Romance of a Robbery: Thieves of Desire Book 5, page 19
Which made sense. For none of them had ever been in charge before. It had always been Arie at the head of the family, telling the rest of them what to do. Now that he was the one in trouble, there seemed to be some internal shift as they tried to piece together just who was in charge now and what they were supposed to do next.
Wade, a leader in his own right, stepped forward and beside Diana, nodding at her, which surprised Annabelle. Why wasn’t he telling the rest of them what to do? Then she realized – he was giving Diana the strength to take charge. Diana knew as well as any of them what would make sense.
“I’m sure Arie might already have a plan for himself, but at this point in time, I think he is well and truly stuck. As far as I can tell, there is only one thing we can do,” Diana said, staring straight at Annabelle. “We have to get him out.”
CHAPTER 27
Arie started morosely at the four walls around him. They were dripping, although with what, Arie wasn’t entirely sure, and nor was he desperate to find out. He had been in many a terrible situation, but this was one of – although not the very – worst.
He ran his hands through his hair as he pushed away the plate they had shoved in front of him. It was filled with three mounds of unknown substances, none of which looked particularly appetizing, and he had no will to eat to begin with. It wouldn’t be easy either, with his hands shackled as they were.
He had thought round the situation over and over again and had come to but one conclusion – he was well and truly fucked.
Arie wondered whether they had gotten away with the statues. As he did, he realized with surprise that he didn’t overly care if the robbery had been a success. Of course, he’d be disappointed if the plan had failed, but it wasn’t the overwhelming distress that he would have expected. He had been planning for this theft ever since he had left Greece all those years ago and now… now all he cared about was that the rest of his family was safe.
And then there was Annabelle.
A deep sense of guilt washed over him at the thought that he was the one who had brought her into this, that all the risk he had put her through was because of his own determination to right this wrong.
None of it could ever be worth it if something happened to her.
It had only been a day since he had last seen her, and even so… he missed her. The thought frightened him, and he wasn’t entirely sure what he was supposed to do about the discoveries he was making about himself, discoveries he wished had stayed buried. He had tried so hard not to let himself fall for her, and here he was, pining for the woman. All he could hope was that she was safe, wherever she was. Somehow, even if they weren’t together, knowing that she was still out there, free to live her life, brought him some comfort.
“A visitor for you,” came the guard’s voice from the door, and Arie was conflicted as part of him desperately hoped it was Annabelle and another part dreaded the thought that it might be, for he wanted her as far from here as was possible. It was likely Damien, who had already stopped at Newgate to pay for Arie to be held in a cell alone, although there was no guarantee that it would be for any particular length of time. The warden had agreed to a few days, and then would ask for another payment. Arie didn’t want them to give all of their hard-earned pay to the crooked jailors.
The door swung open, and a stranger walked in, causing Arie to stand and brace himself as he determined whether the man was a friend or foe.
“Mr. Callas?”
He was still attempting to use the name, although at this point, no one believed it.
“Yes?”
“I am Everett Pine, your solicitor.”
“Mr. Pine,” Arie said, nodding to him, not wanting to offer his filthy hand. “Who sent you?”
“Your sister, Diana,” he said, staying standing in front of Arie.
“Did they all make it out all right?” Arie asked, holding his breath as he waited for the answer.
“They did.”
Arie finally exhaled.
“Tell Diana that there’s no use,” he said. “I’m fucked.”
“That isn’t necessarily so,” Pine said, crossing his arms. “The only thing they can prove is that you and the woman posing as your wife are not who you say you are. You cannot steal a necklace that you never did actually donate, so that is not a true theft. Even if it is not what you say it was, no transaction occurred. And there is nothing to tie you to the theft of the statues.”
“Could they not still claim fraud?” Arie asked, lifting a brow.
“They could, but it might be difficult to prove,” Pine said. “You didn’t actually pose as another true person. There is nobility involved, which makes the entire thing a bit dependent on what their opinion of the situation is.”
“Annabelle was friendly with the Duchess of Breckenridge,” Arie considered, but then was already shaking his head. “Never mind. Don’t involve them. I don’t want Annabelle having any more to do with this than she already has.”
His head snapped up at the thought. “Do you know if she is all right? Did she get away? Did she go to her parents?”
