The world within a world the boy he’d watched become a man had created. Now that world had been shaken, and needed to be put steady again. “You’ll go back to Ireland. You’ll have to go back.” “I will.” Roarke nodded, unspeakably grateful to be understood without having said the words. “I will, yes.” “When?” “Right away. I think it’s best to go straight away.” “Have you told the lieutenant?” “I haven’t.” Unsettled again, Roarke looked down at his own hands, ran the gold band of his marriage around his finger. “She’s in the middle of a difficult investigation. This will distract her from it. I’d considered telling her I had business out of town, but I can’t lie to her. It’ll be simpler, I think, to make the arrangements, then tell her I’m going.”
