Page 137 of A Devious Secret

“My brother was blinded by his affection towards you.” Henry came to stop in front of the bed. “He should have never left you that property.”

“But he did.”

Henry leaned forward, causing her to shift on the bed to create more distance between them. “It won’t matter soon enough,” he said.

Gemma tried to keep her face expressionless, but she was afraid of Henry. She thought she had known him, but she was wrong. She had no idea that he was capable of such terrible things.

Henry’s eyes roamed over her face, and they landed on her lips. “Once we depart from London, I intend to take what is mine.”

“I am not yours,” she said in a firm voice.

A cruel smile appeared on his lips. “We shall see.”

A knock came at the door and the smile disappeared. Henry leaned back and walked over to the door. As he opened it, he asked, “What is it?”

The same lanky man stood there. “The captain will see you now.”

“It is about time.” Henry turned to face her. “Do not fret. I will return shortly, my dear.”

After Henry departed from the cabin, Gemma jumped up from the bed and walked over to the desk. She pulled out the drawers but saw nothing that would help defend herself from Henry’s advances.

Gemma walked over to the porthole window and stared out. They were still docked, but for how long? She knew that Stephen would be looking for her, and she hoped that he would find her in time.

Stephen felt every rotation of the wheels as the coach moved closer to the docks. This was all his fault. He should have challenged Lord Hawkinge to a duel when he discovered he had asked Gemma to be his mistress. Then, Lord Hawkinge wouldn’t have been in a position to abduct Gemma.

He would do whatever it took to get Gemma back. He would fight for her, harder than he had ever before. She had changed his life, every aspect of it for the better. He couldn’t lose her. He wouldn’t. She was the reason why he didn’t quite feel so broken anymore.

Hawthorne’s voice broke up the silence in the coach. “What is the plan?”

“We need to rescue Gemma,” Stephen replied.

Haddington huffed. “Great deduction. How do you propose we do that?” he asked dryly.

Lady Haddington swatted at her husband’s sleeve. “Be nice to Mr. Wycomb,” she chastised lightly.

“Yes, dear,” Haddington said.

Lady Haddington turned her attention towards Stephen. “Are you familiar with the docks?” she asked.

“I am not,” Stephen replied.

“The docks are a lawless place, and people there would just as soon as kill you as rob you of your coins,” Lady Haddington said. “You cannot be complacent when you are there. It could get you killed.”

Stephen gave her a curious look. “Pray tell, how are you so accustomed to the docks?”

“We do not have time to delve into that,” Lady Haddington said. “You will just need to trust that I know what I am doing.”

“I do trust you,” Stephen revealed. That was the truth.

Lady Haddington nodded in approval. “Then everything will go much smoother this evening.”

Hawthorne leaned over and pulled out a metal box. He opened it and retrieved a pistol. “I assume you can shoot,” he said.

“I was a captain of my own ship,” Stephen reminded him.

“That was lost to you,” Haddington muttered under his breath.

Stephen didn’t want to dignify Haddington’s words with a response, so he opted to ignore them. He accepted the pistol from Hawthorne and took a moment to adjust to the weight of it.