Page 36 of Ireland

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in her familiar beloved scent. Her proximity grounded him immediately, silencing the noise and worry in his mind. When she leaned into him, he sighed inwardly with soul-deep contentment. They could handle anything life threw at them as long as they were aligned.

“Something’s bothering you.” He nuzzled her temple as Lucky lay down with front paws on his oxfords. “Something that came up during your lunch with Cary?”

“It’s uncanny how you do that,” she muttered in what sounded like a complaint.

“You do the same to me,” he reminded. “Then you worry at it like Lucky with a bully stick until you find out what it is. It’s how we work.”

“I know. I just don’t have the words now.” Eva turned her head to press her cheek to his, hoping he would leave it at that for now.

But, of course, he didn’t. “Are you worried about Cary?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. He’s doing great.” She breathed measuredly in and out, fighting irritation at being forced to talk about something she wasn’t ready to. She spoke in a rush. “They’re expecting their first child. Maybe their only child, actually. I don’t know if there will be others, but there’s one on the way.”

“That’s exciting. I’ll text him my congrats.”

She nodded and started to pull away. “He had some great ideas about the masquerade. I’m going to run them by the team, see what we can do.”

Gideon held fast. “Which of those two very different things is the problem?”

“I didn’t say there was a problem. I’ve just got a lot on my mind. It’s Monday, and I’ve got a week of work to sort out in my head.”

“I can read between the lines.” He urged her to face him, his hands lifting to brush her hair back from her breathtaking face. He’d studied her at length over the years: the curve of her brows, the symmetry of her wide gray eyes, the shape of her nose, and the plumpness of her lips. She was noted for looking like her mother, but he saw her father in her, too. “Since you’ve been around the block with the masquerade for a few years now, I’m going to say your best friend having a baby has you thinking thoughts you should be sharing with me.”

Shrugging wearily, Eva slipped her hands into his open jacket and held him by the waist, the warmth of her touch taking a bit to sink through his waistcoat and shirt to his skin. “I’ve learned that thinking big thoughts and making big pronouncements needs to wait until I’m not overly emotional on my period.”

“How about a little clue, then?” He kissed the tip of her nose.

She was silent for a long while, staring at his tie clip, then, “A couple without a uterus between them get pregnant before me. There’s some irony in that.”

Gideon heard the tremulousness in her voice, and his heartbeat quickened. “Sounds more like frustration.”

While he technically knew it was impossible for his wife to be happy every minute of every day, it was his primary goal. It seemed only fair since she was the sole reason he was happy. He’d been content before her, even satisfied, but knowing joy didn’t happen until she happened.

“Separate situations at play, of course,” she murmured, unnecessarily fidgeting with his waistcoat buttons. “No one’s threatening them.”

He went very still. “Is someone threatening you?”

Eva looked at him with incredulity. “Gideon… come on. Things have never returned to normal since we started receiving those letters.”

There was no mistaking the blend of accusation and irritation in her husky voice. He moved his hands from her hips to her wrists, gripping them with firm pressure. He watched her eyes darken and her lips part, her focus narrowing on him.

“We have a new normal,” he said evenly, attuned to every nuance of her expression. “If that’s made you feel less secure, you should’ve said something before now.”

She scowled. “Don’t make this about your ego.”

A flash of anger gave an icy edge to his reply. “Say that again.”

“I’m sorry.” Her eyes squeezed shut. “I didn’t mean that.”

“Oh, I think you did.”

“Argh!” She tried to pull away. “I told you I didn’t want to talk about it, and now we’re fighting, which is the last thing I want to do. Ever. But you just had to push.”

“Apparently so, as it seems you have a lot you haven’t been telling me.” Gideon pulled her hands up to his chest and pressed her palms against him, his grip on her wrists light but unbreakable. He couldn’t bear it when she attempted to distance herself from him, largely because she did so only when she was angry or hiding something. “You need more time to find the words, so we’ll table this discussion until dinner. But answer me this: have you made any decisions based on the thought that I can’t keep you safe?”

She looked up at him with those big gray eyes that could peer into his soul, and he realized she had. The sudden knowledge was wounding, and he backed away from her in instinctive self-defense.

Eva felt a spurt of panic as her husband physically and emotionally retreated. A smooth mask descended over his features, and she couldn’t bear it. “Gideon, you?—”

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