Page 95 of Outrageous

“Eva wouldn’t have left you,” Andrew said, as if that was explanation enough.

Godric didn’t tell him that Eva likely wouldn’t have required as much assistance as Andrew did, either. Instead he heaved a sigh, turned, and they walked in awkward silence.

Godric had just decided to have mercy on the boy and utter a few comforting words, when a mourning dove’s plaintive—and remarkably close—cry shattered the silence.

Andrew shrieked and an explosion only slightly less deafening than cannon fire went off not far from Godric’s right ear. A plume of sulfurous smoke surrounded them and he turned slowly to find the boy staring at him, one side of his face blackened with soot, his glasses sagging by their remaining arm.

“I’m so sorry!” Andrew shouted loudly enough to be heard back in London.

* * *

As deaf as she was, even Eva heard the explosion that must have come from just around the huge tree bordering the road. She also heard the sound of loud voices that followed. Moving quickly, and, she hoped, silently, she hid herself behind the first big tree and kept her eyes on the road.

Her mouth stretched into a grin when she saw the cause of the noise, and she barreled out of the trees without any thought for danger. The two men were obviously just as deaf as she was, and not until she was almost on top of Godric did he slip the pistol from beneath his coat and begin to turn.

“It’s me!” Eva shouted.

“Eva!” Andrew yelled at the same moment.

What followed was a confusion of shouting and gesturing, until Godric hooked his arm through Eva’s and pulled her along with him.

“Let’s carry on this conversation while we get the hell away from here. We can talk as we walk.”

It seemed they’d set out after her on foot and some animal had frightened Andrew into discharging his stupid gun.

Eva was just about to insult him, loudly, when Godric jerked her so hard, he almost took her off her feet. He turned to Andrew and put his finger crosswise over his lips and then mouthed horses.

They bolted for the trees, needing to split up, Andrew behind one tree, and Godric, holding Eva, pressed against the rough bark of another, his body hard and warm and comforting behind her.

The riders came around the same bend where Andrew had discharged the gun, and they must have heard it because both of them had weapons drawn. Eva’s eyes widened as she took in the high-stepping gray.

“Papa!” she yelled, not realizing that tears were streaming down her face until she felt the wind on her face as she sprinted toward him.

Chapter 19

Eva noticed two things immediately: first, her normally exquisite, impeccable father was dusty and dirt-stained. Second, he appeared more coldly angry than she’d ever seen him in her life—which was saying something. He stared down at her with eyes like pale blue diamonds, tapping his crop against his very dirty top boot.

Eva gulped.

She’d believed Lord Visel’s eyes were similar to her father’s, but she’d been wrong. So very, very wrong. There was warmth in the gold rings around Godric’s eyes; the Marquess of Exley’s irises were the frigid gray of an alpine lake hidden beneath layer upon layer of ice.

She felt movement beside her just before the man who’d accompanied her father, Lord Thomas Byer, caught her up and lifted her off the ground, holding her so tightly she couldn’t breathe.

“Evil,” he said, using Gabriel’s nickname for her. “What have you done?” His voice was hollow and so sad she almost didn’t recognize it. She squirmed in his embrace until he released her, lowering her to the muddy road, but keeping his hands on her waist.

“What are you doing here, Tommy?” she demanded, staring up at him, shocked by the expression of misery on his face. Viscount Thomas Byer was well-known for his languid airs, his lack of concern for anyone or anything, and being the oldest student at Oxford. He was generally referred to as a Care-for-Nobody, although Eva knew that was not true. He was her brother’s best friend—two outcasts who’d found each other Gabe’s first year at university.

Before he could answer, her father said, “Perhaps we might return to the inn before we engage in such discussions?”

Eva turned to face him, shuddering at the leashed fury that burned beneath the blue.

“Of course, Father.”

His eyes flickered to Godric, who’d come to stand beside her. “Shall I give her a hand up, sir?”

The marquess nodded abruptly and Godric’s hands closed around her waist and lifted her up behind her father. The journey back to the inn was a silent one, which was probably just as well since Eva’s ears had only just stopped ringing when the Greedy Vicar came in sight.

Godric strode beside them, his expression closed and unreadable. Tommy rode on her father’s other side, his face set and grim. The only person who seemed the same as ever was Andrew, who couldn’t stop gazing at his blunderbuss in wonder, no doubt surprised it had actually fired.