Pine lifted one corner of his lips. “Ah, so this marriage wasn’t as fake as it appeared, was it?”
“Forget it,” Arie said, even as he desperately wanted to know where she was. Finally, Pine relented.
“She’s fine. She is with your family, still in London.”
“Damn it!” Arie burst out in a rare show of emotion. “Tell her to leave. To get out of the city. Why the hell didn’t she listen to me?”
“Well, did you direct her like that?” Pine asked, nearly laughing, and Arie just glowered at him.
“Very well,” Pine said, having pity on him. “I’ll tell her, but I doubt she’s going to do what you or I say.”
Arie sighed, leaning back.
“So, what are you here for?”
“Well, we do have one option. We fight this.”
“Is there any chance that might work?”
Pine scratched his head. “If they find out who you are, there’s not much we can do for you without the word of someone much higher in station than us.” He paused for a heartbeat. “Your sister is married to a duke.”
“No,” Arie said vehemently before Pine was even done speaking. “Absolutely not. When Hargreaves married my sister, we made a deal. Calli would have nothing to do with the business. She – hopefully – doesn’t even know about my arrest.”
“I’m sure it won’t be long until she finds out.”
“Tell my family not to let her know,” Arie said finally, “and if she does find out, keep them out of this.”
Pine nodded, even if it seemed that he didn’t quite agree.
“What else can we do?”
“We can try to prove your innocence,” Pine said. “Can you think of any evidence that might link you to the theft of the Greek artifacts at the museum?”
Arie thought over every aspect of the plan. “Nothing,” he said. “All we can say is that we were going to donate the artifact but that we changed our mind after we were falsely accused by Burns.”
“We’ll stay with that,” Pine said. “The only problem will be if they prove you are Arie Hondros and can link you to any of your other crimes. But it will all be hearsay.”
“My word against theirs,” Arie said grimly, to which Pine only nodded.
“There’s one other thing,” Pine said before he walked out the door.
Arie simply looked up, waiting.
“You’ve foiled the plan of many a criminal with your gambling ring and protection services,” Pine said. “Many of those criminals are in here. Including Jenkins.”
“I’m not scared of Jenkins.”
“Maybe not on his own, but there are enough other men in here that wouldn’t be averse to seeing you go down. Watch your back.”
Arie could only stare after him, wondering what danger would threaten the next time the door was opened.
* * *
Annabelle huddled next to Juliet at the back of the building. A chill hung in the evening air, her breath smoke in front of her. Xander, Damien, and Wade were standing behind them, Xander’s hand on Juliet’s shoulder.
“Are we ready?” Annabelle asked, looking up at the rest of them. Much to Diana’s chagrin, she had stayed home for this one, Wade refusing to allow her to accompany them. It had been quite the argument, but in the end, Wade had won out. Annabelle could understand Diana’s frustration, as she and Annabelle had come up with the plan together, which now left Annabelle to make sure it all fell into place.
She wasn’t particularly sure about being the one in command, but at this point she would do anything to free Arie. The solicitor, Mr. Pine, had met with them all and repeated Arie’s wishes.
“We could wait for trial, but I’m a bit nervous about that,” Pine had said. “There’s murmurings that Arie might not make it that far. He is trapped, and there are some, including Jenkins, who want revenge and others think that maybe they could take his place of power in St. Giles.”
Which is why they were here – hoping that they could at least get him out of Newgate, before allowing Pine to do what he could from there.
“Are you ready, Annabelle?” Juliet asked softly, and Annabelle straightened her shoulders.
“Yes.”
It was a risky plan, but there weren’t any options to break Arie from Newgate that weren’t risky. Annabelle rolled the bottle around in her palm, hoping the high dose of laudanum wouldn’t cause Arie any long-term ill effects.
“I’ll see you on the other side,” she whispered as she took off into the night, knocking on the front door of the prison before she was let through.
She shivered as she walked into the bowels of Newgate, the walls dark and the cries of people around her had her fighting the urge to turn around and run from here as fast as she could. She closed her eyes for a moment and reminded herself why she was here and who she was here for. To save Arie’s life. What was to come between them following that, she had no idea, but at least he would be free and she could tell him how she truly felt.
“Who’re you?” the jail guard grunted, and Annabelle swallowed hard, summoning up all of her courage.
