Before He Was Mine (Before Series, Book 2)

Three's A Crowd

Theo cleared his throat loudly, breaking through Will and Emilia's passionate interlude.

If Will wasn't so eager to know what had become of Trevor, he might have wholly ignored Emilia's brother. He wasn't afraid of the duke or the glower that he was currently giving him.

On the other hand, Emilia jumped out of his lap, leaving Will feeling bare and uncomfortably exposed. While brother and sister were embracing in a tight hug, Will stood up, awkwardly adjusting his breeches.

Now that they had found Emilia, Will was eager to get her home, marry her, and then promptly keep her in bed for a week.

Oh, and also destroy Lord Trevor. Will was eager for that, as well. But the man seemed to be nowhere in sight. "Where's Trevor?" Will asked, his brows furrowing.

Theo released Emilia and turned to Will. "He bolted. I was too distracted by seeing Emilia to catch him before he managed to leave the bedchamber, and then he ran like the devil from me."

Theo looked mightily annoyed by the turn of events, and Will had to agree.

"He escaped, then."

Theo gave a tight nod of his head.

"I was able to keep an eye on him as he pushed through the crowds in the tavern, but then he slipped through the door. I even launched myself over a table of drunken idiots, but by the time I managed to follow him out, he had disappeared. I searched the courtyard and the stables, but nothing."

He shook his head slightly, rubbing his chin with a puzzled expression on his face. Will could tell that Theo felt as frustrated as he did.

Actually, frustrated didn't quite cut it. Will was fuming, his hands clenched at the idea that the bastard had escaped without punishment. But considering Will hadn't even noticed that Trevor left, he could not be mad at the duke for not catching him. Will should have been there to help.

"Trevor cannot run from us forever," Theo added tensely. "He'll come crawling back to London eventually, and when he does, he'll wish he had never—"

"May we go home now?" Emilia interrupted, and Will could see Theo deflate at the words of his sister, her face so full of exhaustion.

The two men connected eyes, an unspoken agreement to put talk of Trevor aside until later. "Soon, Emilia," Theo said softly. "As soon as the roads permit."

Luckily, the rest of the evening passed quickly. Will learned that Emilia hadn't eaten since that morning and hastily returned to the tavern in search of something for her to eat. While he was downstairs, Will also found their friendly innkeeper to ask if the man knew of anywhere or anyone who might be able to provide a spare dress.

The innkeeper, who did not look eager to repeat their scene from earlier, quickly offered one of his wife's dresses. Will knew that gowns were not something that an innkeeper's wife would likely have an abundance of and paid the man handsomely for his generosity. His wife would probably be able to buy ten dresses with the amount Will forked over. And though the innkeeper was initially reluctant to take Will's money, Will found he didn't need to be very persuasive to convince him otherwise.

He trudged back up the stairs with food and a change of clothes for Emilia, sliding into room number twelve again. The three of them had decided they would stay in the same bedchamber for the night on the chance that Trevor would return; Will and Theo planned to take turns staying awake to guard the room.

Setting the food down by the hearth, Will turned to see Theo emerge from behind the three-paneled changing screen in the far corner, donned with a clean set of clothes and freshly scrubbed face.