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He was right. It wasn’t her. She’d already lost her heart to him.
She lacked the detachment, the coldness necessary to complete the deed.
Her finger hesitated on the trigger.
“What are you waiting for, MissPenny? Avenge your parents,” Le Triton taunted.
“Don’t shoot him, Mina,” said Drew. “You’ll regret it the rest of your life.”
A sob choked her throat. She wasn’t ruthless.
She was no spy.
She flung her pistol into the ocean.
Drew grabbed both of Le Triton’s wrists and Inspector Langley arrived out of nowhere with a length of stout rope.
Mina raised her eyes. All around them men lay on the deck moaning or silent. The wood was slick with blood.
She tasted blood inside her mouth where she’d bit her cheek.
Drew stepped between her and the gory scene until all she saw was the wide ocean on one side and an enormous duke on the other side.
“You’re unharmed, Mina?” Drew asked her, cupping her face with his hands.
She loves me. She said she loves me, his heart sang.
Her voice shook and her face was drained of color. “Some blood and bruises here or there. And you?”
“Better than I’ve ever been.” He was stronger and more powerful with Mina inside his walls.
He’d realized while they were fighting side by side that he didn’t even need the walls anymore. Inspector Langley’s men rounded up the smugglers. With their leader captured, it was easy to bring them in line.
Rafe was leaning against the railing. He hadn’t gotten very far with that mangled leg, but it was his well-timed knife attack that had brought down Le Triton.
One of Inspector Langley’s men came up from below with a struggling MissLachance.
“Unhand me, you imbecile,” she cried.
“We’ll be questioning you, mademoiselle,” said the policeman.
“Look at all of that cargo,” said Inspector Langley, motioning toward the piles of linen-wrapped parcels on the shore. “Is it really priceless antiquities?”
“You will be astounded,” said Mina. “My uncle will help identify everything and return the items to their proper owners, or donate them to museums. You will be hailed as a hero, I have no doubt.”
Inspector Langley shrugged his shoulders. “It was a group effort. His Grace with his fists, you with your pistol. You’re a very good woman to have around in a crisis, Miss Penny.”
“And don’t forget my knife,” called Rafe. His voice was weak from pain and fatigue.
“We need to convey my brother to a physician,” said Drew.
“Some of my men, and my new prisoners, require attention as well,” said the Inspector.
“You brought your strumpet with you, Thorny?” Rafe asked. “The one who wants to marry me?”
“She’s MissWilhelmina Penny,” said Drew proudly. “And I’m the one who’s going to marry her.”
He swept her off the deck and into his arms and kissed her possessively, impulsively, with complete abandon.
