FightforLove

by Samantha Kane

  After he was dangling there, any threat he represented gone, Kruger walked off and began to talk to his men in a huddle. They must be deciding how they wanted to do it.

  “You came for me,” Thom said, wonder in his voice. “Again.”

  Dev jerked his head in a nod. “I’ll always come for you, now. I won’t let you suffer alone. Never again.”

  Thom watched him with sad eyes. “It seems a shame, since we’re paying for the crime, that we didn’t actually commit it, doesn’t it?” he asked calmly.

  Dev nodded again, his heart in his throat. “I’m sorry, Thom,” he choked out. “I thought he’d let you go.” He shook his head. “This is all my fault. I never should have let you stay, let you get involved.”

  “Nonsense,” Thom said. “It may not have seemed so at the time, but everything that’s happened has been by my choice: the good and the bad. You don’t get to take the credit or the blame for me.”

  He was so unflappable. Dev hadn’t really expected that, not after the way he reacted to the violence of the war. “How can you be so calm?” he asked. He felt as if his heart was going to beat out of his chest, barely holding back a scream of pain and rage as he began to accept there was no way out of this. He’d have to watch Thom die and then he’d die, too, and Kitty would be alone.

  “I don’t know,” Thom answered him thoughtfully. “I guess I’ve seen so much violence and misery I’m a bit inured to it. When you dream of it night after night after night, even awake it seems like a dream.”

  “A nightmare,” Dev said. “I want to wake up.” He felt like such a fool, believing a pig like Kruger would adhere to the unwritten rules of their rough life.

  Thom’s half-smile was rueful, and Dev ate it up. He didn’t know what happened to a man after he went toes-up, but if he could remember things, he wanted to remember Thom, everything about him. “We haven’t had enough time,” he whispered brokenly.

  Thom shook his head. “No, we haven’t.” For the first time there were tears in his eyes. “Thank God Kitty is stronger than the both of us. She’ll be all right. Won’t she?”

  Dev closed his eyes. “No,” he said. “Losing you will kill her, now that she just found you.”

  “Don’t be melodramatic,” Thom said, “it doesn’t suit you. I’m sure she’ll feel your loss more keenly. You’ve been inseparable for years.”

  “I could have—” Dev paused. “This could have been something, what we have. If I hadn’t acted so stupidly. If I had thought things through and not run away because I was scared.”

  “This could have been something years ago if I hadn’t acted so stupidly and run away because I was scared,” Thom echoed. “See? I can say that, too.”

  “I don’t know what I’ll do if they make me watch them kill you,” Dev whispered, twisting as best as he could to stare into Thom’s eyes.

  Thom winced. “While the sentiment is appreciated, the imagery is not.” Thom’s eyes were still sad and weary and knowing. “I hope they kill me first, because I’m not as strong as you. If I have to watch you die, it will be more than I can take.”

  “Thom,” Dev whispered, “I—”

  “Shut up,” Kruger snarled. One of his men walked over and punched Thom in the stomach and the sickening sound of it made Dev want to retch. Thom moaned and hung there, coughing.

  Dev grabbed hold of the ropes around his wrists and swung his body hard. He kicked out and clipped Thom’s attacker on the jaw with the bottom of his boot. The thug stumbled and hit the floor. Two others ran over and tried to grab his legs but Dev kicked out again and hit one square on. He heard his nose break and the blood gushed down his face. He knew it was useless, but he was going to cause as much hurt as he could before they killed him. Rufus would know whom to kill then. He’d just look for the injured ones.

  Suddenly Kruger’s man who’d been trying to catch his legs took out a knife and began to slash at them. Dev tried to get out of the way, but the knife sank into his thigh and his leg became useless. Thom cried out beside him, but Dev gritted his teeth as he hung there limply. His arms were nearly dead now, impossibly weak from bearing all his weight, and his leg was useless. He was panting and his vision was going dark. He supposed that was from the hanging, too.

  Kruger spoke from in front of him. “A fighter to the bitter end. Now, see, that’s why I always liked you, O’Shaughnessy. Too bad I have to kill you. But I’ll let you stay alive just long enough to hear your boy here screaming. And once he’s in pieces—easier to dispose of, you know—we’ll take care of you.”

