some other time," Edward sighed feeling defeated. He looked around the street. It was almost not busy at all. There were only several passersby, who did not seem to be paying any attention to the couple lingering in front of a gate.
"Absolutely not," he suddenly heard Leah say. "We are going in."
"What do you mean going in?" Edward gasped, looking around. Fortunately, now there was no one. However, that still didn't mean that her suggestion was all right. "How do you propose we do that when there is no one to open the front door for us? Do we just... break in?"
"That isexactlywhat we do," she smirked.
His jaw dropped. "You must be joking. Please tell me you're joking."
"You may remain in the carriage... if you are afraid." The moment she said those words, they both knew what she was aiming at. They also both knew that she had hit her target, because the last thing he would ever do was allow her to break into a house alone.
"I am more afraid of letting you go alone," he admitted.
