Twins for the Mafia Heir (The Warwicks #3)

15. Achilles

Chapter 15

Achilles

I ’m not fooled by Raleigh’s shivering as we walk back into the house.

It’s not that I don’t believe she’s cold- she’s obviously freezing. She’s been wearing the same thin sweater and jeans since she got to London, and every time I have to look at her in them, I feel more angry. At myself, not her. I should’ve taken the time before literally abducting her so she could pack a bag, or even taken her to buy some clothes directly after our wedding.

Strangely, she’s never once complained about being stuck in the same clothes for three days. Though I’ll be the first to admit that she’s had much worse things to be upset about.

Regardless, if she felt so cold, why would she be wandering blindly through the mist?

Not because she was looking for me, no. Because she was taking yet another chance to try to escape.

This time, I won’t chastise her for it. How can I after last night? If she hadn’t run right into me, I wonder if I would have turned a blind eye and let her go.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

“I’ll give you a tour of the house today,” I tell Raleigh. “I suggest you don’t wander the house without me or Sidony’s tutor, Mrs Barlow, as an escort.”

“Because you’re afraid I’ll try to run off again.”

Well, her words, not mine. “Remember the men from last night? They’ll be here for a few days at least, and after last night, they’re probably very hungover.”

Her steps falter, but she catches up to me quickly. “Understood,” she says tightly.

Back in my room, I drag a hand over my face and try to pick my words out carefully. “Today, I have to explain what’s going on to Sidony. But before I do, I need you to know that I will not be requiring you to be a part of her life or to take any responsibility for her.”

Raleigh blinks fast, as if I’ve just smacked her. To my surprise, her face twists in outrage. “You’re not seriously still thinking I’ll take her for a hostage, are you?!” she demands.

“That isn’t what I was thinking at all ,” I snap. “Though now that you’ve brought it up yourself-”

“If I wanted to do that, don’t you think I wouldn’t have been alone when I ran into you outside?!” she adds.

I grit my teeth hard. That is a fair point. “I will repeat ,” I bite out, “that I wasn’t suspicious on that front.” I sigh. “The reason I told you that I won’t be demanding that you be Sidony’s mother is because I don’t think you should have to be considering your situation. We lost-”

My breath skips over Madeleine’s name and I have to clear my throat to continue. “We lost her mother three years ago. Sidony was barely a year old. She doesn’t remember her, not really. The things she tells me about her sound more like dreams than memories. I don’t doubt that she’s lost something by not having a mother, of course. And it’s hard on her when I have work that takes me away.

“But that doesn’t mean I’ll saddle you with her care when you’re literally here against your will,” I conclude firmly. “That is hardly fair to you, but more importantly to me , it isn’t fair to my daughter.”

Raleigh has been listening hard during this whole speech, her brows furrowed with an intensity I don’t fully understand. When her mouth opens, I’m surprised to hear a tremble in her voice.

“She’s a little girl,” she says. “Not a burden. Not to me. I’ve always thought that it’s every adult’s responsibility to help a kid who needs them. Even if things are up in the air and it would be… irresponsible at best, cruel at worst to immediately tell her I’m her new mother…” It’s her turn to swallow and carefully find her next words. “I’m too young to pretend to be her mother anyway. I can be her friend, and frankly, I think that’s all she’d want from me anyway.”

There’s a pain in my chest at that last word. I didn’t have any expectations or even hopes, and now I’m left with no words to express my gratitude. It’s also jarring all over again to remember how young Raleigh is, but how mature she is as well. What a surprise for a woman who’s been raised in relative isolation and luxury.

Raleigh drops her gaze to the floor, giving me a chance to take a breath, only to look back up and say without warning, “I’m sorry. About your wife.”

“Thank you, Raleigh,” I tell her, too quick and too stiff. This was not the point of the conversation, and I don’t want to linger now that we’re here. “I should wake Sidony now.”

“Do you… want me to come with you?” Raleigh asks.

It’s an instinct to tell her no, but I stop myself just in time. It’s true I don’t want to force her to be Sidony’s mother if she doesn’t want to be, but there’s another side to that desire. After three years, it’s damn near impossible for me to trust Sidony with anyone else.

“Very well,” I say.

Don’t make me regret this.