  “Oh, I don’t think so,” a new voice said, smooth and lethal and quiet. “I don’t think that’s how this is going to go at all.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Thom blinked bleary eyes as he tried to see who was speaking. He was pretty sure he was on this new fellow’s side. He didn’t want it to go like that, either.

  He saw Kruger go very still, as small prey does when a big, nasty predator comes into view.

  “This isn’t sedition, or treason or anything like. Just business. So what’s the Home Office doing here?” Kruger asked. His voice was monotone, as if he didn’t want to offend but didn’t wish to appear weak, either.

  “Why, cleaning house, of course,” came Sir Barnabas James’ reply. Thom recognized him now. He’d stepped out far enough into the light. What was he doing here? He glanced over at Devlin in disbelief, but Devlin was watching the other two men very closely. Then his eyes darted around the warehouse, as if looking for something. Thom followed his gaze, but his left eye was swollen shut, and the other too bleary to see straight.

  “Don’t move,” Devlin told him quietly. Thom almost laughed. Where was he going to go?

  “This is my house,” Kruger said menacingly, but Thom could hear the unease behind his words. “I’ll do the cleaning.”

  “On the contrary,” Sir Barnabas replied, “England is my house. And it’s my job to keep the vermin out.” He nonchalantly waved two fingers and before Thom could blink a shot rang out and Kruger’s body crumpled to the ground, half his head gone.

  The warehouse erupted in chaos. There was a great deal of yelling and pounding feet as men suddenly materialized from the shadows and brought down Kruger’s men who’d tried to run. Someone was behind Thom, cutting the ropes that bound him. He couldn’t feel his hands, just the arm wrapped around his chest holding him up. “Devlin,” he said, trying to shove them away and make them go to him first. “He’s hurt.”

  “That tough bastard will be just fine,” the man behind him said. Thom’s arms fell to his sides like dead weight and pain shot from his shoulders straight down his back to his legs. He’d have fallen to his knees if his rescuer hadn’t held on tight. “Hurts like the devil the first hour or so,” he told Thom calmly. “Then the pain recedes.”

  “Been tied up a lot?” Thom asked, trying to stand on his own.

  “Mmm hmm,” was the straightforward answer, and it made Thom laugh. He thought perhaps he might be a little hysterical.

  He broke away from the man and awkwardly stumbled over to Devlin, who was sitting on the ground, his hands clasping his thigh, a large knife sticking out of it. “Christ,” Thom said. He slowly lowered himself to his knees and started probing Devlin’s thigh around the knife. “We’ll have to pull it out, but I’d rather do it where there’s some light and bandages.”

  “You couldn’t see the damn thing even if there was some light,” Devlin grumbled. Thom looked up at him and he saw the relief in Devlin’s eyes, and the concern. “Your eye is completely swollen shut. You’ll be lucky if you can still see out of it.”

  “I can see what a horrible patient you’re going to be even with only one eye,” Thom countered.

  “I like him,” said the man who’d cut him down. Thom finally turned to look at him. He was dressed all in black, with dark eyes and a vividly contrasting pale complexion. “Hastings,” he supplied. “With the Home Office.”

  “Who killed Kruger?” Dev asked.
“You?”

  “Yes,” Hastings said. “I always get to kill them.”

  Thom didn’t know how to respond to that. But Devlin just said, “Good.” Then he demanded, “Where’s Kitty?”

  “We left your man Rufus in charge of her,” Sir Barnabas said as he walked over after consulting with several of his men. “If left to her own devices she’ll just stir up more trouble, like most of those women.”

  He sounded very put upon and Thom laughed. “That’s right, you were at the dinner that night. You’re the one who had the knife fight.”

  “Hardly a fight,” Sir Barnabas replied mildly. “A mere altercation. Instigated, I might add, by Mrs. Tarrant. How are you, Doctor Peters? Shall I have them fetch a stretcher?”

  “Not for me,” he said. “But for Devlin.”

