Page 32 of The Gilded Lady
Her heart nearly tripped over itself, but the solemn look in his eyes told her he spoke the truth. Nevertheless, she needed reassurance. “He’s certain?”
Zane nodded. “He said the man spent the night at The Baroness. Said he was leaving on the last train out. It was the same night you found your letter. He gave a name, though I’m certain it’s a fake, and a St. Louis address. Hunter has confirmed it’s the same address he found.”
It wasn’t much really. The address led to the same information they already had about the sender of the letter. Hunter wasalready doing all he could to track down the owner of the letterbox. No easy feat considering the address was around fifteen hundred miles away. However, it was the confirmation she needed to verify what she’d already known, that no one in her employment had left that letter. Her staff was loyal. It was a small thing, but she was grateful to have it confirmed.
Zane had turned his attention back to the twins. A slight smile curved his lips as he watched them playing, making her wonder if he’d ever thought of having children of his own. He’d surprised her with how effortlessly he’d been able to play with them. She nearly shook her head at the direction of her thoughts. Sally had made her see how pleasant indulging her curiosity with Zane could be in the short term, but there was no reason she should be thinking such long-term thoughts about him. It shouldn’t matter to her in the slightest what his plans were for a family in the future. She wouldn’t be a part of them.
“What name did he give?” She asked the question almost absently. It didn’t matter since Zane already assumed that it was a fake name given to cover the man’s true identity. It made sense that he wouldn’t use his real name if he was trying to hide who he was. She asked it more because she thought she should than from having a genuine desire to know.
“Justin Dubose.”
Her world tilted on its axis. It was the last name she ever wanted to hear. Her hard-won security, her independence, everything she’d ever worked for was gone with his utterance of that name. She took a deep gulp of air but it felt as if something squeezed around her chest, not allowing any of it in.
“Glory?” Zane kept his voice calm, probably so that he wouldn’t alarm the children, but she could see the alarm in his eyes. He touched her back and shifted so that he was facing her.
The twins looked up at them, their little faces pinched with concern.
She finally managed to take a breath, but her heart was still racing. “It’s him…it’s his name.”
The drawing wasn’t Justin though. Justin’s nose was more prominent and no one would call him fine featured. He’d been handsome, though with a notably cruel twist to his mouth. The man in the drawing had been bland. No, the man hadn’t been Justin, but he’d used Justin’s name which meant his letter wasn’t a lie. He was telling the truth when he claimed to know who she was. There was no doubt in her mind that he’d tell Justin where to find her.
If he hadn’t already.
The next few minutes passed in a blur. Thank God Zane was with her. While she was still dealing with the aftershocks of her world coming apart, he seemed to know just what to do. He gathered the children and her and took them all to the boardinghouse. Mary was there waiting to get them ready for bed, along with the other children, but Glory couldn’t give them up just yet. Zane seemed to understand and didn’t rush her.
Instead, he calmly helped her get them changed into their nightclothes and waited inside the door as she hugged them all good night. She didn’t notice at first, but at some point as he guided her back to Victoria House, his hand slipped from her elbow to her hand. His palm felt so warm, his fingers so strong and comforting around hers that she didn’t even think to pull away. She squeezed tighter, holding onto him as the one solid thing in her world right now.
“Let’s get you upstairs until we can figure out a plan,” Zane said when they stepped inside the back door.
“I need Able.”
Zane nodded, and they took a detour through the house. She caught the attention of a maid leaving one of the salons and asked her to have Able meet her upstairs. The girl nodded and hurried off to the front of the house where Able had probablyalready taken up his post for the night. Zane tightened his grip, leading her toward the back stairwell when Sally popped out of the lounge as if she’d heard Glory’s voice.
“Glory! There you are. I thought we’d finish our chat before my performance.” Her steps slowed as she approached them, and her brow crinkled. “You look like hell, doll. What’s wrong?”
The sight of her old friend was enough to jar Glory back to life. She took in a breath, hiccupping over the lump in her throat. “Come with me upstairs.” She needed something familiar with her, something that would help reassure her that her whole world wouldn’t crumble simply because Justin had found her.
“Of course.” Sally put her arm around her to walk beside her up the stairs.
Regrettably, this made Zane let go of her hand. She missed him instantly, but his heavy tread on the stairs behind them was reassuring.
Able was already at the door of her apartment when they arrived. “Is he here?” Able asked. Maybe he could read the answer on her face.
“Not yet,” she replied.
Able’s nostrils flared as he took in a breath and his jaw clenched. He was worried.
“Come in, I’ll tell you,” said Glory, and within moments they were inside and she sat on the sofa. She could smell the rose water she’d used that morning. She could hear the ticking of the clock. The world was slowly coming back into focus.
Zane crouched down in front of her, his hand on her knee. “I’ll be back soon. I’m going to talk to Hunter.”
“Why?” As she spoke, Sally’s hand moved up and down her back in a soothing motion.
“Because we’re going to find him and we’re going to stop him.” Zane didn’t give her a chance to respond before he left.
Chapter Fourteen
“You!”
