“Stop talking and start moving if you want to get out of here alive.”
The woman who held her was taller and broader, an enforcer by training, and Diana knew she couldn’t physically overpower her to escape.
But the harpy didn’t know that.
“I don’t wish to harm you,” Diana warned. “If you let me go, I will tell the authorities you cooperated.”
The enforcer reamed the end of the pistol into Diana’s ribs. “I said, quiet. Now move.”
“Everyone will notice.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Six more women wearing Diana’s scarlet gown and mask filtered onto the second floor. Half a dozen others assumed seats in the crowd.
Throughout this interlude, the duke made no protest. He didn’t reach for his pistol, either. Diana could only conclude he wanted the play to proceed as planned and his callous disregard for Ian’s life infuriated her.
Her captor yanked Diana’s arm. “Walk.”
In the reception room below them, a hush fell over the crowd. The manager handed Ian the decks of cards.
“Hold,signori,” Ian’s voice boomed from below them. “There is a problem.”
Diana’s pulse skittered. It was too early for him to make this move. He must have seen the Stags’s imposters and was advancing the derailment of the game. The foolish man thought he could stand alone against every enemy.
By now, he should have realized Diana would never allow him to.
“These cards have a cut on the corner.” Ian flipped one over. “Here, the knave of spades. And the queen of hearts.” He pointed to the edges. “Someone has interfered with them.”
Six more crimson gowns moved along the perimeter of the room. Despite the drama unfolding at the table, people in the crowd were taking notice of the women. They whispered and pointed at them.
“I must be mistaken,” Costa rumbled. “You didn’t accuse us of cheating.”
Diana reminded herself of all the years and all the training—both physical and mental—to deliver her to a place where she had the strength and the conviction to act on what she’d decided before walking into the hotel.
A future with Ian was worth any risk it would take to protect him.
She tore her eyes from him and evaluated the velvet curtains bordering the staircase.
As the enforcer dragged her past the column, her fingers seized on the braided curtain tie.
“That would be a mistake,signorina,” hissed her captor. “You don’t want to be here for what we have planned.”
Below them, Ian stood up and fanned the cards along the table. In a gravel-laden voice, he said, “The deck is compromised. And I certainly didn’t do it. One of you is attempting to swindle us all.”
Roars erupted from the crowd, and accusations of “traitor” were uttered in four distinct languages.
Diana seized her captor’s momentary distraction to bury her heel in the woman’s shins, before she grabbed the corded curtain tie and jumped.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Whenthesmallarmyof red-dressed Stags had appeared, Ian wanted to scale the stairs, throw Diana over his shoulder, and shoot his way out of the room.
Lacking the certainty they could escape that way, his only option was to escalate the timeline to disrupt the game and make himself the perceived target.
“Youmaile ladro,”Costa growled before swerving around to face the room. “He is the cheat!”
It was an epic internal battle to resist running upstairs to Diana, but Ian would not surrender Costa’s stare. With the precision of an expert archer aiming an arrow, he taunted, “Il Corno should have chosen a player who could prevail without resorting to amateur tricks. Someone who could winIl Giocohonorably.”
