He had left because he was terrified of it ever happening again, of ever having to re-live that panic and that fear, that thought that she might be gone forever.
But it had happened to him instead.
As she lay there, the lapels of his jacket clutched between her fingers, she was oblivious to anything around her, for her grief was choking her, blinding her, making her unable to see or hear anything else in the room
Finally, Annabelle shook her shoulders so hard that Xander’s jacket slipped out of her fingers, and Juliet was jolted back to the moment.
“Juliet!” Annabelle shouted in her face now. “Listen to me. Xander is alive.”
“Wh-what?” she asked, wondering if she had truly heard what Annabelle had said, or if she was only hearing what she wanted to hear.
“I said he is alive. He is breathing. It looks like a bullet flew past his head, but it only grazed him. He will be fine.”
Juliet placed a hand on her chest as she tried to bring the air in, realizing she had barely been breathing herself.
“Why isn’t he responding?”
“Give him a minute,” Damien crouched beside her now, someone — Annabelle or Arie — having untied his bonds. “He was hit in the head in the closet and now struck, though lightly, by a bullet. He’s a tough son-of-a-bitch, though, so he should be fine in a moment or two. He’s got a thick head.”
Juliet looked up, seeing that Shiplack was sitting in the corner, his head in his hands as he seemed to be in a daze, while Arie and Annabelle were looking over Mrs. Shiplack and Lord Wilington.
She opened her mouth to ask about their current condition when Xander twitched beneath her.
“Xander?” she said, her hands coming to his face. “Xander?”
“Juliet,” he murmured, lifting one hand and touching her cheek before dropping it again. She and Damien helped him sit up, and then Damien moved him over so that he was leaning against the sofa.
Once Xander’s eyes opened and stayed that way, Damien backed away, leaving them alone.
“Oh, Xander,” Juliet said, sinking in front of him, taking his face in her hands, unable to stop the flow of tears, tears that had remained within until now, when they began to flow along with her relief. “I thought you were dead.”
“Never,” he said with his cheeky grin. “I could never leave you like that, you know.”
“You were going to,” she said, her eyes narrowing at him, even though she would forgive him for anything in this moment. “You were going to take everything and leave me again. Well, guess what, Xander Murphy! I am not going to let you.”
While his smile seemed pained, it still warmed her right through as he pulled her close, snuggling her between his legs, her own bent around him.
“I have news for you, Juliet Simpson,” he said, touching his nose to hers. “I had no plans to go anywhere without you.”
“But I heard you,” she insisted. “Through the door. Not that it matters, for it’s all done now, and what’s important is that you are alive, and you are well, and we are—”
“I was only saying that so that Arie wouldn’t try to push us apart or exclude you from the haul once more,” he said, running the fingers of one hand through the strands that had loosened from what had one time been her artfully arranged hair. “I never meant any of it. All I ever wanted — all I want now — is to leave here with you. For the two of us to be together. I don’t give a damn who has the jewels or what becomes of them. As long as we’re together, we’ll figure it out. I was a fool to leave you years ago,” he murmured, continuing to stroke her hair. “Can you ever forgive me?”
“Forever,” she said, her words coming out as a whisper while her lip trembled, even as she fought for control. “I understand what you were trying to do. I do. But a life without you is no life at all.”
He nodded and then pulled her even closer toward him, crushing her in his embrace, before he kissed her on the top of her head, her forehead, her cheeks, her tear-filled eyes, the tip of her nose, before coming to her mouth. That, he took much more forcefully, kissing her so hard, with such passion, that she feared he was going to collapse on her again.
Finally she gently pushed him back away, tilting her head to the side so that she could assess his wound.
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
“No,” he said, blinking a few times. “But I know I’ll be fine.”
“If you two are finished over there,” Arie’s voice cut in, “we best get back to the house and call the physician.”
“Are they dead?” Juliet asked, as Damien crossed to them and helped Xander rise. Xander placed one arm over Damien’s shoulder, the other over Juliet’s, as they walked to the door.
“Mrs. Shiplack’s shot went wide, but it seems the baron has suffered another attack from within. His heart, if I had to guess,” Damien said. “You hit Mrs. Shiplack in the shoulder, Juliet, but my guess is that she’ll live.”
Juliet registered the information, finding she didn’t really care, although she supposed she was glad she wasn’t a murderess.
“Where’s Annabelle?” Juliet looked around.
“She took off to hide the jewels in the carriage, although she still doesn’t seem to particularly trust me,” Arie said with a grin. “I wouldn’t blame her.”
Arie hefted the baron over his shoulder, telling Shiplack to lift his wife, and the entire party followed the passageway back into the house and up to the baron’s room. Arie placed Wilington on the bed and began to call for the butler, just as the door opened, revealing the valet, as well as two strange men behind him.
“You!” Arie exclaimed, pointing a finger toward him as he crossed the room. “You are part of this. You—”
He stopped when the valet lifted a gun, pointing it at Arie. “Enough. Sit. All of you. Except you,” he said, motioning to Shiplack. “One of my men will accompany you to your bedroom so that you may put her down.”