Raleigh follows me into Sidony’s room, and I’m relieved to see my daughter has apparently slept through the night. She’s hardly changed poses from four hours earlier, except for having knocked away a few of her plushies with her elbow. I rub her warm back with my hand until she begins to stir.

“Morning, glory,” I say softly, bending down to give her three kisses.

“Morning, daddy,” she mumbles, pushing herself up and rubbing at her eyes.

“I have someone here for you to-”

“Raleigh??” To my shock and relief, Sidony’s eyes light up as soon as she opens them and sees her visitor. “I asked Mrs. Barlow where you were all day yesterday and she said she didn’t know who you were!”

“Oh, well, I haven’t had a chance to introduce myself yet,” Raleigh explains easily. “I’m so glad to see you again, Sidony.”

My daughter blushes happily. “And me!” she says nonsensically.

“Do you remember when I told you Raleigh would be staying with us a while?” I ask.

Sidony squints. “I think so? Why?”

“Well, it was Auntie Tasia’s idea,” I say, truthfully enough. “See, Raleigh’s from America, but Auntie Tasia asked her to stay with us as an ally. A sort of go-between for our house and hers. So she’ll be living here with us.” I avoid telling her for how long, because I hate to make promises I can’t keep. “Will you help me show Raleigh the Hall, little princess?”

Sidony jumps to her feet in bed. She’s beaming more brightly than I’ve seen in months. “Oh yes, I will! Would you like that, Raleigh?”

Raleigh beams back at her, just as brilliantly. Something in my chest eases at the sight of it. “I absolutely would.”

We start in the front hall, naturally, since I’ve only ever brought Raleigh into the house through the kitchen. Wesley Hall is two stories, with a wing of rooms on either side of its long main hall. And, of course, the tower at the far end of the east wing, where more than one wife was banished over the course of this place’s history. Raleigh marvels at the ornate wood paneling on every wall and the pattern of the molding on the ceiling. Sidony hovers close to Raleigh’s side at all times. I try to rattle off as many historical facts about the origins of Jacobean architecture as I can think of, but my mind is far away from the tour.

I don’t like traveling away from Wesley Hall, but that’s for Sidony’s sake, not the house’s. In reality, I wouldn’t mind burning the entire place to the ground.

At least then the ghosts filling its rooms would finally be forced to move on.

I point out original paintings that must have cost Marcus Warwick tens of thousands of pounds, but what I’m really seeing is the blood that nearly splattered over it as I shot a man’s brains out. I try not to look too closely at a very faint spot on the priceless carpet as we pass it. That also used to be the blood of another man I killed. I’m surprised he didn’t leave a bigger stain.

Thank god Sidony was in her room when the worst of the coup happened. The most she saw of this carnage were the two men I shot in front of her seconds after they broke through her door. Even that has cost us both almost nightly terror. We both can’t stop wondering what would happen if I’d been just a moment later.

When we reach the dining room, I have to blink at the sight of the door leading out the side of the house. It’s the same door I shoved Piers out of when I decided I had to spare his life.

We could turn back to the main hall and explore the upstairs now, but I’m already feeling stifled.

Before we began our tour, I made sure Raleigh was dressed for colder weather. She’s almost completely hidden inside my thickest coat, and she’s using my socks as legwarmers over her jeans. Today, I’ll be upgrading her wardrobe. But for right now, I think Sidony will enjoy showing Raleigh the gardens, and I’ll enjoy the fresh air.

The fresh, very windy air.

The historic gardens of Wesley Hall are far and away its best feature, and the only way I can convince Sidony to play outside. It’s a maze of carefully trimmed hedges and topiaries that opens up on a fountain spilling into a pond. The water feature is the view I’m searching for when I drink my espresso on the back terrace.

As soon as Sidony sees where we’re going, she snatches Raleigh’s hand, flicking her windswept hair out of her face. “Oh, Raleigh, you have to see the duck pond. I’ll show you the way!”

And before I can stop either of them, they hurtle off into the hedges. I follow at a more leisurely pace, absorbing the relief and shock I feel at seeing Sidony so… exuberant. She’s never attached herself so willingly to another person before. Perhaps it’s Raleigh’s energy, or the way she speaks to Sidony like she’s a fellow adult. I don’t know.

It feels like a miracle. If I believed in such things.

The wind claws at the edges of my coat, flapping the fabric against my legs as I plunge deeper into the twisting maze. Then abruptly, the wind dies down, and in the sudden quiet, I hear it- a burst of bawdy laughter, low and mocking, drifting from somewhere deeper in the hedges.

