“My lady, Lord Darnick is here for you.” It was a sad state of affairs when one’s heart threatened to punch right through one’s sternum at the mere mention of their husband. Luz was working on drawing a breath when the man himself appeared on the threshold.
“I need a word, in private.”
No prelude, no niceties. Not after he’d lied to her that morning. In an instant the misery from moments before turned into indignation.
How dare he demand things from her when he’d treated her like she was invisible for days?
“I don’t think so,” she told him. “Whatever you want to say, you can do so in front of my friends.”
“This is a very delicate matter, Luz Alana,” he told her, then glanced at Aurora and Manuela, who had risen from their chairs seemingly ready to escape from the incoming confrontation.
“Whatever you tell me, they will hear about the moment you walk out of here,” Luz countered. “As a matter of fact, I’d appreciate if you were prompt with whatever you are here to discuss, as I have urgent matters to attend to.” He didn’t react to her dismissive tone, not with words, but she saw his jaw clench as he stared at her.
“And what urgent matter is that?” he finally said, voice taut.
“Luz, we could wait outside,” Manuela hedged from the corner. “There are those sketches in Adalyn’s office—”
“No, you can stay. Lord Darnick won’t be here for long.” She returned her gaze to Evan. “We’ve much to do in getting the Heriot Row house ready for our arrival.” Both Aurora and Manuela gasped in surprise, likely because this was the first time Luz had voiced out loud that she was intending to leave Evan’s home. It had been the plan, after all, and it was best for her to start facing up to the reality. She had no time for these games.
Was she acting unreasonably? Probably. Would she stop? Unlikely.
“You are planning to move to the house on Heriot Row.” Not a question, not exactly, but he clearly wanted answers.
“Correct,” she confirmed, now fully invested in this idea.
“Were you intending to let me know?” he asked, stepping into the office and dwarfing it with his presence. His eyes were on her as if he was trying to pierce her mind, but Luz was like a moth circling a flame now. Spoiling, itching for an argument, desperate to tear through this veil of politeness and pained silences that had smothered her for the last week.
“Why would I need to? This was the plan, and as far as I know, nothing has changed,” she said as she made her way to where he stood.
Even through the scruff of his beard she could see his jaw working, the muscles of his face clenching and unclenching. Mouth in a flat, unhappy line, but eyes flashing with something very different to that air of irritation he was exuding. He seemed...fearful.
“I would prefer if we did this alone, Luz Alana.” The strain in his voice almost gave her pause. But she was done conceding, compromising.
“And I’ve already advised you that my friends will stay right where they are.” She turned to pin the two women with a challenging look. They seemed desperate to flee out the door, but Luz knew they would endure whatever was about to happen. “So what is this important matter you wish to discuss?” She infused each word with a defiance she did not feel. She knew what was coming, could see in his eyes that whatever he was about to tell her would hurt her. But she would not hide from it, and she would not make it easier for him either. He would have to tell her here, in front of her friends, that he was done with her. Evan moved toward her, but she held up a hand.
“No, I need some distance.”
He stopped in his tracks the moment she said the words. “All right.” If she let him get close enough to touch her, even a brush of the hand, she’d capitulate. And this conversation needed to happen without her feelings for Evan interfering. His face was serious, but he didn’t cower or look away. He was ready to face whatever the consequences of his actions were.
“I’ve kept something from you,” he finally confessed, and the way he said it, wearily but almost prideful, planted a seed of doubt in her mind about what he was here to say. Did she have this all wrong? “My intention at my father’s ball is not just to demand he give me the distillery back.” She nodded, her mouth clamped shut, as she watched sweat bead on his brow. “I...” Evan shut his eyes for a second, and she saw the vein in his forehead pulse from tension. He clenched and unclenched his fist as he struggled with what he’d come to tell her. But when he glanced down at her, there was a determination there that she recognized. Whatever this was, it had to do with something bigger than the two of them.
“I have a brother, an older brother,” he explained.
“Your brother Iain?” she asked, confused.
“No.” He shook his head, roughly, his gaze still trained on her. As though keeping his sights on her kept him from going adrift. “Remember how I told you about my father’s time in the Caribbean?”
“I do,” she said warily. Evan told her about the duke’s travels when he was a young man. Back then he’d been the ambitious second son of the Duke of Annan. From what Luz had surmised, the man had departed on his journey with the intent of hunting for his own fortune and had returned a wealthy man three years later to claim the duchy after his father and brother had died.
“He married while he was there and fathered a son with a woman in Cartagena.”
Aurora’s and Manuela’s exclamations startled them both. Evan gave Luz a wry look, as if sayingThis is why I wanted to speak with you in private. But her mind was reeling much too fast to address anything other than Evan’s revelation.
“My father married a Colombian heiress, likely for her fortune.” She could see his throat working, as if the words kept getting stuck. “She died in childbirth, and he left the boy there before returning to Scotland.”
“I don’t understand,” she mumbled, stunned. “He just abandoned the child and absconded with his dead wife’s money?”
“Yes, that’s precisely what my father did.”
