Page 25 of Summoner of Sins

“I know,” she whispered. “I know.”

He closed the distance between them. “As soon as this is all over, I’ll come for you.”

“Come where? I’ve nowhere to go.”

“We’re going to decide where we can send you today. Ironheart will help us.”

She gave a tentative nod.

An hour later, she made her way downstairs, in a gown borrowed from one of the staff, to the breakfast room. Max and the Duke of Ironheart already sat at the table deep in conversation. She stopped at the door, her hands folding in front of her stomach. She’d been like a leaf in the wind of late. As she faced another dining room, another place, she had the keenest desire to settle down somewhere on solid earth.

“Sophie.” Max rose from his seat, stepping around the table and coming to take her hand. “May I introduce the Duke of Ironheart?”

He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm as she dipped into a curtsy. “Your Grace.”

The duke waved his hand. “Just Ironheart will do. Come eat. You must be famished.” He hardly looked at Sophie. His gaze was on Max, and the question in his eyes was clear.

Max helped her into a chair and then crossed to the buffet, heaping a plate full of food that he then set in front of her. “Thank you.”

Despite everything, she smiled. The plate held three times the amount of food she could consume.

“You’re welcome.”

“I’ve got a question,” Ironheart asked as she took her first bite. “What happened to your stutter?”

“W-what?” Max took his seat again, glaring.

“How come you don’t stutter when you talk to her?” Ironheart didn’t seem the least perturbed by asking such a personal question.

Sophie’s brows lifted as she set her fork down. Max had gone from not talking at all, to telling her whole stories without a bother.

“M-mind your business.”

“Not this time, big man,” Ironheart sat back on his chair. “We’re all in this together.”

“He’s excessively annoying,” Max said, looking at her.

She nipped at her lip. “I must confess that I’m also curious.”

Max let out a long breath. Then he shrugged. “I don’t feel judged by you.”

“Judged?”

“You like me, even though…” he pointed at his mouth.

“Max,” her heart hammered in her chest, but she knew she had to say the next words. “I don’t just like you.”

Ironheart cleared his throat even as Max’s eyes grew wide. “Max said we need a place to send you where you’ll be safe.”

She nodded tentatively. “I know Max sees it clearly, but I feel less sure.”

“What are you unsure of?” Ironheart leaned forward. His blond hair caught the morning light. He was a handsome man, Sophie could see that. She much preferred the kind of muscles that looked as though they could hold up the whole world.

“Whether I’m safest somewhere else or at Max’s side.” She glanced at Max, knowing that she was going way out on a limb.

He’d not made her any promises other than that he’d come for her when the business with Lord Whitehouse was all done. He’d promised to find a relative. For the first time since the death of her mother, Sophie thought she might know where she belonged.

“I agree,” Ironheart said.

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