Chapter Thirteen
The next morning, Jocelyn had her driver take her to Allison’s house in Belgravia. She badly needed to talk to someone, and now that Evelyn was gone, Allison was the closest person in the world to her.
She’d spent most of the night trying to make sense of what had happened between herself and Sebastian and come to some sort of peace with what had been done to Evelyn, and she was exhausted. None of it made sense to her, and if she didn’t give voice to some of the crazy thoughts whirling around in her mind, she was afraid her head might literally explode.
As she mounted the steps to Allison’s front door, she realized she should have sent word ahead, but it seemed that since her friend had gotten married, Jocelyn had found herself breaking one rule of etiquette after another. And to her surprise, she didn’t really care anymore. Her life had been turned upside down. What good were calling cards and seating arrangements? All of that seemed so petty and insignificant now.
It seemed impossible to believe that just a month ago, she’d been incensed at the idea of sitting at a round table with no place cards. What a fool she’d been. She should have enjoyed that night with her sister. She should have asked more about her work for the suffrage movement, actually paid attention to her sister when she spoke about the things she was passionate about.
The butler showed her into the parlor, and a few minutes later, Allison rushed into the room, her blue eyes full of sympathy. “Jocelyn. I’m so glad you came! I heard about what happened to Evelyn. I wanted to come see you, but I wasn’t certain if you were ready to talk to anyone.” She sank down to the sofa beside Jocelyn and pulled her into a warm embrace.
Jocelyn immediately burst into tears, so glad to have her friend’s love and concern. It felt wonderful to be hugged. Perhaps this was all she needed. Surely, Allison’s embrace would give her the same peace that Sebastian’s had.
But after a few moments, she pulled away, realizing that was not the case. It was nice to be in Allison’s arms, but it felt nowhere near as warm and comforting as it had to be held by Sebastian Ness.
Wiping her eyes, Jocelyn gave her friend a watery smile. “I still can’t believe she’s gone. How could this have happened?”
Before Allison could answer, her handsome, golden-haired husband, Quinn O’Brien, entered the room, his green eyes haunted. “Lady Aston. I was so sorry to hear of your loss.”
Jocelyn knew that he’d most likely done more than just hear of Evelyn’s death. Though he’d left the police after he’d been injured in his pursuit of The Viper, he still worked with Inspector Ness regularly on The Viper case. He’d no doubt been present during Evelyn’s autopsy, the thought of which made her fight not to be sick yet again.
Though she knew it was necessary, she hated the thought of men poking, prodding, and cutting Evelyn’s defenseless naked body.
“Thank you, Mr. O’Brien,” she managed, nodding at Allison’s husband.
“Please,” he murmured. “We’re practically family now. Call me Quinn.”
Her face heated, because once again, this was highly inappropriate, but she nodded. “Only if you call me Jocelyn.”
“I’ll let the two of you talk,” he said, giving his wife a fond look. “I just wanted to step in and let you know that if you need anything, anything at all, to let me know. I know how close the two of you are, and I want you to feel that you can count on me as much as you do Allison.”
“I appreciate that,” Jocelyn said, grateful for the show of support. For a moment, it occurred to her that perhaps this was who she should tell Evelyn’s secret to. But something stopped her. And she realized that it was because despite everything, she wanted to see Sebastian again. She wondered what that said about her, what dreadful lack in her character it showed. “But at this point, I don’t think there’s anything anyone can do.”
He left them, but Allison’s gaze followed him until he was out of sight down the hall.
“Married life is obviously treating you well,” Jocelyn observed, fighting down a little twinge of jealousy. She’d feared Allison might regret her decision, once she’d had some time to think about it, once a little of the new had worn off. But by all indications, nothing could be further from the truth.
Allison nodded, though she looked slightly guilty, which was the last thing Jocelyn wanted. Even though she’d been very unlucky in love, she was thrilled for her friend. For the first time, she wondered if her thoughts on love had been completely wrong, based only on her own experience. Would she have felt entirely different if her father had married her to a man like Sebastian?
She was almost certain that would have changed things profoundly.
“Every day that we spend together is better than the last,” Allison admitted, her cheeks bright red. “I honestly never thought I would find someone who could make me feel so safe and cared for.”
“That’s good. I’m so happy for you,” Jocelyn said softly, knowing that the red in her friend’s cheeks was undoubtedly due to their physical relationship. She wanted to know every detail, but now was not the time. But it also struck her that Allison had used the word safe, which summed up how she’d started to feel about Sebastian.
Until he’d called her sister a whore. How could she ever trust him again after that?
Allison cleared her throat, obviously trying to tamp down her enthusiasm over her marriage. “But you are not here to talk about that,” she said brusquely.
Jocelyn sighed. “I’m afraid not.”
“What can I do?” Allison asked softly. “What do you need, Jocelyn?”
That was a good question. One that Jocelyn only had one answer for. “I need to know who did this to my sister. I need someone to believe me when I say that Evelyn was not some... whore.”
The ugly word stung her tongue, and she still couldn’t believe that Sebastian had even hinted at such a thing to her.
“Oh, Jocelyn! Of course, I believe that. I knew Evelyn almost as well as you did. I would never believe that of her. Not in a million years. Who said that?”