This was a mistake. This mission was officially over. I was going back to London and then I was getting on a plane back to New York and then I was forgetting her forever.
What the hell was I thinking coming here?
My phone rang and interrupted the stream of my thoughts. I started the car and connected the Bluetooth.
“Niall?” It was Charlie. Never in my life had I been so relieved to hear his voice.
“Yeah? What's going on?”
“You're asking me? Where the hell are you?”
My guard went up; it was just a reflex whenever Charlie asked me that question. “Who wants to know?”
“I do. We both do. Brenna and I are in London and we wanted to have dinner with you before we left the city.” I heard Brenna in the background of the call saying hi.
“Left the city to go where?” I asked.
“I’m taking Brenna out to the country to tour our family land.”
That sounded terribly boring. It was exactly the sort of thing that Charlie and Brenna would do together. I was going to say that I would see him in London tonight, but I couldn't do it. I had come all this way, there was no way I could leave without at least seeing her. The prospect of leaving again stung much too deep for me to be able to do it without seeing her.
“How about this? I'll link up with you two on your tour?”
“Are you sure?”
&n
bsp; “I’m not in London right now.”
“Where are you?”
“I’ll talk to you later. There's something I have to do.” I hung up on him knowing that he would forgive me later, after a thorough interrogation. I’d cross that bridge when I got to it. Swinging off the main road, I followed the man's directions towards the Baron’s estate. After about ten minutes of driving, I came up to a modest manor house. Our estate was much larger, the house far grander. I got out of the car and surveyed the land. It didn’t look good. The grounds weren't kept. Closer to the house, the ivy that crept up the outside walls were growing out of control. If it wasn't for the car parked outside, I would have thought that the estate was abandoned.
This was where Eddy lived.
It was too late to back down now. I went up to the door and rang the bell. My heart started pounding and I shoved my hands in my pockets so that they wouldn't shake. This might have been the first time that Eddy and I were meeting on purpose instead of by mistake and that was making me nervous. I heard footsteps on the other side of the door and then it opened.
An older woman, with a slightly surprised look on her face smiled out at me from the doorway. I felt my body release. I had been holding my breath in anticipation that it was Eddy.
“May I help you, sir?”
“Yes. Hello. I'm a guest of the Baroness. I'm here to see Eddy. I mean, Edwina. The Baroness.”
“Who might I say is calling?”
“I'm a friend of hers. Niall Bridges.”
The woman nodded. “Allow me a moment to see whether the Baroness is available.”
She slammed the door in my face before I could say that it was okay. I blanked, wondering whether it was just me. Usually, protocol dictated that the guest was shown inside and allowed to wait in a sitting room for the owner of the house to appear. Even I knew that, and I wholly rejected the stuffy, ancient manners that the aristocracy held onto. It wasn't like I could force my way in and redress the woman so I waited. A few minutes later, the door swung open and it was her. Her hair was up, and she was not dressed to receive but my body reacted to her presence again.
“Eddy,” I said. Instead of letting me in, she came outside and closed the door behind her, crossing her arms over her chest.
“What the fuck do you think you're doing here?”
12
Edwina