  “I don’t need a bloody stretcher,” Devlin growled. He tried to stand and Thom reached out to help.

  “Oh, for God’s sake,” Hastings said, and he reached over and grabbed Devlin’s arm and hauled him up.

  Devlin hissed before grudgingly saying, “Thank you.” He started to limp out, but his leg almost collapsed. With an aggrieved sigh Hastings put his arm around Devlin’s waist, and Devlin’s arm went around his shoulder.

  “Where to?” Hastings asked.

  “My office,” Thom said.

  “Belay that order,” Sir Barnabas said. He smiled coolly at Thom. “I’m afraid it is no longer your office,” he said. “I have made other arrangements for the three of you.”

  Devlin’s head very slowly swiveled around and he frowned at Sir Barnabas with narrowed eyes. “What kind of plans?”

  “The best-laid plans, of course,” Sir Barnabas said. “Of Kitty’s and men.”

  “’Gang aft agley’,” said Thom, finishing the quote from a Robert Burns poem, although Sir Barnabas had taken poetic license with it. He rather liked it and knew Kitty would enjoy it when he told her.

  “’And leave us naught but grief and pain for promised joy,’” finished Hastings. Sir Barnabas frowned at him. “What? I didn’t want to seem like the only ill-read lout here.”

  “No, that would be me,” Devlin said. “What plans?”

  “Come along,” Sir Barnabas said, leading the way. “I have a carriage waiting.”

  Dev twiddled his thumbs and ground his teeth as he waited in the carriage with Thom for Kitty. They had cleaned up and gotten Thom some new clothes. Hastings had gone in to fetch her. They were packing bags for all three of them. He glared at Sir Barnabas sitting across from them. “Are you going to tell me now?” he asked.

  He had a sneaking suspicion he was going to prison without even the benefit of a judge. And he wouldn’t blame them for it, either.

  Sir Barnabas pulled a folded piece of paper out of his coat and handed it to Thom. “Here is step one.”

  Thom opened it and tried to read it. He shook his head and passed it to Dev. “I can’t,” he said simply, laying his head back on the carriage wall behind him.

  Dev looked down and his throat got very tight. “It‘s a special marriage license. For you and Kitty.”

  At that Thom’s head came up and he pinned Sir Barnabas with a stare. “You might have asked.”

  “I’ve arranged for you to take charge of a new charity hospital in Hampstead,” he told Thom, who gaped at him. “Mrs. Markham will, I’m sure, be happy to help you run it. But it will be far easier to do so as your wife. We want you to blend in, naturally, which will be much easier as a staid married couple.”

  Dev could hardly breathe through the pain in his chest. The throb in his leg from the now bandaged knife wound was hardly significant compared to it.

  “And Devlin?” Thom asked, reaching out and gripping Dev’s arm. “Where will he be?”

  “I assumed in Hampstead with you,” Sir Barnabas replied, “as this entire endeavor was conceived as a way to make him respectable so that he could continue to consort with you.” He pulled another piece of paper out of his coat and handed it to Dev. “This is the name of your new banker. You have been compensated for the…acquisition of your legitimate businesses. You are listed as a board member and a patron of the hospital. I made a sizable donation in your name, of course, from those funds.”

  Dev’s head was spinning. “Leave London?” He shook his head. “I can’t. I’ve got too many people relying on me, too many irons in the fire. What will happen to them all?”

  “Despite your delusions of grandeur,” Sir Barnabas said wryly, “London will stand without you.” He waved off further arguments. “It’s done. Someone else has already stepped in.”

  “Who?” Dev demanded. Thom still gripped his arm and he could feel how tense he was. “Rufus?”

  “No,” Sir Barnabas said, looking surprised. “I offered. He declined. He will be joining you in Hampstead. He said he’s ready to retire and ‘make sure O’Shaughnessy don’t muck it all up.’ His words.”

  “Then who?” Thom asked.

  “One of my men,” Sir Barnabas said. Thom gaped at him in shock. “What better way to keep a lid on things and stay abreast of events? I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before.” He smiled grimly. “Rest easy, gentlemen. For all intents and purposes, I now run your empire.”

