Chapter 172

In his head, Miles knows that Hugo isn’t responsible for what’s happened to Esther. She’s been going through a lot lately, and Miles half expected to have her returned to him in this state when he saw her off before this meeting.

Still, seeing Hugo with his arm around Esther’s waist, while she looks so frail and fragile, so sickly and pale, ignited the possessiveness in his chest, making him rage.

So while his head might have told him that Esther’s condition wasn’t Hugo’s fault, his heart said something entirely different.

Even now, with Esther tucked safely against his side, he is furious and annoyed and on guard, like Hugo might make some kind of move against Esther.

Hugo holds up both hands, palms forward, helpless.

“He didn’t do anything,” Esther says. Her voice sounds so weak that Miles wants to break something. He has since this whole ordeal began. During work hours, he’s been sneaking out of the office to go to the gym and punch the shit out of a punching bag.

Yet even pushing his body to the point of physical exhaustion, nothing qualms the rage inside of him. It might have happened before he knew her, but this bastard had the gall to hurt Esther. Worse, she’d only been a child at the time.

God, Miles wanted to beat his face in.

How was he supposed to face the guy in a free and fair election?

If that was what was even going to happen.

Edward’s sudden rise is suspicious as hell. He couldn’t have done it without the help of very powerful friends.

Miles also had powerful friends. Or at least, he thought he did. Now he’s starting to wonder if those same friends turned coat on him.

“We were talking,” Hugo says. “And she became sick.”

“Miles,” Esther says. “I want to rest. Let Hugo ago.”

“Actually,” Hugo adds. “I was hoping we could talk privately for a moment, Miles. After Esther goes in to rest.”

Miles narrows his eyes, not trusting Hugo for one minute. But.

Esther clearly is too tired to talk about what happened. Perhaps Hugo would be more willing.

“Please, Miles,” Esther says. “Hear him out.”

With how strongly Miles feels for Esther, he can’t go against her. So he steps back from the door. Turning he guides Esther deeper into the house.

Behind him, he hears Hugo enter. Miles’s security moves in at once, checking him over.

Miles takes Esther into the bedroom.

“I want to get a shower before bed,” she says. “I’m so gross…”

“Let me help you,” Miles insists.

“But, Hugo is waiting…”

“Let him wait,” Miles says. Taking her by the hand, he leads her into the bathroom. Gently, he helps her out of her clothes. As he warms up the shower water, he steps out of his own clothes too.

Then, together, when the water is warm enough, the step under the spray. Miles takes care, tenderly lathering up her body with the soft soap. He turns her this way and that, careful to have ever square inch of soap washed away.

Her body is attractive to him, but in her physical state, he cares more about making certain that she is okay than he is about finding his own sexual gratification.

When she is showered and clean, he turns off the water. Back in the bathroom, he pats her down with the softest bath towel Esther owns. Then, leading her back into the bedroom, he dresses her in her pajamas and see her into her bed.

It’s disheartening and unnerving, how compliant she is acting, moving as fluidly and obediently as if she’s a doll.

When she’s safely tucked into the bed, Miles returns to the bathroom to collect his previous clothes. He redresses, double checking in the mirror that he isn’t noticeably rumpled.

He doesn’t want Hugo to know what happened in here. He might have heard the shower running, but everything else is none of his business.

Dressed to perfection, Miles heads to the door of the bedroom. He turns out the light and steps out into the hallway.

He finds Hugo waiting in the living room. Hugo is standing near the couch, looking at the photos Esther has on the wall. So many of herself, Iris, and Violet.

His snooping annoys Miles more than it has any right to. After all, this is not his house. Esther is not his wife, and her children are not Miles’s children.

But Hugo shouldn’t be allowed to snoop around like he has any right to.

Maybe Miles is still angry.

Hugo, spotting Miles, turns away from the photos and faces Miles instead.

“Is she okay?” he asks.

“You already know the answer to that.”

“I’ve gathered,” he says. “I’ve put a few things together as we talked.”

Good. That would save them some time as well as a moral dilemma on Miles part, wondering how much he should reveal. It’s Esther’s story to tell. Miles wouldn’t dare betray her confidence, especially not to bring someone like Hugo into the loop.

But if he already knows, that smooths things. He doesn’t have to explain anything.

“Tell me exactly what happened tonight,” Miles says. “Depending on your answer, we can either have a civil discussion, or I will throw a punch or too.”

Hugo stares at Miles. “I can’t blame you for that reaction, though I assure you I had nothing to do with what happened tonight. At least, not intentionally.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Miles says.

Hugo must agree, because he starts to fill in the holes of the evening for Miles, describing much of his conversation with Esther.

They’d been talking about the Whisperers. Hugo said something about how Edward must have blackmail on some powerful men. Then, Esther seemed to go into a shock. She ran to the bathroom, which was where Hugo found her later.

As the story unravels, Miles grows more and more angry. Again that desire to break something comes racing back through his veins.

Everything here belongs to Esther. He can’t destroy anything here without hurting Esther more, which he would never do. He would throw himself in front of a bullet to protect Esther. He would sooner hurt himself than ever do anything to intentionally harm her.

“The blackmail… Whatever that is, Esther must know,” Miles says. “And it was enough to drive her to another panic attack.”

Hugo nods, grim, apparently having come to his own conclusion.

“Horrors went on in that orphanage. I’m going to use my contacts to look further into it, but I thought that I might tell you as well. In this, for Esther, I think we should work together.”

In any other circumstance, Miles would rather chew off his own arm than to work with Hugo on anything, let alone something as dangerous and serious as this.

But Esther trusts him…

Maybe Miles does too. He did bring Esther home to him after all. He clearly cares for her. He wouldn’t want to hurt her.

In that they can agree. And because of that, their affections for Esther, maybe in this one instance they can work together to help protect her and bring the man who hurt her to justice.

“There’s more going on here than even Esther knows,” Miles says. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to let her face it alone. If working together helps bring to light whatever that bastard is hiding, then let’s do it.”

Miles feels a little sick even suggesting it.

But for Esther…

“Let’s work together.”