“Did you get a good look at who it was?” Darius asked, suddenly unsure of just how many men were after the duke but very glad his crew were there at the time they were, foolhardy though their mission may have been. They had lowered their guard on the house but that had obviously been another mistake on his part.
All three sailors shook their heads. Duncan said, “I did hit one of them, Cap’n. Right in the arse. If they’re still in the area, we’ll hear about it.”
Darius sat and accepted an ale. “Wickham was at the town inn so he didn’t do it himself and he doesn’t have the funds to pay two men to ride about shooting at women and children.”
“From what I saw, these gents were gents. Well turned out, toffy clothes and all,” Duncan supplied. “They weren’t hired thugs.”
“Looks can be deceiving,” Darius said. “If it was the children they were after, they’ll be back. If the duke gambled with Wickham, he’ll owe money to more men. Eliza thinks she paid them all but she can’t be sure and neither can we.”
“So you’re really going to marry her in the morning?” Tarquin asked.
Darius nodded and lifted an ale cup to his lips. He drank deeply but, not finding the answers in the bottom of the mug, put it down and said, “I have to.”
*
“You can’t be seriously thinking about marrying that man!” Nathanial roared.
The next morning dawned bright and cold and Eliza found herself thinking it poor timing indeed that her brother had not only found his backbone but his voice also. “You know I am. I have to. Now, please be quiet before someone hears you.”
He did not listen. “We will survive just fine without his assistance. What will he do if you don’t become his wife? He can hardly blackmail or bully his way into our finances since we don’t have any. Tell him you’ll wait for Montrose to gain more time. No one said anything about marrying a bastard pirate!”
“Survive just fine?” They were the only words Eliza took in, the rest she ignored despite the answering prickle of unease sliding down her spine.
Her brother huffed. “You know what I mean. It hasn’t been grand but we’ve done all right on our own.”
She stared at her brother for a moment before turning back to the small mirror above a beautiful little dressing vanity. She was trying to arrange her hair but the life had gone from the strands and all they wanted to do was lie flat against her back rather than elegant curls about her ears. “There’s more to it than you know and it’s not just Darius we have to worry about, Nathanial. There must be others out there who Father owed money to. We can’t keep living as we have.” She sighed. “Existing as we have. Surviving is well and good, but what if we didn’t have to sleep on the floor and bar the door against the wolves?”
“But what if he’s the devil? What if he…mistreats you? He has no title for God’s sake. He has nothing to offer you. What if he only marries you for the dowry to put one over on this Montrose fellow? You’ll never know love or affection. Can you live with that?”
If his kiss the night before had been any indication of how he would treat her, she had only her heart to worry about. The way it had skipped several beats as he’d held her couldn’t have been good for her constitution. Love? Definitely not. Affection? Perhaps. Lust more likely. “Wickham is the devil. He has a title yet still has nothing to offer me. Darius cannot be worse than the earl. Don’t you understand this has to happen? It will give us the few months we need for you to take the title. Gabriella will be safe. Would I have liked to have found love in my life? Yes. I’m a woman—of course that might have been nice. But I don’t need it. What I need is for all of you to be safe.”
Nathanial stopped his pacing and met her gaze in the looking glass, his blue eyes alive with fury and mistrust. “I don’t like it. How are you going to manipulate someone like him?”
He didn’t have to like it any more than she did. It was still happening. “Manipulate? What are you talking about?”
“Darius doesn’t strike me as the sort to take orders from his new wife. How are you going to get him to do your bidding?”
She hadn’t thought that far ahead. He’d said he would protect them; that was good enough for her for the next few months.
“You’ll have to seduce him.”
Eliza tried to swallow, tried to argue, but choked instead, coughing until her eyes filled with moisture.
“He’s to be your husband, you his wife. He will expect you to warm his bed.”
Her indignation was very real as she threw her reply at her brother. “I will not discuss this with you, not now, not ever. Remember I am doing this for all of you. It’s our last resort. Gabriella can be the one to marry a title and live in luxury and manipulate a weak husband. Grace can find love and happiness. Darius has his fierce reputation and he’s given his word we will be cared for. The Earl of Wickham is the only other option and he doesn’t instil fear into men. Darius is the better choice. He is my only option.” She’d witnessed his ice-cold glare, a glare that could wither the strongest of men. His brother had shrunk back from it the day Eliza had held a gun on the men. “And Darius has a ship. If we need to leave, we can.”
“Leave?” Nathanial’s brows rose until they almost met his hairline.
