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I shook my head. “He needs me like he needs a stone in his shoe right now. He has so much he needs to do and I’m just going to be in the way. I wouldn’t be leaving him; I’d simply be giving him the space he needs to finish this.”
“Don’t say that, Viv.” Minty gripped me tighter and dropped her voice until it rumbled when she spoke. “He’s doing all of this for you. Can’t you see that? Ossian’s death, Sinclair’s death, the lab fires… It’s all for you.”
“No.” I pulled my arms back. “He didn’t do any of that for me; he did it for the island. But that’s okay, I wouldn’t have wanted to be the cause of any of this death and destruction, but it did have to be done. I understand that.”
“If you don’t believe he did this for you, you have no idea what that man feels for you. He’s killed for you. He’s ended his family’s legacy, the island’s legacy, for you.”
“He was already working on a new agaric programme before I came along. And he lied to me, don’t forget. He stood back and watched me get locked up in that pretty little prison, then went ahead and married another woman. He had plans, Mint, and they didn’t all involve me.”
“Can you hear yourself?” Minty’s voice had gone from one end of the octave spectrum to the other and was so high pitched only dogs could hear her. “It was all for you. To protect you. Ossian would have ended you and your family without a second thought. Rupert lived a lie for almost a year trying to divert his family’s interest from you. He even gave himself to Elspeth just so he could set you free. He was broken after you left, you know that? Broken.”
“But, when I called you from London, you said…”
Minty shrugged. “I know what I said. I told you he’d thrown himself into the role of fiancé with great enthusiasm. What else could I say, Viv? If I’d told you he looked like a ghost, and like he wanted to kill every single person that dared speak to him, would that have made you feel better?”
I fell quiet, then whispered, “Maybe.”
Minty rolled her eyes, unimpressed, then sighed heavily. “You can’t leave. Not now. Tell Peggy to get herself a doctor’s appointment asap, then talk to Rupert about the new crops. He won’t leave Peggy hanging, Viv. She’s his family now too.”
I dragged in a defeated breath and flopped down on the sofa as my lungs emptied.
“Fine. You’re right.”
Minty held my phone out to me. “Call her, text her. Do whatever you need to do. Then get some sleep. I have to go to the Social Club for a meeting but you can shower and help yourself to any of my clothes, okay?”
“Is this your way of telling me I smell?”
She bent down and kissed me on the cheek then grinned mischievously. “Sure.”
She managed to duck away from the sofa cushion I hurled at her, and I waited until the door had closed before swiping my phone. I was too much of a coward to call my sister. I was ashamed to admit it but I wasn’t sure after everything I’d witnessed the last couple of days, I could handle Peggy’s desperation. I wouldn’t be able to console her and that would break my heart. I fired off a text telling her to book a doctor’s appointment and that I’d have an update soon, then I showered and slid into Minty’s bedcovers, asleep before my head had even hit the pillow.
* * *
Hot lips and a soft whisper against my temple stirred me.
“Wake up, baby.”
I smiled sleepily and rolled towards the voice. Rupert pressed a small kiss to my nose. “I could watch you sleep for hours, but we have someplace to be.”
I opened my eyes lazily. “Where?”
“It’s a surprise.” He stroked a hand through my hair, his eyes dancing across the strands as though they were spun gold.
“Not Blackcap Hall?” Relief drenched me at the possibility I wouldn’t have to step foot in that place while Iris was still around.
“No, you deserve better than to be made to sleep under the same roof as that woman. Besides, I want to show you a place that is special to me.”
I lifted a finger and stroked it down the side of his face. “That sounds perfect.”
He reached for my hands and pulled me to sitting then curled a hand round the back of my neck. Goosebumps erupted all over my skin and I wondered if there would ever be a time when Rupert Thorn no longer had that effect on me. He tugged me into him and kissed my lips with an agonising gentleness. When he pulled away, I was breathless.
His black eyes burrowed into me, flickering with heat. “That’s the easiest I’m going to go on you tonight,” he warned. My pelvis warmed instantly and I nodded. When Rupert looked at me that way, arguing was pointless. He wanted something, and like everything else in his life, he would get it whether I submitted or not.
My gaze panned to the window. It was dark outside. “What time is it?”
Rupert stood and closed the curtains. “Just past nine.”
I turned back to him and sucked in a breath. “You’re not wearing a suit.”
