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She’d left him.
When Heath woke the next morning and felt the space beside him was cold, he knew immediately Ava had gone. He didn’t bother searching the house for her, nor even the surrounding area. He felt the absence of her presence down to the depths of his soul, and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had returned to St. Giles.
Foolish, stubborn woman. Did she think herself immune to the dangers that lurked in the shadows, waiting to prey on a weak, defenseless female?
Mine.
The need to protect her was like a living, breathing thing inside of him. He didn’t care that she’d left without a word. Didn’t care that she’d robbed them both of the few days of peace they had left. He only cared for her safety, and her survival. For no matter what she might say to the contrary, Heath knew she loved him as he did her. What they couldn’t say with their words they’d spoken with their bodies. A gentle caress here. A soft touch there. She had fallen asleep curled in his arms, her head nestled beneath his chin, her fingers entwined with his. Their breaths slowly merging, hearts beating in tandem as they drifted off to sleep.
If that wasn’t love then Heath didn’t know what was and for the first time in his life he was willing to fight for it. To fight for Ava. To fight for the future they could have together. The future they would have together.
She just didn’t know it yet.
Getting out of bed, he stalked to the washbasin and splashed cold water on his face. Didn’t Ava know the danger she had put herself in by leaving? Collinsworth hadn’t stopped looking for her. Wouldn’t stop, for that matter. For whatever the reason he wanted Ava found, and he was willing to pay an inordinate sum to have her brought to him. What Heath had been unable to accomplish other men would. Men with cruel hearts and dark souls. Men who would think nothing of hurting a woman. Of killing a woman.
A haze of red born of fear and frustration tainted the edges of his vision as he quickly dressed and stormed down the stairs. Mrs. Plum was there to greet him when he reached the last step, her face wreathed in a smile and her blue eyes twinkling as she held out a plate of freshly baked scones.
“Off to work a bit early, are you then?” she asked. One close look at Heath’s countenance and her smile faded. “What is it?”
“Ava,” he said grimly. He didn’t have to say anything more.
“She’s gone, isn’t she?”
At Heath’s curt nod Mrs. Plum sighed and readjusted her grip on the plate of scones until it rested comfortably on one hip. “Well, what did you expect?”
Heath, who had already been halfway to the door, paused in mid-stride to stare back over his shoulder, certain he’d misunderstood. “Pardon?”
“I said, what did you expect?” Mrs. Plum repeated slowly. “Oh come now dear, don’t look at me like that. Surely you did not believe Miss Ava would stay here forever? She is not your wife, nor your mistress, nor even your friend. What was to prevent her from thinking you would cast her out when you grew tired of her? Did you make any vows? Did you give her any promises?”
“No.” He should have. He should have told her what he was thinking. What he was feeling. He should have promised her the world, and vowed to love her always. Instead he’d given her nothing, and she’d left him with the same.
“Well then,” Mrs. Plum said briskly, “I can hardly say I am surprised she left. How could she not go if you didn’t give her a reason to stay?”
How could she not go if you didn’t give her a reason to stay?
The words resounded deeply, causing Heath to see the wisdom in them, and the truth. It had taken Ava’s leaving to make him see how much he wanted her. More than that, how much he needed her. To feel whole. To feel happy. To feel contentment. She challenged him. She made him think. Made him laugh. In the past six days she’d brought him more joy than he’d felt in the past six years.
If he went after her now... If he went after her now it meant he would have to tell her who he really was. What he did. Why he’d been in St. Giles that night. Heath knew it was a revelation that could very well make her despise him, but he was willing to risk her love if it meant saving her life.
“I need to go.”
Plate of scones still in hand, Mrs. Plum followed him to the door and watched attentively as he pulled on his boots and slipped into a nondescript gray jacket that hung low at the sleeves and waist.
“Be mindful,” she warned. “You know I’ve never questioned your work for it keeps my employed, but I know there is a danger to it.”
Heath acknowledged her request with a short, clipped nod. “I will.”
“Then be off with you. And don’t return unless you have Ava with you,” she added, wagging a finger at him.
Heath didn’t intend to.
Bloody hell.
Eyes wide and mouth agape, Lucy ceased struggling.
A Runner.
She’d tried to steal from a bloody Runner.
A curse that would have made a grown sailor blush tickled the tip of her tongue. Wisely she held it back, and instead adopted the sweetest expression she could manage given the circumstances.
