“Adrian, no!” Bridget pleaded, rushing toward him. “Just let him go, let us get out of here, please!”
Adrian pulled her close, kissing her almost brutally. He would make up for it later, but for now, he just needed to prove that she was still his.
“We finish this now, love,” he panted as he pulled back, his eyes pinging to every one of her beautiful features. “So we never have to worry about this again.”
The urge to kiss her again was great, but Adrian forced himself to stop and instead go up the stairs. It did not take long for him to find Warren, who was standing on a terrace, looking as if he was trying to figure out a way to climb down. In his one hand was the sack of jewels and money that had been sitting on the table, in his other, the club.
“You were truly going to leave your brother behind?” Adrian demanded, his voice cutting through the cramped cabin as he stepped fully into the light.
Warren spun around, his expression twisting from shock to open contempt when he saw him. He quickly realized that Damien, Bridget, and Victor had all followed them up there.
“He is no concern of mine,” Warren snapped. “If he is foolish enough to be caught, then that is his fate. I need every coin I have earned to make my escape. I will not squander it on a useless knave.”
At those words, Victor surged forward despite Damien’s hold, fury blazing across his features.
“You swore to me,” his brother roared. “You said we would be free together! I did everything you asked of me. I helped you fake your death. I told them you were gone!”
Warren laughed, sharp and hollow. “And you should be grateful for the privilege. It was your duty as my spare. As was Bridget’s, as my wife.”
Bridget took a step forward, her voice cutting through the rising chaos.
“No,” she said clearly. “You are not my husband. You never were.”
Warren’s sneer faltered as he turned toward her.
“I belong with Adrian,” Bridget went on, her voice steady despite the tremor in her hands. “He is my husband. The only man I have ever loved.”
Adrian’s hand closed around her arm, pulling her back instinctively, shielding her from the madness in Warren’s eyes.
At that moment, Damien moved.
He released Warren’s brother without warning, shoving him aside as Warren lunged forward with a shout of rage. The two men collided violently, grappling at the edge of the terrace.
The iron rails groaned as their combined weight slammed into them. Victor managed to fling himself backward just as the rusted structure gave way. The iron spokes tore free with a shriek of metal, and Warren went with them.
A strangled scream ripped from his throat as he plunged downward, his body striking the jagged rocks below with a sickening finality.
Silence followed, broken only by ragged breathing.
Damien stood at the cliff’s edge, chest heaving, before turning back to seize Warren’s brother once more, wrenching his arms behind him.
“It is over,” Damien said grimly. “You will answer for what you have done.”
Adrian said nothing. He wrapped an arm around Bridget and turned her away from the edge, guiding her back toward safety, toward home.
Epilogue
“Iam sorry,” Bridget sobbed. “I am so very sorry, Adrian!”
Adrian took her into his arms, letting her cry into his chest outside of the decaying cottage. As he held her, he watched as Damien spoke to the constables. Victor was in irons, already taken to the wagon. Several uniformed men were standing by the edge of the cliff, scratching their heads over how to collect Warren’s body.
“Please stop apologizing,” Adrian begged, squeezing her tighter. “You did an admirable thing. You thought you were sending my brother home. I cannot tell you how much that means to me that you were willing to go to all this trouble for him.”
He pulled away, just enough to dab his kerchief beneath Bridget’s eyes and kiss her. He did not stop until her sobbing became breathy sighs.
“I never once thought it would be Warren,” she whispered afterward. “I knew he could be cold and cruel, but this… all of this has been far more twisted than I could have ever imagined.”
Adrian nodded, feeling that pang in his chest rise up as, yet again, it was proven to him that his brother was well and truly gone.