“Your men?” Juliet repeated in confusion before the valet put away his gun.
“I am not the valet,” he said, crossing his hands in front of him. “I am from London. A detective from Bow Street, actually.”
“You’re what?” Xander said, and Juliet knew he was likely berating himself for not realizing it sooner.
“We were apprised that the baron and his associate were using a scheme to rip off sellers and then the private buyers. We decided that I would follow him to his estate and pose as his valet in order to gain his trust.”
“But—”
“My name is Fred Grant,” he said with a nod as two other men joined him. “This is Marshall.”
The other men nodded, looking at them all suspiciously.
“Thank you for helping us capture the Shiplacks,” he continued. “We’ve been watching the wife for some time. She has been married five times and we believe she usually kills the husband, but this time she used him to get to the baron.”
“Of course,” Arie said thoughtfully. “Now, if that will be all, we will take our leave. We are—”
Grant held up a hand. “Before you go, we will take the jewels.”
“We know nothing of them,” Arie said, lifting his hands. “We wish you the best of luck searching for them.”
“Ah, but you have not met my other associate.”
The third man came in, with a very dejected Annabelle. “He intercepted this woman, and wouldn’t you know, she had all of the jewels with her. Thank you for your service.”
He smiled at them all, while Juliet could feel the tension that hung in the air among the rest of them.
“Now, I think we are all aware that you each had much more to do with this than stand by and watch it happen. However, since we have recovered everything, we will allow you to be on your way. But please, do not come to our attention again or the result will be much different. Do you understand?”
“We do,” Juliet said quickly. “Thank you, Constable.”
They left as quickly as possible before the d
etectives changed their minds.
Chapter 22
“Well. This is certainly a surprise.”
Xander tried to give his sister a look of warning. But Diana simply raised her eyebrows and sipped her tea as she stared at the group that sat around Arie’s drawing room, trying to make sense of everything that had occurred.
Arie kept an assessing gaze on Xander and Juliet, but Xander was not letting her go again — not now, nor ever. He kept a firm grip on her hand, pleased that she showed no sign of pulling it away.
It filled him with confidence — knowing that, no matter what, they were in this together.
Although that didn’t lessen his worry when he looked at Arie.
He sat on what the rest of them jokily called his throne, albeit a joke he didn’t take to with much enthusiasm. The Louis XV chair with its off-white hide was where he always sat in these family meetings, and seemed to help accentuate the power he already felt.
“Well. That didn’t entirely go as planned.”
He looked over the rest of them before explaining in general terms just what had happened for Diana’s benefit. Xander looked over to the corner of the sofa where Calli usually sat, missing his sister but knowing that it was best she not attend such meetings — they would see her for more social visits.
“So you came away with nothing?” Diana asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Nothing,” Arie grumbled. “Gave it all away like a bunch of chuckled-headed geese.”
Juliet looked up at Xander, and he shrugged. Whether or not she wanted to share what she came away with was her decision. He was not going to force it on her.
“Actually,” she said carefully, “we do not have nothing.”
Xander leaned down to whisper in her ear, even as he saw Annabelle’s startled and warning gaze from across the room.
“What do you mean?” Arie asked, leaning forward, his interest apparent.
“I mean that there might be… something.”
“The jewels you stole.” Arie’s eyes gleamed now. “You somehow managed to collect them before we left.”
“We did,” Juliet confirmed, nodding but toward Annabelle, as they silently made some sort of agreement. “And we will share some of them with you — just as you were so generously going to share some with us.”
Xander couldn’t help his snicker as Juliet seemed to get the best of his brother. Arie’s gaze darkened.
“Continue,” he said, his voice smoky with warning.
“Before I tell you where they are,” she said, her smile serene although Xander knew there was far more going on behind it, “you must agree to something.”
“Very well.”
“Annabelle must get her fair share. She keeps half.”
Arie didn’t respond for a moment, surprising Xander, who nearly choked at her words himself.
Instead, Arie’s lips stretched into a slow, smug grin, before he burst out laughing.
“Do you seriously think I would agree to such a thing?”
“You have no choice.”
“Don’t I?”
“You do not. For you don’t know where the jewels are.”
Arie crossed his hands over one another. “Are you telling me they are not in the floor of my carriage?”
“No,” Juliet confirmed with a smug smile of her own. “We managed to hide them elsewhere. Somewhere you will only find out about through me.”
Arie grunted, his annoyance at having been deceived by Juliet rather obvious.
“Arie,” she said, much softer now, and Xander was curious at just how she was going to approach this. As for his own thoughts on the subject, he didn’t much care. Juliet was here with him, and that’s all that mattered. “I know we all had plans for those jewels. We all made promises. But Annabelle worked tirelessly on fabricating beautiful jewellery to replace the baron’s collection. I talked her into this, promising her half of what we walked away with, and that’s what I’m going to ensure she receives.”
“And what about the man I made a promise to?” Arie asked, leaning forward, interlocking his fingers. “Does that not matter?”