“Ye don’t understand,” she said beseechingly. “I wasn’t tryin’ to pick yer pocket.”
Kinsley’s grip loosened, allowing her to turn and face him. He kept one hand on her wrist, thumb and forefinger overlapping. “Oh really?” he said, sounding amused. “And precisely what were you doing? Fishing for lint?”
Cheeky bastard.
“Fine.” Her chin lifted. Let it never be said Lucy Higgins didn’t stand by her actions whether they be fair or foul. She’d take her bad knocks with the good, and the Runner could take himself to the very devil for all she cared. “I was going to rob ye blind, but the money wasn’t for me.”
“I see.” His mouth smiled but his gaze remained hard and flat. “And who would it have been for? Your three starving children? Your ailing mother?”
Still handsome, Lucy couldn’t help but think, but now her knees were shaking for another reason entirely. She feared the Bow Street Runners almost as much as she feared the type of men who’d run Ava to ground. To her mind they were both scheming, conniving, horrible brutes... except everything the Runners did was considered legal. They were untouchable in the eyes of the law because they were the law, which meant her future, her fate, her very life hung on the whim of the man before her.
The man she’d just attempted to rob.
“For my friend,” Lucy blurted. “She’s been kidnapped.”
“Kidnapped by whom?” Kinsley asked, although the contemptuous drawl in his voice revealed he didn’t believe a word of what she was saying.
“Collin-something.” Her brow creased as she struggled to remember the name Ava had told her. “Collinwood. No, not that. Collin... Collin...” She snapped her fingers. “Collinsworth!”
“Collinsworth?” The focus in his eyes suddenly sharpened and shifted. “Did you say Collinsworth?”
“Aye.” Lucy nodded vigorously. “That’s the name my friend told me. I’m sure of it. He’s been hunting her down, ‘e has. Tearing all of St. Giles apart looking for her. And now he has her. He has Ava.” Her lower lip trembled. “She saw something she shouldn’t have, and I think he means to kill her.”
Kinsley dropped her wrist. Took a step back. “What did your friend see?” In the distance a horse’s shrill whinny echoed and a woman’s shrieking voice followed, signs that the rookery was slowly awakening. Soon the streets would be flooded with people. People who wouldn’t take kindly to having a Runner in their midst. Kinsley would be forced to let her go... or drag her down to Bow Street. “Tell me.” He took her shoulders. Gave her a small shake.
Lucy stiffened.
“Don’t ye go manhandling me,” she warned, eyes flashing bright with temper and tears. “Why should I tell ye anything? Ye are a Runner.” She spat the word as she would an expletive, and it was Kinsley’s turn to stiffen.
“I am that,” he agreed. His grip tightened, fingers skimming across her exposed collarbone. “Which means I can help your friend, if you tell me what I need to know. What is your name?”
“My - my name?” she stuttered, blinking in bewilderment at the way his tone had abruptly softened.
“Yes. Your name.”
“Lucy.” She paused. “Lucy Higgins.”
“Lucy.” For some reason she couldn’t quite fathom Kinsley smiled. It was a genuine smile this time, one that lifted his mouth on both sides and created lines at the corners of his eyes. “It suits you.”
Lucy’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. What game was the Runner playing at? “O’ course it suits me,” she said curtly. “It’s the name my mum gave me. The only name I’ve ever known.”
“Lucy.” The way he said her name... it was mesmerizing. “Lucy you can help me, and yourself, and your friend, by telling me everything you know.”
Her resistance faltered. Faded. After all, what other choice did she have? Still, she wasn’t above a bit of bargaining. “If I tell ye, will you let me go? After paying me a reward, o’ course,” she added shrewdly. “Ye can’t have somethin’ for nothing.”
“Done,” Kinsley said simply.
“Done?” Lucy echoed.
“Done.”
Well then. She took a slow testing step in retreat. His hands slid free of her shoulders but he kept his gaze pinned to her, watchful and waiting. Goosepimples rose on her arms, puckering the flesh and causing the tiny hairs to rise. She crossed them over her chest, ignoring the implication. It had been all fine and good when she’d been attracted to Kinsley before she knew he was a Runner, but after? Absurd. She needed to tell him what she knew and jump ship before he changed his mind and locked her up.
“Sometime last week Ava saw Collinsworth and two of his lackeys toss a woman into the Thames.”
