Breathe Me Smith and Belle (Royals Saga #11) - Geneva Lee Page 0,18

him out for letting me stand in the rain.

“Just a moment,” I ordered him, earning a sharp look of disapproval. But Smith held his tongue. Pivoting back to Edward, I wrapped him in a warm hug, lowering my voice so only he could hear me. “I am always here for you. No judgments. No expectations.”

“Let me know when you deliver that little hen,” he whispered back. “I promise to come as soon as I can.”

“I know you will.”

It was the most I could ask of him. I wanted my best friend to be there, but I also wanted him to heal. Maybe I could help him with that. Maybe some pain had to be faced alone.

An umbrella swung over my head, and I glanced up to see Smith standing there with a stony face, a sweep of dark hair falling across his eyes. His black coat was buttoned high at his neck, hugging his formidable upper body and he wore black leather gloves with notched holes at the knuckles. In the clouds and hazy twilight, he looked like a dark angel. Not the kind that came to deliver good news, but the ones who visited fury and vengeance upon the earth. I shivered.

Would I ever know all of him? Did I want to?

“Beautiful,” he said gently but firmly.

I pecked Edward’s cheek, squeezing his hand goodbye. Smith walked me back to the car, holding the umbrella over my head, his other hand pressed protectively against the small of my back. When I climbed inside, he paused to make certain my seat belt was correctly positioned under the place where our baby girl grew before brushing his lips over mine. Even the small act left me breathless. It reminded me that while I might not ever reach every dark place inside him, it was all open to me. He’d unlocked all the doors. I chose which ones to step through. Settling back in my seat as he circled round to the driver’s side, I decided that was more than most people could ever ask for.

“Is it warm enough?” he asked as he shifted into drive and pulled out behind a taxi cab.

“Toasty,” I promised. I hadn’t realized I was cold until I got inside the warm and dry interior cabin. I wiggled my toes, helping them thaw faster.

“Why were you in the rain?”

I rolled my eyes. “Because my bear of a husband told me to be ready to go in five minutes, and it took him ten to arrive.”

That shut him up.

“Where are we going?” I asked. He hadn’t bothered with specifics when he called. In fact, he’d sounded rather uneasy when we spoke.

“The house.” He hesitated, stealing a glance at me.

“Our house? What’s wrong?” I frowned.

“I met with Georgia this afternoon. She told me that…”

“What?”

“I don’t actually know.” The car slowed as we turned onto Holland Park into a traffic jam. He tapped the leather-bound steering wheel impatiently. “What is going on here?”

“We were only in Sussex for two days. Don’t tell me that you already forgot the traffic.” I said dryly, but he didn’t laugh.

He craned his head, trying to see around the back-up of vehicles in front of us. He really was worried, which only made me feel more panicked.

“What exactly did she say?” I asked.

“That we needed to go by the house. That we should see it in person.” A car next to us turned and Smith guided us over, moving us incrementally closer to whatever disaster awaited us in Holland Park.

This couldn’t be happening. I wasn’t ready to commit to Thornham. I thought I had more time, but if something had gone wrong at our home in the city, what choice did I have? Convincing Smith that we needed a new London residence was unlikely. Never mind that we would have nowhere to stay tonight. I could call Clara and we could go there, but I doubted Smith would be fond of that idea. I was supposed to have more time. I rubbed circles on my belly. She would be here any day, but I wasn’t ready to fully give up my life in London. Not until she came or we felt ready to be on our own.

Or maybe ever.

The more time I spent in London, the more I wondered if I could give it up to move back to the country. What was I supposed to do with my time there? Make menus for the cook to prepare and wander the grounds? Adopt a few dogs?