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“The question I’m asking myself,” —he frowns— “is if the timing was all a coincidence or if Gideon Black went after Louisa because he knew of your plan to take her on the way to the wedding.”
“That would mean we have a snitch.”
His dark eyes focus on me again. “Exactly.”
There’s a knock on the door. Without looking away from Declan, I say, “Come in.”
Axle enters, followed by Dr. Graham. Axle shuts the door and stands beside it, waiting as usual for anything I might request of him.
“How’s our patient?” I ask the doctor, turning to him.
“She’s alert and well. There is a bit of swelling, and the bruising extends down into her cheekbone, but the wound is clean and stitched. I don’t believe she’s concussed, even though she did lose consciousness.”
“Good.” I nod.
“But I strongly advise a cat scan at the hospital, just to rule anything out.”
My lips pull into a thin line. “I’m not sure that’s a risk I can take.”
“She’d be in good hands. I can have it done discretely and have her brought back to you within the hour. No one will know she’s there.”
I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose. Sending Lou’s mother to the hospital would give her the chance to escape. Or if she’s seen by anyone in Duran’s employ, my hand will be revealed and everything I want will slip through my fingers.
But if I don’t and Diana has some head injury we can’t see, I’ll lose it all anyway.
“Axle,” I call out and he stands at attention. “Please make sure to get Dr. Graham and Diana an escort. You go along and report to me every ten minutes. And make sure to let Mrs. Duran know what will happen to her daughter should she try anything while she’s at the hospital,” I add before they’re out of the room.
Axle pauses, then nods. “Yes sir.”
“You wouldn’t hurt Louisa after all your efforts to get her here,” Declan says.
“Diana doesn’t know that.”
When I continue to stare at the door the men just left through, Declan says, “Now it’s my turn to ask what you’re thinking.”
“I think you’re right. It’s my time to deal with the Ferryman.”
4
ROWAN
“How is she doing?” I ask Phil.
He glances wearily down the hall, toward the suite Lou is being held in. “She’s been quiet for a while.”
I go to stand outside her room, staring at the door so hard, it seems to take on a life of its own. It bulges toward me as it breathes, intense and maybe a little terrifying. Like the woman on the other side.
Louisa.
Although I always knew she’d come back to me, this isn’t where I imagined her.
A grin tugs at my lips as I recall the vision she made beneath me in that small apartment I rented in the North End. Her sweet smile, the way her black hair fanned over my pillow, and the desire in her gaze remain emblazoned in my mind.
That’s what I hoped for when she returned to me. However, I prepared for the worst after what I did to her.
Perhaps if she hadn’t vowed to be mine, even after I warned her she might not always feel that way, I would have left her alone. But she did.
“I will. No matter what, I’ll always be yours,” she said. “I swear it. I’m yours forever.”
