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Traes handed Cleb over to a thick shouldered guard.
“Give him a quick wash and put him to bed,” he said. “He needs his rest.”
“Yes, sir,” the guard said and carried him up the stairs.
Traes closed the space between us and took me in his arms. He held me close.
“Wait,” I said. “What about the servants?”
“I’ve decided to be open and honest about our relationship with them,” he said. “With everyone. I want you to be my lady.”
I wasn’t sure I heard him right.
“What?” I said.
“I want you to marry me,” he said. “I know it’s sudden but I can’t deny how I feel about you. Don’t you feel the same way?”
Yes, I did. With all my heart.
But there were too many lies between us, too much I hadn’t told him. Him saying this was like being hit by a freight train.
“Wait,” I said. “This is too fast. There are things about me you don’t know. Things you might not like—”
He took a step forward and placed his hands on my shoulders.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Nothing else matters. Only that you and Cleb are safe. You bring out the best in me, bring out the best in Cleb. You are the missing piece in my life, and perhaps, with time, I can be the missing piece in yours.”
You already are.
“We don’t need to rush into anything,” he said. “We never need to feel forced to do anything we don’t want. Tonight, I almost lost you and Cleb. It was the most terrifying experience of my life. I never want that to happen again. I want to keep you and him safe forever and always.”
The tears spilled from my eyes and down my cheeks. I wasn’t embarrassed or shy about showing them. The words he was saying, the way he was looking at me… it was what I always wanted to hear.
I was so happy.
And yet, I couldn’t stop thinking about the lies I’d told. I had a dirty black mark inside me, this knowledge of the truth, of what it might mean to him if only he knew. It was not right he should love me without knowing everything about me, warts and all.
He needed to know the truth about how we had met and the circumstances that’d brought me there in the first place.
“Now I need to go to my study,” Traes said.
“You’re not going to work now?” I said incredulously.
“Of course not,” he said. “I have to tell everyone we found you.”
He disappeared around the corner as he headed directly for his office.
Tell everyone? Everyone who?
An alarm bell rang between my ears.
“Wait,” I said. “Who are you going to tell?”
“It wasn’t only our household out looking for you,” he said. “I told my neighbors and they offered to help. I need to call them and let them know we found you. Then, of course, I have to call the police.”
I came to an abrupt stop at the foot of his office. He rounded his desk and picked up the communicator.
“The police?” My heart was in my throat. “What do the police have to do about this?”
