Midnight Kisses (Midnight Series) by Emily Bold

took in the typical museum smell of dust-covered, rusting, and slightly musty works of art, she agreed that the atmosphere was more than appropriate for priceless artifacts. Danielle and Eliza walked in silence through the exhibition rooms, with only their footsteps echoing on the dark marble floors.
    “What are you hoping to find here?” Eliza whispered and looked around. Only a few other visitors were strolling through the high-ceilinged rooms, stopping here and there to take in an exhibition piece.
    “I don’t know. Perhaps it will all become clear when I see the Venus . After all, she’s the reason we’re here,” Danielle explained. “Maybe we should split up. The sooner we find her, the quicker we’ll know,” she finally suggested.
    Eliza, who was feeling a little under the weather, agreed because she wanted to return home as soon as possible.
    “Very well. I’ll go take a look in that room. What am I looking for?”
    “The painting’s title is The Goddess . I will take a look around here.”
    “Alright, let’s hope that we make a find.”
    Danielle looked after Eliza as her friend quickly disappeared in the other room, before she turned around to the paintings around her. Slowly and thoughtfully, she studied them. She didn’t know much about art, but she couldn’t help but admire some of the pieces.
    When her eyes fell on the next painting, she swallowed hard. A beautiful dolphin in a sea of turquoise green and azure blue. The artist had managed to make the underwater world magically shine, and the magnificence of the painting made Danielle shudder. A tear welled up in her eyes and went unnoticed.
    She was overwhelmed by guilt when she thought back to her husband’s notes. He was right: she really liked this painting. That Matt had considered purchasing it seemed incredible to her. Had she perhaps meant more to him than she always assumed? Even at their wedding, he had made no secret of the fact that, first and foremost, he needed a mother for Christopher. But despite his inability to truly make her his wife, he must have felt something for her. Why else would he be interested in her love for dolphins? Perhaps she had done him wrong.
    Oh, she was a bad woman! Not six months after Matthew’s death she had thrown herself into someone else’s arms, falling head over heels for this lady’s man like a schoolgirl—when she should be overcome with grief and mourn her husband.
    Danielle wiped the tears from her face when she noticed footsteps beside her.
    “Lady Langston, my, my. So you have indeed found the Venus ,” the voice whispered quietly so as to not draw attention to the cold steel of the gun pressed into her back.

    Devlin stared incredulously at the letter in his hands. Lord Bosworth was irate and pacing up and down the salon, while staring at the clock on the wall that kept ticking the time away.
    “How could you allow the ladies to engage in such a dangerous undertaking?” Colin asked in obvious distress. The few minutes that had passed since they discovered Eliza’s note had aged him by years, and he kept running his hands through what little was left of his hair.
    Devlin raised his hands defiantly.
    “I was completely unaware of Lord Langston’s notes!” he tried to explain himself, even though the deep worry Colin displayed started taking a hold of him, too.
    With a few words, Devlin outlined the whole affair to his friend.
    “  . . .  and so this morning I went to the brothel to make inquiries, but either the girls really don’t know, or they have a good reason not to talk. Even when I offered the whore money in exchange for information, she kept mum. Still, my efforts were not entirely in vain, for I saw a man again that I’ve seen before in Essex. I’m afraid he might be in on this.”
    Hysterical screams coming from the foyer made the men jump to their feet. With long strides, they hurried over to the source of the racket, and Colin pulled Eliza into his arms when he