Thief of My Heart by Karla Kratovil

Author:Karla Kratovil [Kratovil, Karla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Romance; Regency; sexy romance; unconventional heroine; jewel thief; Duke; London; High Society; dogs; secret identity
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Published: 2020-09-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

“I will need to remove her shirt. Perhaps Vivian should come over and help me?” Mr. Davis asked.

Vivian stepped forward, but Andrew just held up one hand. “No, I will help you.”

“But Andrew,” Vivian murmured. “It is unseemly for her to be unclothed by a man who is not her husband. Think about her reputation.”

Andrew snorted. “Her reputation? She stumbled into my house with a gunshot wound. Her reputation is the last thing I am worried about tonight.” His instinct to take care of her was bone deep. “No, I will help take care of her. She is going to be my wife.”

Everyone in the room froze at his pronouncement. Vivian glanced at her husband. Jack just shrugged his shoulders in response.

But Andrew didn’t care he had shocked them with his statement. The words that had tumbled unguarded out of his mouth were the utter truth. Emma belonged with him.

“All right, Andrew. We will go get her some fresh clothing, a nightshirt,” Vivian soothed.

“No one knows she is here, understood? Winston, you stand sentry at the door again.”

The three of them vacated the room. “What’s next, Davis?”

“Let’s get this shirt off, and then if you can hold her steady. With her head in your lap, I will start to get this closed up. After the wound is stitched, I will check her for any other injuries.”

Andrew sat cross-legged on the bed, cradling Emma’s head in his lap and brushing her hair back gently, while speaking soothing words. How everything was going to be all right, how he would take care of her. Davis cleaned and sewed up the gash with efficiency.

Ten minutes later, Davis looked up. “That’s the best I can do. I tried to make the stitches as small as possible.” He wiped his brow with a handkerchief.

Andrew looked over and saw twenty neat stitches in black thread marching up her smooth pale skin. The stitches were small and the line of them about four inches in length.

“You did an amazing job, Davis. Thank you.”

“The ball missed hitting her bone by perhaps an inch. She is a very lucky girl. Let’s see where else she is hurt.” He methodically examined Emma’s legs, arms, and even her scalp. “She is bruised in several places as though she took a fall, which would also explain the dislocated shoulder. But most concerning is that she has lost a lot of blood. She needs to rest and to keep the arm immobile for a least two weeks.” He applied a bandage over the stitches and wrapped a length of linen around her arm to keep it in place. “Keep watch over her tonight, and come and get me if her breathing changes or if the wound begins to seep blood. If she doesn’t catch a fever in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours, she should recover. I will come back in the morning to check her.”

Davis got up and washed the blood off his hands in the basin. There was a knock on the door, and Vivian appeared with fresh linens and a nightgown for Emma.

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