Page 50 of Break Me: Smith and Belle

“Georgia called him,” Smith replied in explanation to me, “but I did confirm that we have a situation.”

I searched his face, looking for the reason he’d betrayed me by bringing in an outsider.

“I owe you both,” Alexander cut in. He swallowed, a flash of vulnerability marring his unyielding demeanor. “For how you helped Clara.”

“She’s my best friend,” I said. I hadn’t done anything out of consideration for him, but rather her.

“The fact remains,” he dismissed my reason. “And I believe Clara would say the same. She certainly agreed I should come when I told her I was needed.”

“Shouldn’t you be with her?” I asked hotly. They were both acting like I was in as much trouble as Clara had been when she’d been abducted. But Clara had been the victim then. Something I wasn’t.

“Norris is with her. She and the children are quite safe at Buckingham.”

I envied him his fortress. He had complete faith in the safety of the walls that surrounded him there. We didn’t have the same security at Thornham.

“Finding the Thorne baby is the answer,” Smith said, shifting the conversation back to our problems.

“Why do you believe that?” I demanded, getting to my feet. “What could that have to do with Nora?”

“I don’t yet,” Smith admitted. His shoulders went rigid, a mask slipping over his face. It had been a long time since I had seen him like this. He’d worn this demeanor often when we first met. Then, we’d been under threat from a common enemy. It had turned me on then to see how far he was willing to go in the face of danger. It had been exhilarating to watch how he controlled a situation.

I’d given myself over to that control.

But things were different now. Promises had been made, and we had more than ourselves to worry about now. Seeing the beast he’d caged peeking from his eyes scared me. I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever was necessary to protect me, but at what cost?

23

Smith

By noon, Belle had spirited Edward away to the Bless offices. I had no doubt both of them wanted to put much-needed distance between the occupants of the main house. I’d taken Alexander outside, on the pretense of giving him a tour of the property, so that we could talk without risk of being overhead. The footage of Belle in the nursery last night had reminded me that it was too easy to trust a closed door, but the walls often had ears of their own.

We strolled past the gardens, still half-covered in melting snow, toward the valley that extended beyond the estate’s buildings. Alexander was quiet as we walked until we reached an old oak that was normally a speck in the distance.

“Did she do it?” he asked, as though he’d been waiting until we neared this point to pose the question.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

Alexander shifted his hands behind his back, his eyes scanning the distance like he might find answers there.

“Does it matter?” I asked.

“Not to me,” he said pointedly.

“I would do anything for her.” I meant it. “It doesn’t matter what she did or didn’t do. I promised I would protect her.”

“You should come back to London,” he advised, turning to survey my reaction. “It will be easier for me to handle things if we don’t have to deal with bumbling local detectives.”

“And if they find a body?”

Alexander looked out over my property before raising an eyebrow. “We’ll find it first. Brex can oversee it.”

“And if we don’t find her?”

“Then it will be even easier to deal with—no digging required.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder. “London is the best choice, and I could certainly use you there.”

“I’m not certain that life…“ Belle had cracked in the quiet of the country. How much worse would it be in the chaos of the city? “I’d need to consider before dividing my attention. I wanted to leave this life behind.”

He smiled grimly. “A feeling I understand all too well.”