“I want to marry Zach.”
“I have just the jacket for that occasion, actually. I recently had it made.”
She snorted.
“Be quiet!” Moulin kicked her.
“Do that again, and I will make you pay,” Monty growled, all levity gone.
The Frenchman smirked.
She wasn’t sure how long they had been moving when she heard the driver shout something. Moulin quickly opened the window and put his head out.
“We are being followed!” he yelled.
“Are we? I wonder who that could be?” Monty asked.
“Two riders!”
Could it be Zach?But how would he have known she was in this carriage? Her heart thudded hard. Part of her hoped it wasn’t him because she didn’t want him hurt. The other part hoped it was because he would rescue her.
“Be alert,” Monty whispered as Francine and Moulin started yelling, clearly panicked now, at each other.
Moulin pulled a shotgun from under the seat and went to the window. Aiming, he fired just as Monty kicked him hard, sending the shotgun out the window. His head hit the door with a thud.
Mary lunged at Francine. Not easy with her hands tied, but she managed to head butt the girl, making her howl in pain and Mary see stars. Meanwhile, Monty was grappling with Moulin.
The carriage swerved, sending them all to the right, where they landed in a tumble of limbs.
“Gun!” Monty roared.
Mary looked up in time to see Moulin pull a pistol from his pocket. Staggering upright, she ran into him. They both hit the door, and it burst open, sending them hurtling toward the ground. She landed with a thud, which jarred every muscle in her body.
Winded, sure she’d broken bones, Mary tried to regain her feet.
“I’ll kill you!” The man was a few feet away but rising. She needed to run. Climbing to her hands and knees, her body protested.
“Mary, stay down!”
She dropped to her belly at the roar, and a shot rang out. Squeezing her eyes shut, she waited, hoping the next one did not end her life.
The thud of feet had her lifting her head.
“Mary!”
“Zach?”
Hands pulled her upright, and she was pressed into his hard chest. His heart thudded against her cheek.
“Christ you scared me.”
“How are you here?” She buried her nose in his neck, inhaling him as her arms circled his waist. “Is Monty all right?”
“Yes. Nathan has him. Mary, look at me.”
He pried her face from his neck, and their eyes met.
“I love you, therefore you have to marry me.”
