by Wendy Vella
“Oh dear, now I shall have to change.”
“Yes, and I will deal with whoever is at the door, and leave, as the strength of that scent is making my head hurt. I shall then go and see to the carriage and our morning meal.”
“Oh, Cam, I’m sorry—”
“It’s all right.” He brushed a kiss over her cheek and answered the door. It was his driver, so he left with him to settle their bill and ready everything for their departure.
He found himself smiling as he met with the innkeeper, and felt ridiculously happy, which of course was all down to Emily.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
They ate, then Cam bundled Emily back into the carriage. A servant placed a ceramic bottle at her feet and then closed the door. Seconds later the carriage was rolling out of the inn’s courtyard.
“What is that?” Emily was looking down at the bottle.
“Place your feet on it.”
She did, and the wonder on her face made him laugh.
“Oooh, that is blissful.”
“I will get it refilled when we stop for a meal at midday.”
“Thank you, it is the most wonderful gift I have ever received, kind sir.”
Her smile was playful. In just one night, so much had changed between them. Cam was sure there would be plenty of arguments and heated debates in their future, but he looked forward to that. In fact, he looked forward to life with Emily.
“One question?”
She looked suddenly nervous.
“All right.”
“Who hurt you?” It had been riding him since he’d seen it. The need to know the identity of the person who had inflicted pain on her so he could extract retribution.
“I would rather not speak of that time.”
At least she acknowledged that it was not an accident now.
“That time? Do you mean before you came to live with James?”
She nodded.
“Surely it was not all bad?”
Cam had told himself not to push her, but he was not a patient man. If he wanted to know something he went after it. Emily was a mystery even her own family had not uncovered. He was her husband, and he wanted no secrets between them.
“Shall I tell you a secret of mine in exchange for one of yours?”
She didn’t nod, or shake her head, simply continued to look at him.
“I was a gambler for many years, hating the world my father had left us in. He was a wastrel who left Dev to run the family and find the finances to feed us. I used whatever money I could to lose myself in women and spirits, and the rest I gambled. My family suffered because of it... because of my selfishness.”
He was not proud of the man he had been, but it was a part of him, and she deserved to know this.
“Why?”
“I was resentful of the fact my father had died leaving us penniless. I hated Dev for the sanctimonious bastard he was, and my family for the burden we carried by being different. I loathed that. Loathed walking into a room and smelling every foul smell ten times sharper than anyone else.”
“It must have been a hard time for you.”
Her eyes held pity.
“I didn’t tell you so you would feel sorry for me, Emily. I told you because I wanted you to know the man I had once been. I want no secrets between us.”
“But are no longer,” she said softly. “James told me you were one of the most honorable men he knew.”
“Did he? That is very kind of him, considering he saw me at my worst.”
“Don’t make light of it, Cam. You are a good man, and a strong one for changing who you were.”
Cam had fought many demons and battles to become the man he was today. “I have no wish to go back to that self-pitying, indulgent fool.”
“But I think some of us learn through life lessons to become the people we can be proud of. That you were strong enough to change is something you should take pride in.”
He was proud of the man he had become. His business interests were prospering, and he was now respected among his peers and associates. More importantly, his family was proud of him.
“And you, what will you tell me about yourself, Emily?”
He kept his eyes on her as she studied her gloved hands.
“I have not always been proud of my actions, or things I have done, but some were through necessity.”
“What were you forced to do?”
She shook her head, which Cam guessed meant she was not about to elaborate. He was wrong.
“My brother, Edward, protected me as best he could for the early years of my life, but when he was forced to watch my mother die a slow and very painful death, his mind started to go.”
“Where you not there also?”
“Of course.” She flicked her wrist, dismissing his words. “But it affected him more than me.”
Cam fought back the anger at the mention of the man who had nearly taken his sister from him.
“Where did you live?”
She was silent again, thinking through what she wanted to tell him. He knew it would be abbreviated, but for now he would take that. One day she would tell him the whole story.
“We moved a lot. We had a horse, and mother rode that, and then when she couldn’t, Edward rode holding her, as he was strongest.”
“And you walked?”
She nodded.
“We relied on the generosity of others, sleeping in their barns or wherever we could find shelter. When mother’s illness became apparent, people did not want us close. Edward approached the duke, but was sent away.”
“All the late duke’s children suffered at his hand. It is my fondest wish he is residing in the fiery pits of hell for his crimes.”
She nodded.
“That was when Edward came to resent the Ravens with a ferocity that robbed his sanity. Revenge became the only thing he cared about.”
“I’m sorry for what you suffered, Emily.”
“’Tis in the past now.”
But it still haunted her, Cam knew this. Knew in order for her to heal whatever pain lay in her past, that like him, she needed to speak of it. However, he didn’t think that would be an easy thing to get her to do.
“Tell me who hurt you?”
