“By do, what exactly do you mean?”
As they were passing a streetlamp, he saw Mary’s eyes were narrowed and squinty. Zach felt the ridiculous urge to laugh and quashed it. This was not a laughing moment. She was recklessly putting herself in danger, and he would be ensuring that never happened again.
“Alexius.” The name hung in the air between them.
“Ah,” Zach said.
“Ah? That’s all you have to say when we both know you are thinking a great deal more,” she snapped. “But I will state again. You have no hand in what I do and will not stop me.”
He wanted to grab her and haul her onto his lap so he could ravish her. The urge horrified him so much he forced his back into the seat.
“I cannot believe you think what you have done is acceptable.” He’d told himself to remain calm. Just seconds ago, he’d wanted to laugh, but there it was again, bubbling to the surface. Rage. Only this woman could make him feel so many emotions at once. “You are risking your life, Mary! Walking about at night alone is foolhardy. I thought Geraint a staid, sensible man. How is it he concedes to this?”
Her chin rose. “That is between him and I. And I am never in danger or on my own. In fact, the only time I have walked the streets unescorted was the night I joined Alexius and tonight, after you forged Geraint’s signature on that note!”
“Do not snarl at me, you little shrew. You are a woman—”
Her screech made him wince.
“Do not tell me that because I am a woman I cannot do the job you can!” She leaned forward, eyes lit with fire. “I have been doing it and well!”
Zach hauled in a breath and exhaled slowly. Yelling at each other would get them nowhere, Zach understood that, but this was always his first reaction when Mary was near.
“How did you become part of Alexius?” Zach asked.
She sat back and folded her arms.
“My brother wears one of the ten rings,” Zach continued in an even tone. “So, he asked the rest of us to join when Alexius needed more members.” If he told her his story, perhaps she would share hers.
Her eyes shot to his and then away.
“It has been a part of my life for many years now,” he continued.
She did not speak as they turned into the park.
“Talk to me, Mary.”
“I don’t want to, because like many men, you believe a woman’s place is doing what you see as acceptable. Any discussion on this is fruitless. I wish to go home.”
“Everything has changed. I know what you do, and that you are Madame Lucienne—”
“Did you know then? The night you kissed me?” Her eyes were still on the window.
“No.” The time for truth was now.
“Why… no, I don’t want to know why you did it. I want you to take me home at once.”
Zach moved to the edge of the seat. He then grabbed her hand and tugged her gently until she was facing him.
“Let me go.” Cold and hard, he thought. The Mary he knew was fire, not like this. He took her other hand in his.
“Talk to me, help me to understand why you want this. Why you are part of Alexius. And for the love of God, put me out of my misery and tell me that Plunge is actually a fool, and we have not been deceived as to his true identity for many years.”
“I won’t speak of him.”
“Because you are friends, and he knows everything about you and Alexius?”
Her lips clamped into a hard line.
