He's No Prince Charming (Ever After) (23 page)

H
ow could you be an heiress, Danni? You run a fake book shop and live off commissions from elopements.”

Danni rapidly shook her head. She wasn’t certain how he’d come up with that idea. “I’ve never taken money from the girls.”

Marcus’s eyes widened in confusion, but before he could say another word, the door to their chamber crashed inward. Splintering wood flew through the room, and echoes shook the floor beneath their feet. Half a dozen heavily armed men flooded the small space, fanning out around the perimeter. Two headed directly towards them. Danni was rooted to the spot, unsure what to do. Suddenly, Marcus was before her, his body blocking the attackers’ advance. They didn’t hesitate at his size, but kept advancing, another leaping into the fray to assist in his downfall.

“Run, Danni!”

Marcus’s voice roared as one of them aimed a fist for his face. He caught the punch, twisting the arm behind his opponent’s back. A second man aimed for his feet. Danni watched in horror as Marcus’s green eyes dimmed, panic and wildness consuming him. She trembled as she watched the man she loved fall back into the abyss of his childhood.

The violence that unfolded shocked her. As the second attacker swerved to buckle Marcus’s legs from beneath him, he lifted one leg and slammed his heel against Marcus’s knee. Marcus barely tilted under the blow. A loud pop echoed through the room as Marcus snapped the arm of the man he was holding. He screamed and collapsed to the floor. The third oncoming man was quickly cut down, then a fourth.

Danni was paralyzed by the ferocity the men displayed. It seemed each was set on killing Marcus. A fifth man leaped upon Marcus. With each blow landed by the armed men, Marcus became more crazed. He fought back ferociously, but ineffectively, against so many opponents. Danni couldn’t bear to watch any more. “Please. Marcus, stop!”

He caught a man by the throat, lifting him off his feet. His frenzied gaze held hers. Her heart broke at his distant expression. She knew in his mind, he was fighting his father.

“Marcus,” she forced herself to speak calmly. “Let him go.”

Something sparked deep in his eyes, bringing their green depths to light again. “Danni.”

He gently lowered the man to his feet, his gaze never leaving hers. All activity seemed to slow. Another member of the squad rounded the edge of the door, halting at Marcus’s left. Her gaze locked on the admiral’s man as he crouched. His muscles gathered, bulging as he flew directly at Marcus. His shoulder collided with Marcus’s hip, landing directly against the wound in his side.

Danni screamed in anticipation of his pain. Her lover’s head fell back as an inhuman roar erupted from him. His arms clawed at the air in self-defense as he slowly sank to his knees. In that moment, she didn’t care whether he was human or beast, she was not afraid. She knew he would never hurt her, rather, she knew that he would die trying to defend her. Danni tried to catch him, to hold him, but two men seized her arms.

Suddenly, a short, forceful man burst into the room framed by a swirling riding coat. His face was chiseled iron as he calmly strode up to Marcus. His men moved in to seize the incapacitated man.

He snarled. “So you are the cur who took my daughter. From under my own roof, no less!”

Ginny’s father lifted a hand to strike him sharply across his face. Danni struggled against her own captors, trying to stop any additional harm to Marcus. “Stop! You don’t understand.”

The admiral’s seething gaze landed on her. His mouth opened, his eyes widening in his stunned shock. “Miss Strafford?”

She grimaced. Marcus’s head pivoted towards her, his features dazed.

“Please, sir, don’t hurt him. We will cooperate with you now.”

“Danielle, what in God’s name are you doing here?”

She grimaced, looking down in shame. “It’s a long story, sir.”

Marcus stared with confused disbelief as the admiral riddled her with rambling questions, “Long story? Why are you not in London with your father? I heard you had become betrothed to Hemsworth! How did you ever become involved in this?”

At Danni’s shuttered gaze, the man backtracked. “Right, of course, Seaton doesn’t know what you are up to, does he?”

The admiral barked an order to his second in command. “Bring that young man here. Now!”

Danni’s heart lurched. He couldn’t be here. It was impossible. But sure enough, the thin frame and pious face of her ex-coachman appeared in the doorway to their room a moment later.

“Phillip!”

She shared a stunned look with Marcus. Danni was glad he had been found and cared for, but…what exactly would he have to say? He was a blathering idiot.

