Page 120 of Rules for Ruin

“He’s a dead man,” Gabriel said.

“Yes,” she agreed. “If he’s harmed a curl on his coat—”

“I’ll rip his bleeding head from his shoulders.”

“Not if I get to him first,” Effie said.

The carriage bounced hard as Gabriel’s driver raced the horses toward Chelsea, weaving in and out of the traffic on the Brompton Road. A clatter of hooves sounded over the street, punctuated by the noise of other drivers shouting, horses whinnying, and wheels rattling like thunder.

Gabriel made an effort to master his temper. He would be no help to Effie if he was in a blind rage. “What did you mean about Compton interrogating you?”

“I confronted him with what he’d done to Elizabeth Wingard.”

Gabriel absorbed the information without a flinch. “And he did nothing to you in return?”

“Aside from abducting Franc?” She gave a dismissive huff. “He threatened me with prison. And he related a rather graphic fantasy of my being hanged. But other than that…”

The words prison and hanged echoed in Gabriel’s head. Unlike her, he didn’t treat them lightly. His composure fractured. “Bloody hell, Effie. What if I hadn’t come back today?”

“Why did you?” she asked. “I didn’t expect you until tomorrow.”

“Because I haven’t been able to think straight since you left me on the train at Waltham Cross.”

Her mouth ticked up briefly in a rueful smile. “Oh. That.”

“Yes, that.” He searched her face. “Did you mean it?”

Her expression softened. “With all my heart.”

His own heart swelled in reply. “Effie—”

“But I can’t think of it now,” she said. “Not when Franc might be hurt or frightened. Compton could do anything—”

“He won’t. Not if wants his book back. It’s in his interest to keep Franc safe.”

The reassurance seemed to calm her fears, even if only a little. Some of the tension left her brow. She nodded her head. “Yes. Yes, you’re right, of course. He won’t harm him.”

Gabriel took her ungloved hand, holding it safe in both of his. “I’ll get him back for you,” he swore. “I promise you that.”

Her fingers curled around his. She gave him another faint smile. “You’re very chivalrous, given the circumstances.”

“What circumstances are those?”

“Objectively bad ones. I stole a book. I stabbed a man.” Her smile faded. “I’m not the fine lady you originally thought me, only an orphan from the Rookery. You’d be within your rights to think less of me.”

“I think more of you than ever.” He brought her hand to his lips, brushing a kiss to the curve of her knuckles. “You’re the whole world to me, Effie Flite. You do know that, don’t you?”

Her eyes met his. A hint of color bloomed in her cheeks. “I didn’t know,” she said. “But I’d hoped.”

He recalled his words to her on the train, recognizing them in her answer. It prompted a fleeting, foolish grin. “There,” he replied. “See how well matched we are?”

“And yet still unaccountably at odds,” she said. “Even more after today. I’ve made an enemy of Compton. There will be no going back. Not for me.”

Gabriel grew serious. “As to that…”

The carriage rattled to a jolting halt before he could finish.

Effie’s head jerked to the window. “Are we there already? Thank heavens!”