“Of course it does,” Juliet responded. “That’s why you can use what we make from our portion to pay him back first.”
“And all that we have worked so hard for?” Arie asked, widening his arms to the side. “What about that?”
“Sometimes things work out,” Juliet said simply. “Sometimes they don’t. None of us walked away with what we went there for, it’s true. But didn’t we discover something much better? Xander and I found one another again. And if I am going to be with him, that means that I will not only spend my life with him, but with all of you. I have found my family again. Years ago, you told me that Xander was better off without me, that I was a means to an end. But I am wiser now and I know that could never be true. For he and I only make one another better.”
Her voice nearly broke at the end, and Xander stretched his arm around her waist, squeezing her close, as she looked up at Arie, ready to support Juliet in whatever she proposed.
“She’s right, Arie,” he said. “You know that if you ever say such a thing to her again, if you ever try to make me choose again, I will choose her. So don’t even ask. As for the jewels, there’s nothing else we can do. Besides, we can find a way forward to support ourselves. Annabelle is on her own. She left her employ to help Juliet. As a woman living alone, she has to find a way to support herself.”
Arie sighed, sitting back in his chair as he rubbed his forehead. Xander knew exactly what was going through his mind. Arie made careful plans, and he saw them through to completion. Anything that was less than what he set out to do, he considered a failure. Not only that, but this was the second plan recently that had gone awry. The first he blamed Calli for, now the second Xander.
But Xander wouldn’t change anything. Not even for Arie’s approval.
“Listen, Arie,” he continued, “I would like nothing more than to remain a member of this family in every way possible. But if you don’t want me here anymore, I understand. Juliet and I can make our lives elsewhere.”
Damien stood abruptly, and Diana opened her mouth as though she had something to say, but Arie silenced them all by lifting his hand.
“Enough of that nonsense.”
“I just—”
“I don’t want to hear it,” Arie said, his words harsh. “Yes, the plan went wrong, and I would have preferred to walk away with all of the jewels. That didn’t happen. But that doesn’t change who we are or what we mean to one another. Do you understand me?”
Arie was so serious that Xander had to work hard to hide the smile that threatened to emerge, knowing that Arie wouldn’t appreciate it. But he couldn’t help it. He too enjoyed seeing Arie like this, in a rare moment when he acknowledged how much they all meant to one another.
“Very well, Arie, if you say so,” he said, standing, holding out a hand to Juliet. “If that is all, we are going to retire for the night. It’s been a long day.”
When Juliet looked up and met his gaze, her eyes were hot, her lids heavy with desire, and Xander had to keep himself from picking her up and running with her up the stairs.
“Stop.”
Xander couldn’t help his audible sigh in exasperation, but he turned anyway to see what Arie wanted.
“Juliet,” Arie said, obviously struggling with the words. “Before you go, I—I must apologize. For what I said. Five years ago. I was wrong, and you are always welcome here.”
Juliet blinked a few times, obviously as stunned as the rest of them.
“Th-thank you, Arie,” she said, taking Xander’s hand to rise. She looked away from him, clearing her throat before addressing Diana. “Is there a room for Annabelle for the night?”
“I’ve already had Calli’s old room made up. I assume you already have decided on your… accommodations,” Diana said, her usual stoic expression somewhat impish as she looked on at them, and Xander nearly rolled his eyes at his family’s
obviousness.
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
“Of course,” Diana said, following them out, but before Xander could hurry Juliet away and up the stairs, Diana placed a hand on Juliet’s arm, stalling them. Xander groaned in frustration.
“I know you want to go, and I understand, but I just wanted to say…” she twisted her fingers together. “I know Arie hasn’t made this particularly easy on either of you, but the truth is, I always thought you were better off together and I was sorry it didn’t work out in the past. I hope this time is different.”
Xander nodded at his sister, appreciating the sentiment, even if it was somewhat ill timing.
“Thank you, Diana.”
She nodded and turned to go, and the moment her back was facing them, Xander did what he had been longing to do since they walked through the door, and picked up Juliet and raced her up the stairs.
She threw back her head and laughed in abandon as he did so, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so complete, nor been so sure that his life was moving in the right direction.
He had always lived for his family, but he couldn’t remember the last time he had done something for himself, or had made a decision that hadn’t been dictated by Arie.
He didn’t care what Arie thought anymore. Juliet was his. And he was going to make sure it stayed that way.
Chapter 23
Juliet held on tight as Xander hurried her up the stairs, her heart beating in time with his footsteps. She wasn’t sure what the future had in store for the two of them, but there was one thing she did know — whatever came, they would embrace it together.
“You don’t have to carry me,” she said, nearly breathless even though it was Xander who was exerting himself.
“I know,” he said with his usual grin, “but I was worried that you might not remember the way.”
“I would always know the way to you,” she said, dipping her head, not wanting him to see such a moment of vulnerability, but there was no hiding from him and he seemed to appreciate it.
A Jewel for the Taking: Thieves of Desire Book 2 Page 16
