The next step was to grab Geoffrey and make sure the man didn’t escape in the chaos. Not a problem because the bastard was heading straight for Lucas. Unfortunately, Nathan was in the way, along with Sid, who abruptly had a knife in each hand, and the dealer woman who was grabbing for Nathan’s purse.
Chaos erupted. Nathan was quick as he blocked a knife and saved his purse in the same motion. The woman went tumbling back with a curse, while the other two marks looked around with confused expressions. Both were too slow to save their purses. Which is when Geoffrey pulled two flintlock dueling pistols from hiding spots beneath the table.
Lucas kicked the table over, hoping to block any gunplay. But he was too slow to stop Geoffrey from raising his pistols.
Bang! Bang!
The sound was deafening, and Lucas dove to the side. Where was his brother? Where was Geoffrey? Everything was screaming and gun smoke.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The sound ofthe knocker roused Diana from a fitful rest. Ever since her fight with Lucas three days before, she had tortured herself with questions about her future. Until then, all she’d thought about was her freedom. No more caring for a dying husband, no more coaxing him to give up the reins of control, and—since Lucas entered her life—no more endless nights wishing for a man to touch her the way a husband should.
But now she thought about the cost of her freedom and longed for someone with whom to share her burdens. It was a constant back and forth in her mind, day and night, and she quickly came to hate her own thoughts.
So when the door knocker sounded in the middle of the night, she was out of bed to dress within seconds. By the time her guard scratched at her bedroom door, she was already grabbing her shoes.
“Come in,” she called.
He entered, and the look on his face froze her in place. It was dark and hard, but there was a full measure of worry in his eyes.
“Lucas?” she whispered, her heart beating painfully in her throat.
Caleb shook his head. He was newly back from escorting Penelope and Walter out of London, but if the job had given him pleasure, it didn’t show. Right now, he looked ragged. “I don’t know, my lady. I don’t think so, but I cannot tell.” His hands twisted together as he spoke. “A man from the Watch is downstairs. With apologies, he asks you to come…um…” His voice faltered.
“Do not hold back,” she said sharply. “Tell me it all straight away.”
He nodded. “He asks you to come and identify a body.”
Her breath caught, and she began to shake. But that did not stop her from pulling on her shoes, though her trembling fingers made it difficult work.
“If it were Lucas,” Caleb continued, “I don’t think anyone would knock on your door. That would go to his parents.”
She looked up, reason finding its way through her panic. “Yes, of course.” Then she silently repeated his words to herself. Of course, that made sense. She was not Lucas’s wife. “Do you know where Lucas is?”
“No, my lady.”
Of course not. Lucas went his own way, always. “But someone has died, and the Watch has come to me.”
“Yes, my lady.”
She straightened up. “Then, let us not keep them waiting.”
“I have already called for the carriage.”
“Thank you, Caleb.” She looked at the worry on his face. “Would you care to accompany me?”
His expression cleared. “It would be my honor.”
She knew he would have come anyway, whether she asked him to or not, but this made things easier on everyone. She went downstairs and met a very uncomfortable man of the Watch. He was young and clearly feeling awkward at having to wake a noblewoman in the middle of the night.
They shared words but no significant information. It was exactly as Caleb said. He asked her to accompany him to identify a body. As soon as her coach was brought around, the watchman joined her sleepy coachman up top to give directions while she and Caleb climbed inside. A moment later, the carriage was moving through the empty London streets while Diana spun through possibilities in her head.
She already guessed who was dead. It had to be Geoffrey. There would be no other reason to wake her. And if that were true, then, of course, she was saddened for his wasted life. Which meant there were things she should be planning. She wasn’t exactly sure who inherited the title, what the legal ramifications were. But her mind wouldn’t go down those practical lines.
She wanted Lucas. She wanted to know he was alive and well. She wanted him to hold her hand and lend his strength while she sorted through her emotions. She wanted to talk things out with him. He listened so well that even when he didn’t have an answer, he helped her think her options through. By the time the carriage stopped, she was a knot of anxiety. She was just reaching for the handle when the door was pulled open, and there stood Lucas, like an answer to her prayers.
Her breath caught, and she launched herself into his arms. He was alive! He was whole! He held her there, awkward as it was with him half in and half out of the carriage, and then while she struggled to catch her breath, he whispered into her ears.
