“Evangeline, sweet girl, what did you and Armand do?”
Having spent a lifetime in the company of liars, Gus could read all the signs of when someone had decided to put their falsehoods aside and finally tell the truth. Her clasped hands and tight smile gave her away.
“Ah. How do I put this?”
“Plain and without a hint of embellishment would be good.”
She offered him up another tentative smile, but Gus wasn’t having any of it. He stared her down, determined that she would tell him.
Evangeline heaved a tired sigh. “The brandy you were trying to load on board your yacht during that last trip belonged to the Lamballe gang. Well—it should have. I intercepted the shipment on the road up from Rennes and made a fresh deal with the supplier. I paid him one franc more than Vincent was prepared to, along with the promise not to shoot him. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
Little wonder Vincent attacked us when we were trying to move the brandy. We were lucky he didn’t just shoot the whole crew of the Night Wind.”
Any hope of his keeping his anger under control went straight out the window. “Bloody hell, Evangeline! You don’t poke a bear with a stick! What were you and Armand thinking?”
They had fired the first shot in this war. Marec and his men were simply fighting back.
His blood rose to boiling point, but instead of looking contrite, Evangeline stuck her hands on her hips and glared at him.
“Are you quite finished?” she snapped.
Is she in jest?
He shook his head. He was far from done.
Lord give me the strength not to throttle this woman.
Gus didn’t hold with violence against women. But that didn’t mean Evangeline was going to escape his wrath. She was due for a thorough tongue-lashing. “Don’t you understand the smugglers code? You don’t undercut one another. Your common enemy is the customs men on both sides of the channel. They are who we are up against.”
“We didn’t start this; Vincent did. Since the end of the war, there has been a steady stream of former soldiers looking for work. Armand employed as many of them as he could. But when Vincent decided he wanted in on our part of the smuggling trade, things changed.”
“I understand,” he replied.
“No, you don’t. You and your friends always treated Armand like he was some local dignitary. You fawned all over him. And it suited everyone. But what you don’t know is that I am the one who has been running things. My uncle was the polite façade of our business. Or he was until he decided that Vincent had to be taught a lesson.”
Gus flinched. He had always thought that Evangeline was somehow involved in the operations; he had never suspected she was the mastermind behind it all. His future wife was full of unpleasant surprises.
“Armand offered to go into business with Vincent and the Lamballe gang, and I was furious. No one was giving all my hard work away. And when Vincent refused, I was more than happy. I wanted him out of our lives. Then, of course, Armand got it into this head that his honor had been insulted, and he decided to fight.”
She waved her arms in the air. “And then it all become one great big tourbillon.”
A whirlwind of violence and retribution. One which they were standing right in the middle of, with no easy way out.
Now Gus understood the real reason for Evangeline’s questions about his mother. He wasn’t bringing a young, sweet woman home as his wife. His bride was a battle-hardened smuggler with a will of her own. Evangeline was worried that she wouldn’t be able to live up to the expectations of London high society.
He came to her, slipping his arm around her waist. “If we live through the next few days, you and I are going to have some serious conversations about working together as partners. And that includes not starting any more blood feuds.”
Evangeline rested her head against his chest. “Yes, I think I have learned my lesson on that point.”
Gus kissed the top of her hair. He wanted a life with this woman. If they had to fight prejudice in order to make their marriage work, he was more than ready. Finding a place in London society where Evangeline could be herself was not going to be easy. “I am not promising anything, but when we get to England, I shall speak to Monsale. He might be able to find a use for your skills within the RR Coaching Company.”
She lifted her head and gifted him with a smile. Her emerald-green eyes shone bright in the afternoon sun.
You are a beautiful woman, Evangeline. I can’t wait to make you mine.
“Thank you. I would much rather be dealing with cargo and money than sitting in drawing rooms, drinking tea.”
“Don’t I know it.” He captured her lips, pulling her hard against him as their tongues met in a heated embrace.