“I’m Sister Mary Frances, here to see Mr. Callas. The priest will come later but has sent me in his stead in case he cannot get here on time.”
The guard grunted, looking her up and down, causing Annabelle to pull the garment tighter around her face.
“Very well. In ya go.”
He led her down the dark passageway until the door to a cell opened, and Annabelle stepped in gingerly, wondering just what sloshed over her boots.
And then, there he was. A small gasp escaped her lips, fortunately soft enough that the guard didn’t hear her. Arie was hunkered down in a corner, his head in his hands, a plate full of something – that certainly couldn’t be food – sitting beside him. Thank goodness he had his own cell – Damien had bribed the warden for it. He was normally so proud, seemingly indestructible, and it nearly broke Annabelle to see him like this. She had wanted him to be vulnerable, but not… broken.
When she heard the door shut behind her, Annabelle turned to make sure the guard was gone before she rushed across the room, bending in front of Arie, no longer caring what the fabric of her skirts was falling into on the floor.
“Arie,” she cried, reaching her hands out and taking his face in them.
His head snapped up so quickly that he nearly hit her in the nose, but she stopped him in time, running her hands over his face.
“Annabelle,” he said with more emotion than she had ever heard from him before, his voice breaking as he reached out and pulled her in, kissing her desperately on the lips. Tears were already rolling down her cheeks as she pulled back, looking at him again to make sure he was well. He shook his head suddenly, which seemed to revive him from whatever stupor had taken over him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, standing with a glimpse of determination in his eyes. “Annabelle, you are supposed to be with your family. I don’t even want you in London let alone here at Newgate. My God—”
“Arie.” She stopped him, her eyes boring into his, which were near wild with concern, and she knew how difficult this must be for him – to be here in a place where he had no control, over his own life or anyone else’s. “We are going to get you out of here.”
“You are not going to do anything of the sort.”
Annabelle frowned. She had thought of many things that could go wrong in this rescue attempt, but never had she considered that Arie might not actually want to be rescued.
She ignored him and reached into the pocket deep within the folds of the fabric of her dress, pulling out first a key that Xander had given her to open any potential lock, and then the bottle and cloth.
“Here,” she said, reaching for his shackled hands, slipping the key into the lock. “This is what is going to happen. I’m going to free your hands and feet from the floor. Then you’re going to drink this.” She examined the vial, her heart hammering in her chest, for this is where everything could go wrong. “It’s laudanum, a dose strong enough to make it seem as though you are in distress. The guards will call for help, and Xander and Wade will come, saying they are physicians your family has paid to come help you. Instead, they are going to take you right out through the doors and home.”
Arie just stared at her, resignation on his face. “Even if it did work – and in all likelihood, they would just leave me for dead – we cannot do this.”
“Why the hell not?” she demanded. “Mr. Pine says that you will likely die in here if you don’t. Jenkins is here, waiting for you. I cannot—”
He reached out, just short of taking her face between his palms. “Because, Annabelle, I don’t want to put anyone in danger anymore.”
“Arie, your family has been in danger for years. The only difference this time is that you are not in control and that they are the ones rescuing you!”
“That’s not all that is different.”
“Then what else?” she said, throwing her arms to the side in exasperation.
“You.” He said it so softly that she nearly didn’t hear him.
“What was that?”
“You are here,” he said more urgently. “And I will do anything to protect you. Including being put to the death.”
She took a breath, needing a moment to formulate a response, for that was more than a declaration of love, was it not?
“This isn’t exactly the time or place for this, Arie, but I need you to know something,” she swallowed the lump that had arisen in her throat, needing to get the words out around it. “You—you matter. To me.” She was bungling this. “So, you had better stand up, poison yourself, and then we are going to get you out of here. We’ll determine your innocence later.”
He gave a wry, crooked grin. “But I am not innocent. Not in the least.”
“That doesn’t matter,” she said resolutely. “Time to go.”
He stayed rooted to the spot.
“Annabelle,” he said softly, and she turned.
“Yes?”
His entire face softened, losing the hard shell that typically surrounded him. “You matter too.”
Tears filled her eyes anew as Annabelle threw herself into his recently released arms, kissing him through her tears until it all became too much, and she stepped back away from him.
