“Gareth!” Reeves’ voice called. “Get out here! If you want my daughter, come and face me.”
No.
How could he have come? What had he been thinking? He must have known it was the wrong choice. He must have seen that this was a trap.
If she were going to die, her only consolation was the fact that Emma—and Reeves—were going to be safe. That they had chosen their own well-being over hers. But now she saw that they hadn’t done that at all. They weren’t going to be safe.
Tonight could very well end with all three of them dead.
The terror came back in full force. That was an outcome she couldn’t bring herself to accept, no matter how hard she might try.
Gareth grinned at her. “I suppose late is better than never,” he said. “You wait here.”
As if she had a choice. Tied up as she was, Bridget was going nowhere.
“I’ll be back for you in a few moments,” Gareth said. “Never fear. Now that the duke has decided to cooperate, you have nothing to worry about. You’ll be going home very soon.”
But Bridget’s fear was so overpowering that she knew it would be impossible now for her to overcome it.
CHAPTER 34
“You may as well come in from the cold,” Gareth said, throwing open the door. “What needs to be discussed here can very easily be sorted out inside, by candlelight. I would love to see my niece again. She’s the reason for all of this, of course.”
He stood back from the door.
Bridget’s stomach turned over as Reeves walked in, a tiny figure that could only be Emma clinging to his hand. The short figure was shrouded in a hood that would have served to protect her from the cold. She had never looked so vulnerable, and Bridget ached to say something that would reassure her that everything would be all right, but it would have been a lie. It didn’t seem to her, right now, that anything would be all right. This was the worst possible turn of events. Seeing Emma here made her want to scream with rage and terror, and she only held back for fear of provoking Gareth. He was still holding that gun.
Behind Reeves, a third figure stooped in the door. It was Norman. Bridget felt a prickle of hope at the sight of his massive frame, but Gareth’s face darkened at the sight of him. “I didn’t tell you to bringhimalong, Reeves,” he growled. “Just what are you playing at here?”
“I needed a driver,” Reeves said. There was an angry tension in his voice, unlike anything Bridget had ever heard from him before. She wondered whether Gareth recognized the danger he was facing. If Reeves had ever spoken to her this way, she would have cowered in terror. “You sent my last one back in no fit state to bring me here. And since you insisted that Emma come along with me, I could hardly ride out on horseback. Not in this weather. Norman agreed to drive me here. I don’t see how you can object to that—and to be perfectly frank, I don’t care if you do. You’ve gotten what you wanted from us.”
“You’re late,” Gareth said.
“It took time to organize things,” Reeves said, his voice tight. “And you insisted that I bring you my only daughter—I had to say my farewells, didn’t I? She is the most important thing in the world to me.”
Gareth snorted. “Don’t make me laugh.”
“You don’t look in any danger of laughing,” Reeves said coolly. “And nor am I. I’ve done what you wanted. I’ve brought my daughter here, even though you kidnapped her away from me.”
“So, you figured it out, did you?”
“She told me. You must have known that eventually she would.”
Gareth cursed and started toward Emma. “You little rat—I told you, you weren’t ever to mention the fact that I had taken you. I told you there would be consequences if you did. Didn’t you believe me?” He reached out a hand for Emma.
Bridget was relieved to see Reeves push his daughter behind him. Apparently, he hadn’t relinquished Emma fully—he was still trying to protect her. That gave Bridget some hope. There must be more going on here than she was able to see.
Of course there is. I should have had more faith in him right from the beginning. Of course, he would never simply hand Emma over to this man. I was right. He wouldn’t do that for anyone. He has another plan.
She couldn’t see what it was. The situation still felt impossibly precarious. But at least now she could feel some hope. She would just have to wait and see. And in the meantime, she would stay alert. Maybe there would be some sort of clue that would give her a hint as to what was about to happen, something that would allow her to be ready to act when the proper moment came.
“Don’t try to hide her from me,” Gareth said. “You brought Emma here to give her to me. That was the right decision, but you can’t balk now.” He held out his hand. “You’ve already made up your mind, so just do it. Let me have her.”
“I will,” Reeves said, and though Bridget was sure now that it was a lie, she couldn’t help the swooping dread she felt in thepit of her stomach. “I’ll give her to you—but before I do, I want you to tell mewhy, Gareth. You must know that this isn’t what Rosalie would have wanted.”
“Don’t you say her name,” Gareth snarled. There was madness in his eyes. “Don’t act as if you cared for her. You never loved my sister.”
“She didn’t love me either,” Reeves said quietly. “You know our marriage wasn’t based on love. But that was all right. It was all right for both of us. We knew what we had, and we were comfortable with it. We were both happy with our lives.”