“Ah, yes, Phillip. Come. Clarify again what’s going on here, lad.” The admiral waved him in.

The dark-haired coachman glanced at Marcus and then smirked. The powerless, whimpering dandy was gone. Phillip was about to get his retribution for Marcus’s earlier intimidation. She dreaded his version of events.

“Until recently, I was in the employ of Miss Strafford, daughter of the Baron Seaton.” She heard Marcus’s sharp gasp and felt his eyes burning into her back, but Danni kept her eyes fixed on Phillip, silently pleading with him to keep his mouth shut. “She was blackmailed by this…ruffian, the Marquis of Fleetwood, to help him kidnap Miss Foley-Foster.”

The admiral’s eyes narrowed dangerously in Danni’s direction. “Is this true?”

Danni wanted to argue, to defend Marcus somehow, but it was nothing but the truth. She slumped in her captive’s grip and stared shamefully at the floor. She would not condemn Marcus. “He never hurt either of us.”

The admiral scoffed. “What happened next, young man?”

Danni could only shake her head, knowing the next chapter in their story would only make matters worse for them. Phillip, however, did not hesitate to fill in the commander. “When we left London, our coach was set upon by highwaymen. The leader called himself the Green Bandit. He and his associate stole Miss Foley-Foster to hold her for ransom. That’s when I was shot! All because of this…this monster.”

Rage purpled the admiral’s face. He was out for blood. Marcus’s blood.

“You let my child fall into the hands of those filthy criminals?”

Every man in the room flinched at the note in the admiral’s voice.

Danni struggled to free herself, trying to draw attention from Marcus. She hoped she could keep him alive. “She’s fine. He risked his life to save her from them and brought her here. He had her examined by a doctor, even before himself, even though he was suffering from a gunshot wound.”

The admiral ignored her. He turned to Phillip. “Do you know for what purpose this beast took my daughter in the first place?”

“He plotted to marry her. He directed me to bring them to Gretna Green.”

He turned on Marcus, fury fairly dripping from him. “You planned to
force her into marriage
?”

Danni cringed. “He meant her no harm, I promise!”

The admiral swung towards her. “You will remain silent. We will speak privately about your role in this matter later, Miss Strafford.”

She turned her gaze to Marcus. Emerald flickered with a swath of emotion—shock, vulnerability, and resignation. The last hurt most of all. He’d given up.

Marcus finally spoke, his voice very soft. “I do not know this Miss Strafford you are speaking of, Admiral. I know this woman as Miss Green.”

Danni felt sick.

The admiral looked from Marcus to Danni; some of the rage dimmed and was replaced by grim satisfaction. “You did well to hide your identity, Danielle. If he was after money, he very may well have forced you.”

Marcus’s face paled and his gaze dropped to the ground. She caught the glimmer of pain so deep it hurt. He thought she didn’t trust him. Danni felt her heart break. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, Marcus. I was afraid you’d force me to marry you instead. But that was before…”

She bit her lip, silencing her next words in front of so many strange men.

He didn’t respond, not even a twitch to acknowledge he’d heard her. Desperate, Danni turned to the admiral, pleading. “Let him go, please, I beg you.”

“Let him go? Danielle, you’ve lost your mind. This man is a criminal. If not for your coachman, I may never have found you and Ginny.”

She bit back a hiss of hatred for Phillip, the whimpering dolt. “Marcus was only doing what he had to! He’s in desperate need of money to help his sister. You would stop at nothing to help your family. Right before me is the evidence of that. And Marcus had planned to return her safely today. ”

The admiral glanced at the men he’d brought with him before his gaze hardened. “Do not be so foolish, Miss Strafford. He is playing with you. Tugging all the right heartstrings to bend you to his will. He has taken advantage of your gentle nature.”

She shook her head, denying the accusation that Marcus had deceived her. Blackmailed, kidnapped, yes, but never deceived her. The bleak emotions on Marcus’s face when he’d confessed everything and when he’d demonstrated his love for her had been real.

She willed Marcus to defend himself, to say
something
. Instead, he remained on his knees between his captors, silent, his eyes focused on the dark-paneled floor.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Marcus finally croaked, his voice thick with agony.