“If that is the case,” she choked out, gripping the collar of his now–stained jacket, “then you must promise to come with me.”
“I won’t do it. I cannot make you complicit in a crime,” he said firmly, and she opened her mouth to give him a stern talking to when the door opened, revealing two guards standing there, arms crossed over their chests.
“Hondros,” the one said, the pretense of his identity apparently no longer a secret. “It’s time to go.”
“Go where?” he asked.
Then the last person on earth that Annabelle ever imagined to see in Newgate stepped through the door.
“Home.”
CHAPTER 28
“Your Grace,” Annabelle gasped as Jonathan Seville, the Duke of Hargreaves and Arie’s sister Calli’s husband, filled the doorway. She sank into a tardy curtsy while Arie remained standing.
“What are you doing here?” he asked the duke, who looked none too pleased at his current whereabouts.
“Taking you home. Let’s go.”
“But—”
“Now.”
The duke’s voice brokered no argument, and Arie opened his mouth, ready for a fight, He didn’t appreciate being spoken to in such a tone, even if he wasn’t exactly in a position to argue.
Before he could say anything, however, Annabelle was tugging on his sleeve, and he looked to her to see what she had to say. All he saw was the desperate plea on her face.
“For goodness’ sake, Arie, just set aside your pride for once and let someone help you,” she said, looking up at him with wide eyes and he paused. He wanted to say no. He didn’t like being beholden to someone, most especially the duke he had clashed with time and again.
But perhaps… perhaps Annabelle was right, and it was time he allowed someone to do something for him. Even if it was Hargreaves. Was his pride worth rotting in here? Being hanged from the gallows? Never seeing Annabelle again, never having her arms around him, never knowing what they could have together?
For, God help him, he wanted more with her. He wanted to go to sleep after making love to her. He wanted to wake up with her in his arms. He wanted to start a life with her. The question was, could he do it all, knowing the risks that such a love would hold?
Now wasn’t exactly the time to decide that, however. Not with the warden seeming ready to slam the door shut on the lot of them, if it wasn’t for the fact that a duke was standing in the doorway.
“Arie?” Annabelle said. “Do you trust me?”
Arie had never placed such trust in a person before, but now? Everything had changed.
“Fine,” Arie said, his eyes on Annabelle instead of on Hargreaves. “Let’s go.”
Wade, a leader in his own right, stepped forward and beside Diana, nodding at her, which surprised Annabelle. Why wasn’t he telling the rest of them what to do? Then she realized – he was giving Diana the strength to take charge. Diana knew as well as any of them what would make sense.
“I’m sure Arie might already have a plan for himself, but at this point in time, I think he is well and truly stuck. As far as I can tell, there is only one thing we can do,” Diana said, staring straight at Annabelle. “We have to get him out.”
CHAPTER 27
Arie started morosely at the four walls around him. They were dripping, although with what, Arie wasn’t entirely sure, and nor was he desperate to find out. He had been in many a terrible situation, but this was one of – although not the very – worst.
He ran his hands through his hair as he pushed away the plate they had shoved in front of him. It was filled with three mounds of unknown substances, none of which looked particularly appetizing, and he had no will to eat to begin with. It wouldn’t be easy either, with his hands shackled as they were.
He had thought round the situation over and over again and had come to but one conclusion – he was well and truly fucked.
Arie wondered whether they had gotten away with the statues. As he did, he realized with surprise that he didn’t overly care if the robbery had been a success. Of course, he’d be disappointed if the plan had failed, but it wasn’t the overwhelming distress that he would have expected. He had been planning for this theft ever since he had left Greece all those years ago and now… now all he cared about was that the rest of his family was safe.
And then there was Annabelle.
A deep sense of guilt washed over him at the thought that he was the one who had brought her into this, that all the risk he had put her through was because of his own determination to right this wrong.
None of it could ever be worth it if something happened to her.
It had only been a day since he had last seen her, and even so… he missed her. The thought frightened him, and he wasn’t entirely sure what he was supposed to do about the discoveries he was making about himself, discoveries he wished had stayed buried. He had tried so hard not to let himself fall for her, and here he was, pining for the woman. All he could hope was that she was safe, wherever she was. Somehow, even if they weren’t together, knowing that she was still out there, free to live her life, brought him some comfort.
