Excitement filled her eyes. “When I first lived here after we were married, I thought so many times how I would enjoy being part of your doctoring.”

They stepped into the room. “I wish you’d told me.”

She smiled and shook her head. “We were strangers, Baz. You were uncomfortable when I was around, and the last thing I wanted was to be a bother.”

He lifted their still-clasped hands to his heart. “I suspect, Gemma, I made it deucedly difficult for you to know that you were never a bother or a burden. Having you here did, and does, me a world of good.” He knew he was tiptoeing around the admission he needed to make, but sometimes courage took a little nudging.

She set her hand on the side of his face. “Being with you does my heart good too.”

He slipped his hand around hers and turned his head, pressing a kiss to her fingers. A bit of color touched her cheeks; Gemma wasn’t one for blushing easily. That provided a bit of a nudge.

“Why did you—” He stopped the question before it fully emerged. Apparently, his courage was lagging.

She pulled her hand from his but set it on his chest, keeping her eyes locked with his. “Why did I what?”

“Why did you leave? And why did you stay away for so long? And why are you so anxious to leave again?” It was as if, having asked one of the questions on his mind, he couldn’t prevent the rest from following close on its heels.

“I need to leave London because if I don’t, my family will find me. We both know what that would mean.”

He knew all too well. The terror of what the Kincaids were and what they had done and would do never entirely left his mind. If not for the DPS keeping watch over Gemma, he’d have been driven mad with worry.

Barnabus set his hand atop hers on his chest, reminding himself that she was there and she was safe. And that he had courage enough to obtain the answers they needed. “The Kincaids aren’t the reason you left before. Why did you leave three years ago?”

Her gaze studied him. “Do you not remember?”

“I remember you told me you loved me and that you needed to know if I loved you too.”

The blush that had touched her cheeks a moment earlier slipped quickly into pallor. “That was one of the more frightening moments of my life. I was so afraid of what your answer would be.”

Barnabus ran his thumb lightly along her jaw, praying she could forgive him for the pain he’d caused her. “I was wrong. I said then that love wasn’t part of our arrangement, that I didn’t think it ever would be. But, Gemma, I was wrong. Utterly wrong.”