A chill slides down my spine. The laughter echoes through the maze’s narrow paths, bouncing between the tall, manicured hedges. I pause, straining to catch the words carried on the breeze.

“- have a good time last night-”

The wind picks up again, snatching the rest of the conversation away, but I’ve heard all I need to. My heart pounds as I snap to full alertness.

For a brief moment I stand still, listening. Then, without hesitation, I’m racing through the maze, rounding corners at top speed, my pulse roaring in my ears. Sidony knows the way to the center- the little pond where the ducks swim. I know it too. And I’m only halfway there when I spot exactly what I’ve been dreading.

On the far end of a long, narrow path, two of Fantasia’s men- Varley and MacDonald- stand in front of and behind Raleigh and my daughter, bracketing them in with an unmistakable intent. They may have held their tongues at the wedding banquet last night, but they were certainly cheering along in every nasty taunt. The way they stand now, angled slightly inward, makes my blood run cold. They haven’t noticed me yet, but the sight is enough to make murder pulse in my veins.

MacDonald, his back hunched slightly, leans down toward Raleigh, blocking her path with his bulk. His voice carries just enough for me to catch what vile shit he’s spewing.

“Listen, little girl,” he sneers at Sidony, voice oily and low. “Off you go, look at the ducks for a bit, yeah? Uncle Mac just needs a word with the lady here.”

“Sidony-” Raleigh’s tone is sharp, protective, but she’s cut off immediately.

“Aye,” Varley cuts in, sidling closer. “She, er, showed your dad something last night. Just thought she might give us a little look as well–”

MacDonald’s head snaps up, his eyes widening as he finally clocks me. Varley, seeing his mate’s reaction, swings around, stumbling back in surprise. He nearly topples over Raleigh and Sidony in his haste, but Raleigh’s quick. She yanks Sidony into her arms, pulling her close, her stance protective as she shields her with her body. The fierceness in her eyes is a mirror of my own as she looks up, clutching Sidony tightly.

I surge forward, storming past them both, seeing nothing but the men in front of me bathed in red. Raleigh and Sidony slip to safety behind me as I close in, my mind blank except for the ironclad vow that these sods won’t lay a hand on my family.

“You’ll get one warning and one warning only,” I snarl, forcing them back until they’re pinned to the end of the path. “If you ever speak to my wife and daughter again- if you ever say so much as a goddamn word - I’ll put bullets in every one of your bones before I kill you. D’you understand me?”

My knife is already in my hand, my handgun in the other. I don’t remember reaching for them but I could kill both these men with them and probably not remember that either.

Varley and MacDonald both nod, their backs up against the prickly hedge wall, their jaws tight. I don’t have to dismiss them with words, only a jerk of my head. They scurry off, opposite the way we came, but I don’t feel my shoulders relax until their footsteps completely fade away into the wind.

Sidony suddenly clamps onto my leg and presses her face into the fabric of my pants. She doesn’t scream or cry or even say my name in relief. She’s totally silent, and might remain that way for the rest of the day. Varley and MacDonald could die for that alone, and I would call it justice.

Raleigh hovers nearby. Her jaw is tense, her cheeks pale. But she doesn’t look afraid. She looks angry as hell.

“Are you hurt?” I ask her, knowing Sidony won’t answer anytime soon.

“They didn’t touch us,” Raleigh says tightly.

I finally release the pent up air in my lungs in a sigh. Thank god. I’ll have to talk to Fantasia about putting leashes on her dogs.

“Let’s go see the ducks, and then we’ll go to Covent Garden for brunch,” I say. Raleigh gives her own sigh of relief, but it’s Sidony’s reaction I’m really worried about. Will she want to retreat to her room now? Or will she stay with me, and with Raleigh who she likes so much?

After a moment of silence, Sidony nods against my pant leg. She loosens her grip just enough so I can walk again, and the three of us complete the hedge maze together. Looking out over the cherub fountain and the few ducks braving the wind today, Sidony suddenly declares,

“I like our old house better.”

I put my hand on her head, gently shushing her.

It might not ruin our entire operation for Raleigh to learn that my daughter and I are transplants into the Warwick family, but it would cause her to ask more questions than I want to answer.

That being said, I wholeheartedly agree with her.