“I can’t. He’s my husband.”
“That can and will be rectified.”
She gritted her teeth over such hard-nosed stubbornness. “Didn’t you hear a single thing I said to you last night?”
But by then James had noticed her appearance, and was heard to bellow, “George, you arenotleaving!”
Oh, God, did he have to sound so arbitrary? How could she reason with Warren when James was standing down there making belligerent demands? And Drew was right. She would have to shout to him if she wanted to talk to him, and how could she say anything personal that way? And if Thomas was to be believed—and looking at Warren she didn’t doubt it—even if she could get James to concede, Warren still wouldn’t let her go back to him. Without the rest of her brothers there to back her up, nothing could be settled one way or the other. Drew might be there, but he’d never been able to sway Warren to anything, so he’d be no help.
She’d waited too long to answer James. He’d begun taking matters into his own hands, or fists, rather.
He’d already flattened two of Warren’s crew when Warren shouted, “Throw him o—”
Georgina’s elbow meeting her brother’s ribs cut him off temporarily. The glowing fury that had leaped into her eyes kept him quiet a bit longer. And she was furious now, not just with him, but James, too. Double-damned idiots! How dare they totally ignore her wishes, as if it weren’therfuture that was at issue here?
“James Malory, stop it right now!” she shouted down to the deck just as another sailor went flying.
“Then get down here, George!”
“I can’t,” she said, and meant to add “not yet,” but he didn’t give her a chance to finish.
“What you can’t do is leave me!”
He was thrown back. There were still six crewmen standing against him. That wasn’t deterring him in the least, however, which only infuriated her the more. The fool man was going to get tossed in the river yet.
She might do it herself. She was, after all, fed up with being told what she could or couldn’t do. “And why can’t I leave you?”
“Because I love you!”
He hadn’t even paused in throwing another punch to shout that. Georgina, however, went very still, and breathless, and nearly sat down on the deck, her knees had gone so weak with the incredible emotion that welled up inside her.
“Did you hear that?” she whispered to Warren.
“The whole blasted harbor heard it,” he grouched. “But it doesn’t make the least bit of difference.”
Her eyes rounded in disbelief. “You must be joking! It makes all the difference in the world, because I love him, too.”
“You wanted Cameron, too. You don’t know what you want.”
“I’m nother, Warren.” He looked away at the mention of the woman who had played him so false, the one who was responsible for the cold way he treated women now, but Georgina caught his face between her hands, forcing him to look into her eyes. “I love you. I know you’re trying to do right by me, but you have to trust me on this, Warren. Malcolm was a child’s fancy. James is my life. He’s all that I want, all that I’ll ever want. Don’t try and keep me from him any longer, please.”
“Are we supposed to just stand back and let him keep you from us? That’s what he means to do, you know. We’ll never see you again if he has his way!”
She smiled now, knowing she’d swayed him, that he was merely objecting now to what she knew they all feared. “Warren, he loves me. You heard him. I’ll see it set right, but letmedo it. You only manage to bring out the worst in him.”
With total ill grace: “Oh, for God’s sake, go on then!”
She gave a glad cry and hugged him, but wasted not another second in swinging round…and slamming right into a brick wall.
“So you love me, do you?”
She didn’t wonder how he’d gotten up there. A few loud groans from the lower deck told that story. She didn’t care, either, that he’d obviously heard what she’d told her brother. She just took advantage of the fact that she was already pressed tightly to him, and slipped her arms around him to keep it that way.
“You’re not going to yell at me in front of my brothers, are you?”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, brat.”
But he wasn’t smiling, and he wasn’t staying there. She gasped as he swung her up into his arms and turned to leave.
