Page 126 of The Scandal You Started
Not easy. Uncomfortable. Foreign.
But not impossible. She would have had a definite answer if it had felt so.
It became very evident, though, how little time Rayna had left to find that answer when she was with Dominic and Monty at the POTeM lab one evening during the week.
“I just finished reading your report before I left my office,” Monty said cheerfully, with a brown leather satchel over his shoulder, “so I’m glad I bumped into you two in the corridor.”
Rayna smiled, walking between the two men. “I take it you’re happy with what we sent you?”
“Oh, of course.” The man waved one hand around. “The report was very thorough as always, and you ticked every box of the brief. There were a few intriguing details, such as that bit on the eagerness and necessity to conform within the upper class, that I would like you to discuss further, but I’ll send over the few comments I had for you tomorrow morning.”
Rayna nodded. “Sure thing.”
To Dominic, Monty said, “I’m sure it was a bit intrusive having Rayna ask you to talk about all aspects of your life, but thank you for cooperating with her. You have both, along with River, created an excellent case study.”
“Not at all,” Dominic said with a gentlemanly nod. “Though it was not as intrusive as it was odd being asked such simple questions, but it very quickly became clear how they fit into the wider picture Rayna, and River, were urging me to create.” He glanced at her with a smile. “I rather enjoyed taking the time to think about society in a way I did not normally bother imagining it.”
Deep satisfaction swelled within her chest as she returned his grin. She’d really enjoyed working with Dominic too.
He was a product of his time, but he wasn’t willingly ignorant or blindly stubborn. He was intelligent, and his curiosity made him open to new ideas, which had nearly always made their discussions enjoyable as they worked on his case study. Ofcourse, they had inevitably clashed a few times, but even then, their debates had been invigorating.
“I’m glad to hear that,” said Monty as they turned left at the end of a corridor.
“When would you like the final draft by?” Rayna then asked.
“Not before the Harvest Holiday this weekend,” the older historian assured her. “By the end of next week, perhaps? That way it’ll be out of the way, allowing you two to focus solely on the letters down at the Fronis Museum. But there’s no real rush on my end nor from the Evidence team, so if you’d like more time, that’s fine too.”
“I’ll read over the comments and let you know, but by the end of next week should be fine,” Rayna said as the three of them stopped in front of a door labelled“Medical Suite.”
“Excellent.”
Rayna tapped her lab pass, dangling from her front trouser pocket, against the small black sensor by the door until it switched from red to green with a little ping.
As Monty shouldered open the door, he said, “I suppose you’ll be happy to know, Dominic, that this also means we should be able to send you back to your time earlier than planned.”
Monty’s words were light and sunny. But they hurtled down hard and dark and ice-cold through Rayna.
They knocked her heart to a depth she didn’t know existed within her before slinging it back up. Her blood drained from under her skin through the damage that was left behind.
She remained frozen just outside the threshold as Monty entered the blinding white medical suite. Slowly and stiltedly, she lifted her gaze to Dominic and found him staring at her with the same horrified shock crystallising over his features.
Her entire rib cage seemed to squeeze as a panic clogged her lungs and throat.
Dominic was standing right next to her, but it suddenly felt like there were a million miles between them. Miles she thought she had more time to decide whether she could, would, and wanted to cross to reach him. But what Monty was suggesting would compress that period even further.
How was she supposed to make a decision that could impact her entire life in such a short amount of time?
I can’t…I can’t. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t do this—
Rayna tore her gaze away as pressure knotted around her belly. She forced herself to breathe, to relax her muscles, and headed into the room. Her movements felt unnatural, her pulse fluctuating hot and cold, but she had no choice but to pretend it was nothing.
Nothing between her and Dominic. Nothing to panic about. Nothing to divulge to anyone.
Especially if time was what she wanted.
It wasn’t like Monty’s suggestion was an inflexible decision either. So it was fine.
Everything was fine.
