Free Abandoned to the Night (The Brotherhood Series, Book 3) by Adele Clee

speak. “Perhaps it is time to find them homes elsewhere. The Bruhns are elderly and cannot care for the children indefinitely.” He paused briefly. “When, or if, I return to England, I want to take Christoph with me.”
    Panic flared.
    How could she tear Christoph away from the only family he had ever known? The other boys would miss him terribly. And how would she cope when the time came for Leo to leave again?
    “Take him away?” She almost choked on the words. But she knew that the boy’s time with the Bruhns would soon come to an end if Frau Bruhn took a turn for the worse. “Do you think Elliot would welcome the boy?”
    Leo shrugged. “I have no idea. But I would like to think so. Granted, the nature of our affliction would make it much more difficult for him to care for a child. The fact his wife is unaffected would make the task easier.”
    Ivana could not imagine his wife would be happy at the prospect of raising another woman’s son, particularly when it was impossible for her to conceive.
    “Does his wife know he cannot give her a child of her own?”
    “She knows everything,” Leo nodded. “They have no secrets.”
    Guilt surfaced as she heard his mild reproof. A relationship based on love, mutual respect, honesty, and trust was what she had always longed for. But life’s complications had made such a dream impossible.
    “Then you believe she will openly accept another woman’s child to please her husband?”
    “Grace is a good, kind person who has saved my friend and brother from a miserable existence. I’m certain her heart is big enough to push aside any doubts or fears she may have.”
    “Under other circumstances, I would have liked to meet her,” Ivana said. “But no doubt she would wish to drive a stake through my heart for what I have done to her beloved husband.”
    “I’m certain, once she met the children, she would understand your motives.” He held the carriage door open for her. “Even if they are somewhat extreme.”
    “And what of you, Leo? How do you feel now you have met the children?”
    “I feel as though I have spent many years walking about with my eyes closed.” He spoke softly. “Now I can see why you would be angry and hurt at the prospect of them being left alone.”
    She stared into his warm brown eyes, recalling how his heated gaze was able to penetrate her soul during their intense coupling. “It means a lot to me, to know that you understand why I behaved as I did. It is good to know you do not despise me as you once did.”
    She climbed into her conveyance. Leo followed her, falling into the seat opposite as the carriage pulled away and rattled along the cobbled street.
    “It’s fair to say I have a better grasp of the situation than I did a few days ago,” he said as he studied her. “Indeed, I am curious to know more about my time here.”
    Despite the turbulent rocking, she sat forward, put her hand on his knee and the muscles flexed beneath her fingers. “Let us talk of the past no more. Know that everything I have done has been out of love, even when my actions appear to be misguided.”
    “Love for whom, Ivana?” His tone sounded smooth, rich, like a lover’s soft caress and he glanced down at her hand. “Just for the children?”
    Ivana sat back. “No … yes. You know what the children mean to me.” To declare her love for him so openly would be a mistake.
    “Always so guarded,” he mocked. “You may struggle to speak the truth, but I can read it in your eyes, feel it in your tender touch.”
    “I have never denied my feelings for you,” she managed to say, although she had made him forget what he meant to her.
    The corners of his mouth curled up into a wicked grin as his brown eyes twinkled. “In the castle, you said that once our lips met, you knew I was the one you’d been dreaming of.”
    She swallowed deeply, wondering at his motive for making the comment. “Yes.”
    “I find it hard to believe it would take but a single