Her dark eyes widened. “I want to come with you. What if Simon should return?”
Ridge shook his head. “Impossible. This vessel has a reputation for housing cutthroats and ne’er-do-wells.”
She appeared puzzled. “But,you’rehere.”
“Indeed, I am.” With his gaze steady, he said, “I may not have been entirely forthright with you about my past, Isabella. I didn’t just work on a simple merchant ship. I was employed by a crew of English…”He stumbled over the word. “Marauders.”
She gasped. “Are you telling me you were apirate?”
“I’m not sure it was quite that specific…”he hedged.
She put a hand to her head, and then looked at him again, except this time, even more closely. She waved a hand to indicate his eye-patch. “So is that what allthisis about then? And the reason you were so curt to me on deck?”
“Yes. It’s important that I keep up appearances for the mission.”
She frowned. “I thought your mission was to capture Simon?”
“It is,” he explained. “But when Liverpool arrived, Logan and I were tasked with freeing a captured spy from the Smuggler’s City at Gravelines.At the moment, he’s our priority. And since I don’t want you anywhere near that place, it’s why I’m telling you to stayhere.”He paused. “What I want to know now is how Wistenberryended upat the castle.”
“After we…parted ways—”She glanced away.“—Iheaded to my room. He surprised me. He said that you weren’t theonlyspy who could slip past an enemy’s defenses.”
Ridge scoffed at that, but he remained silent as she relayed the rest of the story.
“Hetried to subdue me withether, but I managed to fight him off. I was close to freedom when heslammed my head into the door.”
As she reached up and touched anarea of her head, Ridge clenched his fists. He wished with every fiber of his being that the bastard was there right now. He’d learn what a mistake it had been to treat Isabella in such a fashion. But he forced his anger aside and prodded gently, “What then?”
“I woke up in a boat. While he was distracted, I took one of the oars and hit him with it, and then I jumped over the side. I saw the cutter, so I swam toward it since it was closer than the shore.”
He shook his head and said softly, “What a surprise you’ve turned out to be, Lady Isabella.” He abruptly rose to his feet and headed for his packhe’d tossed in the cornerof the room near the captain’s deskand rummaged around until he found a dark shirt and trousers. “You need to get out of those wet clothes.Granted, it’s not a dress, and these will be rather big, but—”
“I’m not married.”
Hefrozeas he straightened and turned back to her. “What did you say?”
She was sitting up; her hair falling over her shoulders like an enchanting waterfall. He thought she had never looked more beautiful.
“I’m not married,” she repeated.
“Who told you that?”
“Simon did. He said that—”She paused and appeared to gather herself.“—it was all a lie. That the marriage certificate, the blacksmith at Gretna, was all staged so he could get to my dowry. There’s no truth to any of it.” She glanced down at her hands and frowned. “It’s rather ironic, that for as much as I hated bearing the title of the Viscountess of Wistenberry, I’m not sure I like beingrestored toboring spinster, Isabella Resenfeld, any better.”
Ridge immediately strode across the room and captured her chin in his hand. “Look at me,” he ordered on a husky demand.
When she lifted her dark eyes, he said, “You arenotboring. But I can’t say I’m not relieved to hear that you don’t belong to him. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, you’remine, Isabella. And someday very soon, I’ll prove it.”