“A visitor for you,” came the guard’s voice from the door, and Arie was conflicted as part of him desperately hoped it was Annabelle and another part dreaded the thought that it might be, for he wanted her as far from here as was possible. It was likely Damien, who had already stopped at Newgate to pay for Arie to be held in a cell alone, although there was no guarantee that it would be for any particular length of time. The warden had agreed to a few days, and then would ask for another payment. Arie didn’t want them to give all of their hard-earned pay to the crooked jailors.
The door swung open, and a stranger walked in, causing Arie to stand and brace himself as he determined whether the man was a friend or foe.
“Mr. Callas?”
He was still attempting to use the name, although at this point, no one believed it.
“Yes?”
“I am Everett Pine, your solicitor.”
“Mr. Pine,” Arie said, nodding to him, not wanting to offer his filthy hand. “Who sent you?”
“Your sister, Diana,” he said, staying standing in front of Arie.
“Did they all make it out all right?” Arie asked, holding his breath as he waited for the answer.
“They did.”
Arie finally exhaled.
“Tell Diana that there’s no use,” he said. “I’m fucked.”
“That isn’t necessarily so,” Pine said, crossing his arms. “The only thing they can prove is that you and the woman posing as your wife are not who you say you are. You cannot steal a necklace that you never did actually donate, so that is not a true theft. Even if it is not what you say it was, no transaction occurred. And there is nothing to tie you to the theft of the statues.”
“Could they not still claim fraud?” Arie asked, lifting a brow.
“They could, but it might be difficult to prove,” Pine said. “You didn’t actually pose as another true person. There is nobility involved, which makes the entire thing a bit dependent on what their opinion of the situation is.”
“Annabelle was friendly with the Duchess of Breckenridge,” Arie considered, but then was already shaking his head. “Never mind. Don’t involve them. I don’t want Annabelle having any more to do with this than she already has.”
His head snapped up at the thought. “Do you know if she is all right? Did she get away? Did she go to her parents?”
Pine lifted one corner of his lips. “Ah, so this marriage wasn’t as fake as it appeared, was it?”
“Forget it,” Arie said, even as he desperately wanted to know where she was. Finally, Pine relented.
“She’s fine. She is with your family, still in London.”
“Damn it!” Arie burst out in a rare show of emotion. “Tell her to leave. To get out of the city. Why the hell didn’t she listen to me?”
“Well, did you direct her like that?” Pine asked, nearly laughing, and Arie just glowered at him.
“Very well,” Pine said, having pity on him. “I’ll tell her, but I doubt she’s going to do what you or I say.”
Arie sighed, leaning back.
“So, what are you here for?”
“Well, we do have one option. We fight this.”
“Is there any chance that might work?”
Pine scratched his head. “If they find out who you are, there’s not much we can do for you without the word of someone much higher in station than us.” He paused for a heartbeat. “Your sister is married to a duke.”
“No,” Arie said vehemently before Pine was even done speaking. “Absolutely not. When Hargreaves married my sister, we made a deal. Calli would have nothing to do with the business. She – hopefully – doesn’t even know about my arrest.”
“I’m sure it won’t be long until she finds out.”
“Tell my family not to let her know,” Arie said finally, “and if she does find out, keep them out of this.”
Pine nodded, even if it seemed that he didn’t quite agree.
“What else can we do?”
“We can try to prove your innocence,” Pine said. “Can you think of any evidence that might link you to the theft of the Greek artifacts at the museum?”
Arie thought over every aspect of the plan. “Nothing,” he said. “All we can say is that we were going to donate the artifact but that we changed our mind after we were falsely accused by Burns.”
“We’ll stay with that,” Pine said. “The only problem will be if they prove you are Arie Hondros and can link you to any of your other crimes. But it will all be hearsay.”
“My word against theirs,” Arie said grimly, to which Pine only nodded.
“There’s one other thing,” Pine said before he walked out the door.
Arie simply looked up, waiting.
“You’ve foiled the plan of many a criminal with your gambling ring and protection services,” Pine said. “Many of those criminals are in here. Including Jenkins.”
“I’m not scared of Jenkins.”
“Maybe not on his own, but there are enough other men in here that wouldn’t be averse to seeing you go down. Watch your back.”
