Page 17 of Trapped with the Earl of Sin

She ached to get close to Martin again to see if the intense attraction still sizzled between them.

But where was she supposed to go?

Martin had indicated for her to leave the room, but he gave her no clue as to where she should go. There were staff members milling around in the hallways, which only added to her anxiety.

Susanna knew that she was going to have to find somewhere to wait that was out of sight, but where Martin could still find her. If he could find an excuse to leave the table that was. She was still not entirely convinced that he would be able to come and see her…

She walked, acting like she had purpose until she found a small alcove in the wall. It was most certainly not the most ideal hiding place, and she was very afraid that she might get caught, but Susanna could not think of a better place to be than this.

While waiting, for what she was sure would feel like an eternity, she tried to mentally plan what excuse she would use if she was found out. Nothing came to mind, there was truly no reason that she could think of to be where she was.

How long will I even wait here?How long before I cave and actually retire to my bedchambers?

But even if she did leave, she knew that she would not feel any better. She would not be able to switch off this worry…

Relief flooded her the moment she spotted Martin sneaking by her. He did not spot her until she stepped out and touched his arm to get his attention. She did not mean to make him jump, but that was the effect she accidentally had on him.

“Sorry, I…”

But Martin was too busy already trying to pull her into a room with him. A small storage room that did not give her much chance to put any distance between them. They were already too close for comfort, and she still did not know what this conversation would be about.

“I want you to finish telling me about Edwin,” he hissed quietly to her. “I need to know the full story.”

Susanna was not sure if she should be grateful that they were going to talk about Edwin, or disappointed that they were still pretending the almost kiss did not happen.

“Right, yes, I see.” She nodded and swallowed hard as she tried to recall where she had gotten to. That was not the easiest thing to do when Martin was within touching distance. “Well, as I said, Edwin has always shown my sister affection, and hehas ignored her rejection. After Duncan was killed, he became insistent. Always coming to the house even though Mary was in deep mourning.”

“What made it stop?”

“I am not sure,” Susanna admitted. “I did not look into it, we were not too worried. Just grateful that he was leaving Mary alone. We did not think that we would ever see him again. I most certainly did not expect to come here and see him, but then I was not aware that he is Luke’s cousin.”

“I see.”

As Martin pondered on this, Susanna found herself studying his face a little too closely. The fact that he was a strikingly handsome man was really hitting her now and making her heart race. It was challenging to be in this tiny space with him, so close to her that she could feel the intensity of the heat radiating off his body. Every breath tickled her face.

“His comment about a deserved punishment… I found that really strange,” Susanna declared, just to try and fill the silence for a moment. “I did not like hearing it when Edwin was friends with Duncan. It seemed rather cruel. Particularly because he saw how upset Mary was after Duncan passed away.”

“Yes, I thought it was odd as well,” Martin admitted, much to Susanna’s relief. “But I do not want to get carried away with my thinking. I do not want to jump to conclusions and think the worst of Edwin—even though I have never thought very positivethings about him—but I do think that this is something we should investigate more.”

Investigate?

This stunned Susanna to her very core. She was not sure how to respond to that.

“You think we should investigate Edwin?”

“Yes. You said that Duncan was murdered… well, I do not wish to accuse Edwin of such a heinous crime without evidence. Plus, much as I have no love for Edwin, I do not want to believe that he is capable of such things…”

“Murder?” Susanna gasped, needing to be sure that she and Martin were on the same page.

“Perhaps. I mean, someone has to have committed the crime, and Edwin, it appears, had a motive. It is most certainly something to consider.”

Now that was a conclusion that Susanna had not wanted to consider. But hearing Martin vocalize it made it all the more real. It was something that she did not want to wrap her head around, but it seemed like it was something she was going to have to think about. Especially now that Mary was about to get married again.

“I do not think we should tell anyone about this,” she said hurriedly. “Unless we find out anything that we should actually tell others.”

“Oh yes, I agree with that.” Martin nodded enthusiastically. “I most certainly think that we should keep things from Luke and Mary. They are so happy planning their wedding. We do not want to upset them unless we absolutely have to. There is no need to ruin their joy.”

Footsteps caused Susanna and Martin to fall into an awkward silence. They had no idea who was walking by them, but it terrified them both. They automatically stepped closer to each other to hide, just in case anyone else entered this tiny storage room.

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