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“You want to hurt me. I understand that. But it was also a very clever way of turning the tables and shaping Peabody’s narrative. Instead of printing a prurient account of our embrace, he’ll announce our wedding plans and focus on all the outrageous details you fed him.”
“Precisely. I believe it’s called an evasion tactic.”
Not for the first time he had the thought that Indy could probably teach his fellow agents a thing or two.
“Then we travel to Paris together. Unless you’ve decided to stay in London?” At her incredulous glance he said, “I didn’t think so.”
How was he going to explain this to Sir Malcolm? Not only had he failed to convince Indy not to go to Paris... they would be traveling together.
For the space of a few steps he panicked, until he realized that this might actually be for the best. Short of having her kidnapped, there’d been no way he could have kept her away from Paris. This way, he’d be able to keep an eye on her, to make sure she stayed safe.
During the day they could go on innocuous excursions such as interviewing Beauchamp at the Louvre, or paying a visit to Boris Petrov, the Russian ambassador to France.
But by night, Raven would do the real work. He’d discover where Le Triton was keeping the stone and conclude the mission swiftly and with cold-blooded precision.
The only problem would be finding a way inside Le Triton’s fortress.
No one had ever been able to penetrate his lair before. It was too heavily guarded. Details of the interior were scarce. The precise location of Le Triton’s vast antiquities collection was a closely guarded secret.
A young couple walked past them on the footpath, gazing into each other’s eyes, the man laughing heartily at something his clever wife had said.
“This happened because we were fighting,” Raven said. “Fighting passionately. Sometimes an argument becomes a conflagration.”
“‘Where two raging fires meet together, they do consume the thing that feeds their fury,’ is that it?”
More Shakespeare. “It was entirely my fault. I’m the one to blame.”
An emotion he couldn’t interpret chased across her face. “I think I had something to do with it.”
“We must never kiss again, Indy.”
His thoughts sang a rebellious counterpoint to his words.
Don’t make any promises. What if the wheel falls off the coach on the way to Dover and you’re stranded for a coaching inn?
What if she climbs into your bed in the middle of the night? Do you honestly think you’d be able to withstand such an onslaught?
He’d damn well find the fortitude to withstand it.
Even if she crawled into your bed naked? Even if she...
Never. Again.
“You have my word of honor as a gentlewoman.” Indy placed her hand over her heart. “No more kisses. You’ll be quite safe with me as your escort.”
Excellent. Keep everything light and funny. No real emotions or revealing of secrets.
Everything had to return to the way it had been before the kiss.
They were embarking on a perilous mission. His duty was to see the stone home to England, and to keep Indy safe in the process.
Indy’s thoughts ricocheted between self-castigation and a bizarre sense that what had happened had been somehow inevitable, as though all of their past arguments and confrontations had been escalating to this moment of reckoning.
Ravenwood walked beside her, shortening his long strides to match her gait, a concerned expression tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“I’ve already made arrangements for a private coach to Dover.” He was all business now. Stern set to his lips and confident walk. “From there we will go by steamship to Calais.”
“I’ve journeyed to Paris before. I’m an experienced traveler. What I want to know is this: What skills do you bring to this mission other than the fact that you happen to have been born male?”