Arie could only stare after him, wondering what danger would threaten the next time the door was opened.
* * *
Annabelle huddled next to Juliet at the back of the building. A chill hung in the evening air, her breath smoke in front of her. Xander, Damien, and Wade were standing behind them, Xander’s hand on Juliet’s shoulder.
“Are we ready?” Annabelle asked, looking up at the rest of them. Much to Diana’s chagrin, she had stayed home for this one, Wade refusing to allow her to accompany them. It had been quite the argument, but in the end, Wade had won out. Annabelle could understand Diana’s frustration, as she and Annabelle had come up with the plan together, which now left Annabelle to make sure it all fell into place.
She wasn’t particularly sure about being the one in command, but at this point she would do anything to free Arie. The solicitor, Mr. Pine, had met with them all and repeated Arie’s wishes.
“We could wait for trial, but I’m a bit nervous about that,” Pine had said. “There’s murmurings that Arie might not make it that far. He is trapped, and there are some, including Jenkins, who want revenge and others think that maybe they could take his place of power in St. Giles.”
Which is why they were here – hoping that they could at least get him out of Newgate, before allowing Pine to do what he could from there.
“Are you ready, Annabelle?” Juliet asked softly, and Annabelle straightened her shoulders.
“Yes.”
It was a risky plan, but there weren’t any options to break Arie from Newgate that weren’t risky. Annabelle rolled the bottle around in her palm, hoping the high dose of laudanum wouldn’t cause Arie any long-term ill effects.
“I’ll see you on the other side,” she whispered as she took off into the night, knocking on the front door of the prison before she was let through.
She shivered as she walked into the bowels of Newgate, the walls dark and the cries of people around her had her fighting the urge to turn around and run from here as fast as she could. She closed her eyes for a moment and reminded herself why she was here and who she was here for. To save Arie’s life. What was to come between them following that, she had no idea, but at least he would be free and she could tell him how she truly felt.
“Who’re you?” the jail guard grunted, and Annabelle swallowed hard, summoning up all of her courage.
“I’m Sister Mary Frances, here to see Mr. Callas. The priest will come later but has sent me in his stead in case he cannot get here on time.”
The guard grunted, looking her up and down, causing Annabelle to pull the garment tighter around her face.
“Very well. In ya go.”
He led her down the dark passageway until the door to a cell opened, and Annabelle stepped in gingerly, wondering just what sloshed over her boots.
And then, there he was. A small gasp escaped her lips, fortunately soft enough that the guard didn’t hear her. Arie was hunkered down in a corner, his head in his hands, a plate full of something – that certainly couldn’t be food – sitting beside him. Thank goodness he had his own cell – Damien had bribed the warden for it. He was normally so proud, seemingly indestructible, and it nearly broke Annabelle to see him like this. She had wanted him to be vulnerable, but not… broken.
When she heard the door shut behind her, Annabelle turned to make sure the guard was gone before she rushed across the room, bending in front of Arie, no longer caring what the fabric of her skirts was falling into on the floor.
“Arie,” she cried, reaching her hands out and taking his face in them.
His head snapped up so quickly that he nearly hit her in the nose, but she stopped him in time, running her hands over his face.
“Annabelle,” he said with more emotion than she had ever heard from him before, his voice breaking as he reached out and pulled her in, kissing her desperately on the lips. Tears were already rolling down her cheeks as she pulled back, looking at him again to make sure he was well. He shook his head suddenly, which seemed to revive him from whatever stupor had taken over him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, standing with a glimpse of determination in his eyes. “Annabelle, you are supposed to be with your family. I don’t even want you in London let alone here at Newgate. My God—”
“Arie.” She stopped him, her eyes boring into his, which were near wild with concern, and she knew how difficult this must be for him – to be here in a place where he had no control, over his own life or anyone else’s. “We are going to get you out of here.”
“You are not going to do anything of the sort.”
Annabelle frowned. She had thought of many things that could go wrong in this rescue attempt, but never had she considered that Arie might not actually want to be rescued.
She ignored him and reached into the pocket deep within the folds of the fabric of her dress, pulling out first a key that Xander had given her to open any potential lock, and then the bottle and cloth.