She opened her mouth to fully explain herself, but the admiral cut her off. “Obviously, she could not stand to be forced into such a marriage, either. What respectable woman would?”

The blond giant held still, a slight tensing in his muscles the only indication he’d heard.

Tears filled her vision. Desperately, she wanted to wrap him in her arms and reassure him she loved him. She tugged at her captors’ grip, but they held firm.

“Marcus, that may have been true, at one time. But not now.”

“I will see you hang, Fleetwood,” the admiral intoned like a death knell.

“No! I will never let you hurt him.”

The admiral’s gaze flicked to her guards and then towards the door in a silent command. The men steered her away. Danni dug the heels of her boots into the wood, trying to stop them. “Let me go! I won’t let you do this.”

She fought wildly against them. Her legs kicked about. One man grunted when her elbow connected with his side. His grip loosened momentarily and it was all Danni needed to yank free. She pushed her way past the admiral, taking a position between him and Marcus. “I will not let you do this. He’s a good man.”

The admiral shook his head as Marcus spoke to her. “Move, Miss Strafford. We both knew this day would come.”

“But Marcus—”

“Be gone.”

Danni cried at the soft, broken words that came from Marcus. He couldn’t give up. She wouldn’t let him.

Her guards seized her, dragging her from the room. She managed to hold the door frame long enough to catch one last glimpse of the man she loved.

The admiral viciously smacked Marcus with the butt of his gun, and her beast fell silently to the floor, without having moved a muscle to defend himself.

The sun had set long ago, and the streets of London had settled into a sort of quiet busyness, so unlike the daylight hours. In sharp contrast, anxiety and fear crackled like lightning inside Danni as the admiral’s carriage slowed to the curb outside her home on King Street.

Before the vehicle came to a full stop, Danni bounded out, skirts gathered about her knees. She raced up the steps of her home, briefly waving back to Ginny. The girl had been so kind to her, doing everything in her power to console her, and promising to intervene on Marcus’s behalf with her father. But nothing could change the fact that she’d destroyed Marcus. The way he’d looked at her, utterly emotionless. He’d surrendered. She could see his failure and despair written in every fiber of his being. Now that he was in jail, facing the noose, he would never be able to set his sister free from Harwood. And he’d also given up on them. Idiotic man probably thought she’d never truly love him and would be better without him.

But Danni would not give up. She had one last resource available to her.

Fumbling with the knocker, the door swung inward. Danni didn’t wait to hand her coat to the butler, but pushed past him, racing to her father’s study. At this time of evening, he would be seated in his wingback chair, studying his notes from Session.

The double doors flew open under her palms, banging against the walls in her haste. Her father sat up in his chair, his surprise turning to worried relief.

“Danni! Where on earth have you been? I’ve had Runners looking for you everywhere.”

She stopped in the middle of the room, shocked. “You noticed?”

Her father, well known for staring down his toughest political opponents, turned bright red with shame. “Of course I did. You have been gone for almost a week! I know I have not been the best of fathers since your mother died, Danni, but I do worry about your well-being.”

Until that moment, Danni hadn’t realized how much she’d missed her father. This small, simple revelation sent her over the brink into hysteria. She’d been so determined to solve every problem on her own, so focused on getting Marcus free, she’d not stopped to think. Now, as the weight of the week overwhelmed her, she broke. Launching herself into her father’s embrace, she clutched at his shoulders. Her body shook with uncontrollable sobs. “Oh, Papa! I don’t know what to do.”

His hand patted the back of her head awkwardly in an effort to soothe her. The tenderness and worry in his tone only caused her to cry harder. “Whatever it is, I’m sure we can fix it.”

“No, Papa. I…”

“Darling, tell me what it is and I’ll be the judge.”

Danni pulled back, absorbing his sorrowful gaze before the answer broke from her. “The man I love is sentenced to die!”

Confusion swamped his features. “What are you talking about, Danielle?”

Fighting to steady her heaving chest so she could form words, Danni launched into an account of everything that had happened—from how she’d first opened Gretna Green Bookings, to Marcus’s blackmail and her role in Ginny’s abduction, and, finally, to her “rescue.” When she was done, her pale father collapsed back into his high-backed chair. “Oh, God.”