“Cam—”
He moved closer, onto the edge of the seat, and drew her to the edge of hers, forcing her to face him.
“To know a beast inflicted pain on someone as sweet and innocent as you makes me want to go after him and pay him back in kind, Emily.”
“I am not sweet and innocent, Cam.”
“To me you are.”
She shook her head.
“I have seen things that no innocent should see—”
“And you think I care about that? You may have seen things, but you are still an innocent, Emily.”
“My brother would take me gambling with him. I went into the most disreputable places and distracted men so he could steal from them. He cheated, and I helped him!”
“That sin is his not yours, as I suspect you did not go willingly, and my only sorrow is that I was not there to protect you.”
She tried to pull away from him, but Cam held her still.
“Who hurt you?”
“He did,” she whispered. “He tried to kill me because I refused to do it anymore.”
Cam pulled her onto his lap and held her while she cried.
“I hated him, and it w-was not his fault. He was sick, and twisted in the head and I could do nothing to stop him.”
“Sssh, I have you now.”
“He made me come to London with him, and I knew he was here to seek revenge. Knew, but could do nothing to stop it from happening.”
He gave her his strength as the words poured out. Wrapped her in his arms and held on. Her fingers fisted on his coat as she held him back.
“Wh-when he left, the last time I saw him, I begged him to stop, but he simply told me I was a traitor to our mother, and that she deserved revenge for her suffering. The n-
next p-people I saw were Devon and James.”
She was sobbing now, and Cam wanted to stop her, wanted to ease her pain, but knew the words needed to be spoken.
“When Eden and James returned to tell me Edward was d-dead, I was glad my brother was gone.”
He let her weep until the cries eased to sniffles, and then a small catch in her breathing. Only then did he speak.
“You could not have stopped him, Emily, you know that don’t you? Know that the poison inside his head could not be cleansed. What drove your brother to do what he did was nothing to do with you, love. You must remember the brother you once had, not the latter one with the twisted mind. Forgive him, Em, and move forward... with me.”
Cam would never forgive the bastard for hurting her, but Emily did not need to know that. All that mattered now was she had trusted him enough to share her past, and that humbled him.
“It’s all right, now, love.” He kissed her brow. She lay against him, warm in his arms, and he realized something as he looked down at her... his wife.
“I love you,” Cam whispered, but she didn’t hear as she’d drifted off into an exhausted slumber.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
“I smell danger!”
Emily woke to these words, and the next second the carriage veered wildly, jostling them.
“Christ!”
Cam’s curse as he held her was loud in the small confines of the carriage.
“I have you.”
“Was that a gunshot?” Emily asked.
“Yes.” He lowered her to the seat beside him and moved to the window. Emily did the same from the other side. The carriage was moving at speed now.
“Pull your head back inside at once, you silly woman! We are being pursued!”
Cam grabbed her again, hauling her to his side.
“Wh-why would someone be following us?”
His face was grim, eyes dark and intense. This, she realized, was the other side to Cambridge Sinclair. Gone was the devil-may-care man who teased and played the fool with his family, and also the gentle man who had held her while she stumbled out the story of her life.
“That I don’t know, but there are three riders following this carriage, and it is clear they want to stop it, and in likelihood will.”
“Oh dear.” Emily felt sick at the thought. “What is to be done?”
Cam reached behind him.
“Stab anyone who gets close to you.”
He held a knife in his hand.
“All right.”
“Except me of course.” His smile held no humor.
Emily took the knife and lifted her skirts. She tucked it in her garter, retying the ribbon tight. “I hope it holds.”
When Cam didn’t reply she looked at him, but his eyes were fixed on her thigh.
“Cam!”
He blinked.
“Sorry, but I think that is the sexiest sight I have ever seen.”
“We’re being pursued by God knows who, and you think about that? Cam?”
“What?” He was looking out the window again.
“Thank you.”
“It would be my honor to hold your secrets, Emily, if you will do the same with mine.”
“I-I....” He looked at her as she stuttered. “I think I love you,” Emily said.
“You think?”
“Well, it is a new feeling, but yes,” she said, testing the word in her head as the carriage continued to pick up speed. “I don’t know what is about to happen, but I know I want you to hear those words from me before it does.”
He reached for her and hauled her close to kiss her hard.
“I love you, Mrs. Sinclair, and unlike you, I don’t need to think about it.”
“Oh... really?” Emily felt the ridiculous urge to smile. “B-but how do you—”
“Really,” he cut her off. “Now shut up, I need to concentrate.”
The carriage was flying now.
“We’ll discuss this further later... hopefully in a big bed.”
Reaching under the seat, he pulled out a shotgun and went to the window, but as he did the carriage wobbled. They heard a crack, and then it was listing.
“The wheel, Cam!”
“It has broken, the carriage is stopping,” he said calmly... way more calmly than the situation warranted to Emily’s mind. She was panicking. Her breath was coming in pants, and her body was trembling.
