Page 86 of An Extraordinary Lord

Marcus blew out an aggravated breath and shook his head. “Defeating Napoleon was easier.”

Yet his eyes gleamed at the sense of purpose the four men now shared, something they’d all missed since the wars ended.

“Then call out the Coldstream Guards, General,” Pearce said quietly. “Every man who was under your command will still lay down his life for you.”

Marcus dropped his arms to his sides as he looked thoughtfully between the three men standing with him. All three were still just as loyal to their former general as he was to them.

“You all know your parts in this and have agreed to do what must be done?” He paused meaningfully and pinned Veronica with a look over his shoulder. “Including you, Miss Chase?”

“Yes, General,” she answered, as any good soldier would.

Her pulse spiked to be included, no matter how improbable their plans, but also because of the dark glance Merritt darted at her across the room. From the way his jaw tightened, he wasn’t at all pleased at her answer.

Marcus gave a decisive nod. “Then we’d best get started.”

He turned on his heel and left the Armory to prepare. Pearce and Clayton knew their roles in how the rest of the night would play out, right up until the breaking dawn, so they followed after. Their roles in the plan had commenced.

The iron doors clanged shut behind them.

When the last metallic rattle died away, Merritt turned toward Veronica. She’d been aware of every glance he’d given her during the past hour, but now his stare prickled electricity through her to the ends of her hair—which then stood on end when he began to stalk toward her—because she knew…

The next battle of the night was about to begin.

“You don’t have to do this,” he said mildly, a soft deception of the knockdown brawl she knew was brewing. “This isn’t your fight.”

“It’s become my fight.”Because of you.

“You can stay here until it’s over. You’ll be safe inside the Armory.”

“I’ll be safe fighting beside you.”

He faltered in midstep. Only a moment’s imbalance, but Veronica noticed. “You might not be,” he admitted. “Not in the midst of rioters and soldiers.”

Her chest squeezed.Joanna.That was what he meant. That he would fail to protect her the same way he’d failed to protect his fiancée.

The woman still haunted him, even now.

Her pulse increased with each step that brought him closer, yet she stood her ground. “Then it’s a good thing I’m an experienced fighter.” More—she was a survivor, and when this was over, she would continue to survive without him.Somehow.“I can take care of myself.”

He stopped in front of her, so close that she had to tilt back her head to look up at him, so close that her skin tingled from his nearness. Yet instead of reaching for her as she’d expected, he crossed his arms over his chest in his best impersonation of an immovable mountain.

“So let me be clear then. I don’t want you there. Not in the riot, not anywhere near it.” His gaze bore into hers. “I don’t want you to be part of this.”

His rejection of her help took her breath away. She’d expected to vanish from his life after the dawn. But she certainly hadn’t expected him to exile her now when the men needed her most. “That’s not your decision to make.”

“I’m the one who brought you into this mess.”

“And I’m the one who decides how I’ll leave it,” she countered. More truth lay behind that quiet statement than she wanted to admit. “I promised to help you stop the riots, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” There were so many promises in her life she’d never been able to keep, but not this one. This one she would see though to the end. Or die trying. “You need a good fighter with you for this battle, Merritt.” She added before he could shatter her heart anew by stating that he didn’t need her, “And I’m not your responsibility to protect.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. You are mine to protect.”

His words sliced into her. “I’m not yours, Merritt.” Her voice cracked at the horrible truth of that. “I never can be.”

“Because of what you said tonight?” His eyes darkened somberly. “About a criminal with a King’s Counsel? A by-blow with a baron?”

Sadly, she shook her head, knowing the truth now. Peerages and pardons weren’t what stood between them. “None of that matters.”

“Good. Because youaremine, Veronica,” he argued gently. “Just as I’m yours. Tonight proved that. That’s why you came to me, because you needed me. That’s why we made love, because we needed each other. And that’s why I don’t want you in this fight.” He paused beneath the weight of his confession. “Because I couldn’t bear to lose you now.”