She was diverted when Sean leapt to his feet and rushed to the threshold to escort her inside. He smiled but glanced searchingly at her.
“I’m fine,” she said to his unspoken question. She stole one more glance at Devlin, then told herself, quite firmly, that she did not care if he had been fighting the devil himself.
Sean smiled again and squeezed her hand. “He’s taking you to his country home tomorrow. It’s close to Eastleigh. He plans for you to meet him. Are you all right with this, Virginia? Will you be able to manage?”
She nodded, glancing over at her captor, who now, finally, eyed them. No expression could be seen on his implacable face. It crossed her mind that she could thwart him easily by denying that she had ever heard of Virginia Hughes and claiming to be someone else. And if she really wanted to hurt him, to thwart him, she could go to the authorities once she was freed. Devlin would wind up in prison for years, unless he had a plan for that contingency, too.
Neither alternative gave her any pleasure. She only wanted to go home—if her home still existed. Unlike Devlin, she had a heart and it was human and kind. She would never deliberately hurt him, and not out of revenge.
“You are lovely tonight,” Sean added. Then he added, “You are always lovely, Virginia.”
Something in his tone caused her to start and she met his gaze. “If you are overly kind, I might lose what is left of my composure,” she said softly.
Sean smiled a little. “Don’t do that!” Then he said, “Virginia, would you step outside with me? We have to speak.”
“Now?” She knew it was seven and they always dined precisely on the hour.
“Please.”
Something was afoot. She nodded, searching his expression for a clue as to the matter at hand and they crossed the room. She had no idea what was on his mind. Devlin murmured, “Do not mind me.”
Virginia decided to hell with it and she glared at him.
He saluted her with his glass and then picked up a Dublin newspaper.
Outside, the night was pleasant, a few stars beginning to emerge in the inky blue vastness overhead. To Virginia’s surprise, Sean gripped both her arms. “I am going to miss you,” he said roughly.
Her eyes widened. “I will miss you, too,” she said.
His gaze searched hers. “I don’t want you to worry about Devlin. I have become your protector, Virginia. You do not have to fear another episode like the last one. I won’t allow it and…” He hesitated.
She was becoming moved beyond words. “And?”
“And he is resolved to treat you with all of the respect that you deserve.”
Oddly, the twinge of dismay was at once rude, surprising and strong. “I doubt he said that.”
“He didn’t have to. He is very sorry, Virginia—”
“Don’t! If that man cares about what he did, how he did it and how he left, he can tell me himself.”
“He may never have the courage,” Sean said softly.
Virginia started. As Devlin was the bravest man she knew, what in God’s name was Sean talking about?
Sean touched her cheek. “Virginia, I must ask you something.”
She was suddenly wary, though Sean had become her best friend.
“Do you still love him?” Sean asked.
Virginia gasped. She was so flustered and so stunned she could not respond for a moment. “Sean!” She gripped his hand, causing it to drop from her face. “I donotlove that man,” she said fiercely. “Maybe, once, for a brief moment, I was deluded into thinking that I did. I do not even know him! He has treated me abominably. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, there!” she cried.
But so many images of Devlin O’Neill assailed her now. She saw him standing strong and proud on the quarterdeck of theDefiance,the scourge of the seas; she recalled Devlin staring at her fierce with pride, telling her that all the land, as far as the eye could see, was Askeaton, that all the land belonged to him.
And finally there was Devlin, his body hard and aroused, covering her, his eyes brilliant and unfocused with the maddened haze of his lust.
Virginia tried to breathe and calm herself. He hadn’t always treated her abominably. He had treated her well until those last few hours—and if she dared to remember, she had sought to seduce him then, never dreaming what her success would mean.