“I want to have children!” she cried.
“I’m hoping I’m included in the conception.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to us!” Emily was battling the panic. Happiness was in her grasp. Real happiness, and a life that she would live to the fullest with the man across from her.
“It won’t. Trust me. Now say nothing, stay at my back, and do exactly as I say, do you understand me, Emily?”
“Yes.”
An arm banded around her waist and pulled her close. He kissed her hard again.
“We will get out of this, I promise. But I need you to be strong, sweetheart.”
“I can do that... be strong for you.”
“I know you can. Just as I know you can be strong for yourself.”
His absolute faith in Emily made her shoulders straighten. He believed in her, so it was time she did too.
They didn’t speak again, as a loud voice was demanding they step from the carriage. Cam pulled up the hood of her cloak, then touched her cheek.
“It will be all right.”
Emily prayed he was right as she followed him from the carriage.
“Are you well, Bids? You also, Clivers?” Cam spoke to his drivers. Both acknowledged they were unharmed. “Nothing silly now, boys,” he added.
Emily looked at the three men on horseback before them. The lower halves of their faces were covered, hats pulled down so their eyes were shielded.
“What is it you want from us?” Cam’s words were steady, eyes locked on the men now.
“I want your drivers to step down beside you.”
Cam nodded to indicate they do as the man said. A coil of rope was thrown down.
“The woman can tie them up to that tree.” He pointed to the left.
“I can do it,” Cam said, reaching for the rope.
“I said the woman!”
“It’s all right, Cam.” Emily took it from him and went to do as the man bid. Cam’s drivers gave her a reassuring nod as they sat on either side of the trunk, which she had no idea how to interpret.
“Wrap it around their waists,” the man pointing his gun at her directed.
“I won’t make it too tight,” she whispered.
“Do what you must, Mrs. Sinclair.” Emily knew Bids, as he was usually Devon’s driver, but had offered to travel with Cam and her for this trip.
“Stop talking!”
“I don’t like this, Mrs. Sinclair. Something smells off,” Bids whispered. “Be on your guard.”
She nodded, wondering what he meant. Surely the fact that they were being held at gunpoint was treacherous enough.
“You, bring me your money.”
The man was pointing at Cam.
“Don’t go,” Emily whispered as she returned to his side.
“They will shoot us if I do not, love,” he whispered. “Let me do this and they will leave. Remember our love, Em. Hold on to that now.”
“Cam—”
She could not stop him from walking away from her, but something inside her wanted to run after him, and drag him back to her side.
Her eyes followed the long line of his back and broad shoulders as he walked. When he stopped beside the man who had spoken, he lifted a pouch of money. The man took it and threw it to the rider beside him. He then pointed his gun at Cam.
“No!” Emily screamed, and ran forward but it was too late, he had lifted the butt of his gun and brought it down hard on Cam’s head. His knees buckled and he dropped to the ground.
“Cam!” She threw herself down on top of his still body.
&nbs
p; “Grab her!”
“Cam?” Emily dug her fingers into his neck. There was a pulse, the relief made her light-headed.
Hands grabbed her but she struck out with her foot. She would not leave him, as he would never leave her.
“Grab her!”
Remembering the knife, Emily burrowed under her skirts and grabbed it. Leaping to her feet, she lunged at the nearest man. He howled in pain.
“Get away from us!” Emily swung the blade from side to side as the three men began to circle her. “I will never leave him.”
She was outnumbered but fought with everything she had left in her body. Slashing with the knife, and kicking, she kept them at bay as long as she could, but there were too many of them and soon they had her. Forcing the knife from her hands, Emily’s arms were wrenched behind her back.
“Give her to me.”
She was dragged to the man who still remained on his horse, and lifted up before him.
“Ride!”
She looked up into the face of the man who held her. He had removed his mask.
“You!”
“Hello, Miss Tolly.”
His smile flashed, and Emily felt icy fear slither through her.
“No!” She fought again, but he was too strong. Seconds later Cam had gone from her sight, and Emily felt the agony of realizing that she would never see him again. The happiness she had glimpsed had been ripped from her, and now there was only the terror of darkness inside her.
CHAPTER FORTY
“Mr. Sinclair. Mr. Sinclair!”
Cam roused to the sound of his name being roared repeatedly. Moaning as his eyes opened, he touched the side of his head. His hand came away covered in blood.
Emily!
Sitting upright, he battled the nausea and looked for her.
“Emily!”
“They took her, Mr. Sinclair.”
He found his drivers still tied to the tree. Climbing to his feet, Cam staggered several times as he tried to clear his head.
Christ, someone had taken Emily.
The breath came from his throat in painful gasps as he tried to focus, tried to see past the terror. His love, Emily, the woman who had been part of his life for so long, but only recently had he loved with a desperation that made his chest burn.