Kinsley went completely still. “Do you know the exact date?”
Lucy thought about it for a moment. “She told me, but I can’t remember.”
“But you are sure your friend said Collinsworth?”
Of that, at least, she was certain. “Aye.”
“Would she have any reason to lie?”
“Ava?” Lucy’s nose wrinkled. “O’ course not! That’s all I know. Are ye going to let me go or not?”
“I said I would.”
“And my reward?” She extended her hand, palm raised expectantly.
“I did say I would give you a reward.” Kinsley moved with a speed Lucy couldn’t anticipate. One moment they were standing a yard apart. The next he had a hand tangled in her hair and the other spanning across her waist. He tilted her head back, exposing the slim column of her throat and her full, voluptuous mouth. “But I never said what kind,” he whispered huskily.
The kiss was hard and fast and jolted Lucy all the way down to her toes. She felt the heat of it, and the passion. Then as quickly as it had begun the kiss ended. Kinsley stepped back. Eyes glittering, mouth in a firm, hard line, he studied her for a moment with such sheer intensity she knew he was committing her face to memory.
“I will see you again, Lucy Higgins.” It was not a question, but a promise. One that sent chills of awareness tingling down her spine. Still defiant, albeit now a bit breathless, she lifted her chin and pinned her hands to her hips.
“I don’t think so, Runner.”
One tawny brow lifted in challenge. “Care to bet?”
She tilted her head to the side, fingers creeping up to toy with a loose auburn curl. “What would ye give me if I won?”
“One hundred pounds.”
Lucy coughed. One hundred pounds? It was a fortune. Enough to get her out of St. Giles. Enough to get her sisters off their backs. Enough to change her life forever. Still, she remained wary. As she’d said to Kinsley, you couldn’t have something for nothing. “And what if ye win?”
His gaze remained steady on hers. “One night with you. That is all I would ask.”
She took only a moment to consider before she said, “How will I get my hundred pounds if ye can’t find me?”
“One month.” An arrogant smile took hold of Kinsley’s mouth. “In one month we meet at dawn at this very spot. I will have one hundred pounds ready and waiting. But if I find you before then...” He didn’t need to finish the sentence. His hot, searing gaze said enough.
Lucy tried to swallow, but her throat had gone dry as dust. Could she really make such a wager? Yes. Yes she could. For herself. For her sisters. For the promise of a better life. Stars, but the things she could do with such a sum! And she would win their bargain. No one could hide better than a rookery girl, especially one who’d managed to keep her cherry intact. Lucy had been evading men all her life. What was one more? “Aye. I’ll do it.” She inclined her head, regal as any queen until a mischievous smirk surfaced. “But ye won’t find me.”
“A bet it is then.” Kinsley adjusted the collar of his waistcoat, tugging it away from his neck. A light sheen of perspiration glistened on his brow. Between this morning and now the sun had risen high in the sky, and here in this unsightly corner of St. Giles where no trees grew and the tenements were little more than shacks pieced together with brick and wood the temperature was climbing higher with every passing second.
Lucy scuffed the heel of her boot on the worn cobblestone, a worried line creasing her brow as her thoughts abruptly returned to Ava. “My friend—” she began, but Kinsley cut her off.
“I know where Collinsworth lives. He came to me not long ago to report his wife missing.” A grimace took hold of his handsome features. “Her body was fished out of the Thames six nights ago.”
“Six nights ago?” Lucy’s eyes widened at the implication. “But that’s when—”
“Your friend claims she saw him on the docks.”
“It isn’t a claim. Ava saw what she saw. Ye can have no doubt of that.”
“I follow the evidence. Right now the evidence is leading back to Collinsworth. If it was truly him who your friend saw that night, and he has in turn ordered her kidnapped to silence her, then she will be found.”
Lucy didn’t have any reason in the world to believe him, but she did. “Very well,” she said grudgingly. It was, all things considered, the best she could hope for. “I need to go. My sister’s will be wondering where I am.”
Kinsley nodded. “Go straight home and remain there for the rest of the day. The man who took your friend could be looking for you as well.”
Unaccustomed to taking orders, she bristled at the command. Picking up her skirts, she turned to hurry down the alley, only to pause when Kinsley’s voice rang out.
“Oh, and Lucy?”
She glanced back over her shoulder. Their eyes met. Held. “Aye?”
“I will find you.”