  Dev frowned. “That does not make me feel better.” Although, really, it did.

  “What if Kitty says no?” Thom asked. “What if she wants to marry Devlin?”

  Before Dev could respond, Kitty came rushing up to the carriage door and peered inside. She bit her lip and yanked the door open and clambered in, shoving her way between him and Thom. She kissed him first, hugging him tightly.

  “Hastings told me about the leg,” she said, teary and choked up. “How is it?”

  “It hurts,” he said, and he wasn’t only talking about the leg. He knew this plan wasn’t a sound one. He couldn’t remain with Kitty and Thom, not like that, as an acquaintance, a patron and board member. What the devil was he supposed to do with that? But the hospital, Kitty and Thom together like that, it was perfect.

  Kitty turned to Thom and looked over his ruined face. “Oh, darling,” she said, cupping his cheeks and turning his face down so she could kiss his bruised cheek and swollen eye. “I was so worried.”

  “Me too,” Thom said. He pointed to his cut lip. “It hurts here too.”

  Kitty laughed and kissed him and Thom’s arms went around her and held her as if she were something precious. She is.

  When they broke apart Hastings was in the door staring between the three of them. With a sigh and a shake of his head he turned to Sir Barnabas. “So now you’re playing Cupid too? God wasn’t enough for you?”

  “I am adept in many roles,” Sir Barnabas said, pulling the door out of Hastings’ grasp. “Meet us in Hampstead.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Kitty glared at Sir Barnabas. “I will not marry Thom. I’ll marry Devlin.”

  While Devlin looked thunderstruck, Thom nodded his agreement. “Yes. That sounds much better.” He kissed her cheek and squeezed her hand. “Not that I wouldn’t dearly love to claim you before God and man, my dear.”

  Kitty smiled tenderly at him. “I know, love.” She turned back to Sir Barnabas and frowned. “It will make it easier for the three of us to be together. Thom, as an unmarried doctor of a hospital of which we are patrons, could believably live with us as a confirmed bachelor. It would be far more awkward for Devlin to do so.”

  “Why?” Devlin demanded. She recognized that tone. He was going to be difficult about it.

  “Because a wealthy businessman, handsome and in his prime, has no need to live with a poor doctor and his wife doing charity work. And it would be beyond odd if we were to reside with you.”

  “But a poor doctor, such as myself,” Thom said, with a hand over his heart, “could live with a wealthy couple such as yourself without anyone looking askance. They’ll assume it’s simply more charity on your part.”

  “Exactly,” Kitty said with a nod, ending the conversation
. She should have known Devlin wouldn’t let it rest.

  “No,” he said firmly. “It’s too dangerous for you to be associated with me. You saw what happened today. There will be those who come looking for me. I’m too vulnerable if I stay with you both.”

  “Is that true?” Kitty asked Sir Barnabas. For some odd reason she trusted him to tell her the truth, though she knew he was a master of lies.

  “Yes and no,” he said. “I don’t actually believe there will be anyone looking for Devlin. There’s no need. Kruger was not a beloved figure. No one will be seeking vengeance. And Devlin’s holdings are no longer his, a fact his replacement is making clear even as we speak. However, if someone did come looking, then yes, you are a vulnerability to him.”

  “There,” said Devlin flatly. “I told you.”

  “However,” Sir Barnabas continued as if Devlin hadn’t spoken, “Your man Rufus will be here, as well as a few more men if I don’t miss my guess. So you will not be without guards.” He narrowed his eyes at Devlin. “But if you attempt to continue with your old life, or try to take up your criminal ways again, then I shall have to take care of you myself. Is that clear?”

  Kitty could tell Devlin didn’t like what Sir Barnabas was saying or how he was saying it. He was clenching his teeth and a muscle stood out on his jaw. “Understood,” he ground out. “But I won’t marry Kitty.”

  Kitty crossed her arms. “Oh yes, you will.”

  Thom’s head was back against the carriage seat. His eyes were closed. “I won’t marry her,” he said.

  She didn’t take offence. He was on her side.