“Here,” she said, reaching for his shackled hands, slipping the key into the lock. “This is what is going to happen. I’m going to free your hands and feet from the floor. Then you’re going to drink this.” She examined the vial, her heart hammering in her chest, for this is where everything could go wrong. “It’s laudanum, a dose strong enough to make it seem as though you are in distress. The guards will call for help, and Xander and Wade will come, saying they are physicians your family has paid to come help you. Instead, they are going to take you right out through the doors and home.”
Arie just stared at her, resignation on his face. “Even if it did work – and in all likelihood, they would just leave me for dead – we cannot do this.”
“Why the hell not?” she demanded. “Mr. Pine says that you will likely die in here if you don’t. Jenkins is here, waiting for you. I cannot—”
He reached out, just short of taking her face between his palms. “Because, Annabelle, I don’t want to put anyone in danger anymore.”
“Arie, your family has been in danger for years. The only difference this time is that you are not in control and that they are the ones rescuing you!”
“That’s not all that is different.”
“Then what else?” she said, throwing her arms to the side in exasperation.
“You.” He said it so softly that she nearly didn’t hear him.
“What was that?”
“You are here,” he said more urgently. “And I will do anything to protect you. Including being put to the death.”
She took a breath, needing a moment to formulate a response, for that was more than a declaration of love, was it not?
“This isn’t exactly the time or place for this, Arie, but I need you to know something,” she swallowed the lump that had arisen in her throat, needing to get the words out around it. “You—you matter. To me.” She was bungling this. “So, you had better stand up, poison yourself, and then we are going to get you out of here. We’ll determine your innocence later.”
He gave a wry, crooked grin. “But I am not innocent. Not in the least.”
“That doesn’t matter,” she said resolutely. “Time to go.”
He stayed rooted to the spot.
“Annabelle,” he said softly, and she turned.
“Yes?”
His entire face softened, losing the hard shell that typically surrounded him. “You matter too.”
Tears filled her eyes anew as Annabelle threw herself into his recently released arms, kissing him through her tears until it all became too much, and she stepped back away from him.
“If that is the case,” she choked out, gripping the collar of his now–stained jacket, “then you must promise to come with me.”
“I won’t do it. I cannot make you complicit in a crime,” he said firmly, and she opened her mouth to give him a stern talking to when the door opened, revealing two guards standing there, arms crossed over their chests.
“Hondros,” the one said, the pretense of his identity apparently no longer a secret. “It’s time to go.”
“Go where?” he asked.
Then the last person on earth that Annabelle ever imagined to see in Newgate stepped through the door.
“Home.”
CHAPTER 28
“Your Grace,” Annabelle gasped as Jonathan Seville, the Duke of Hargreaves and Arie’s sister Calli’s husband, filled the doorway. She sank into a tardy curtsy while Arie remained standing.
“What are you doing here?” he asked the duke, who looked none too pleased at his current whereabouts.
“Taking you home. Let’s go.”
“But—”
“Now.”
The duke’s voice brokered no argument, and Arie opened his mouth, ready for a fight, He didn’t appreciate being spoken to in such a tone, even if he wasn’t exactly in a position to argue.
Before he could say anything, however, Annabelle was tugging on his sleeve, and he looked to her to see what she had to say. All he saw was the desperate plea on her face.
“For goodness’ sake, Arie, just set aside your pride for once and let someone help you,” she said, looking up at him with wide eyes and he paused. He wanted to say no. He didn’t like being beholden to someone, most especially the duke he had clashed with time and again.
But perhaps… perhaps Annabelle was right, and it was time he allowed someone to do something for him. Even if it was Hargreaves. Was his pride worth rotting in here? Being hanged from the gallows? Never seeing Annabelle again, never having her arms around him, never knowing what they could have together?
For, God help him, he wanted more with her. He wanted to go to sleep after making love to her. He wanted to wake up with her in his arms. He wanted to start a life with her. The question was, could he do it all, knowing the risks that such a love would hold?
Now wasn’t exactly the time to decide that, however. Not with the warden seeming ready to slam the door shut on the lot of them, if it wasn’t for the fact that a duke was standing in the doorway.
“Arie?” Annabelle said. “Do you trust me?”
Arie had never placed such trust in a person before, but now? Everything had changed.
“Fine,” Arie said, his eyes on Annabelle instead of on Hargreaves. “Let’s go.”
