Chapter Eight
The emeralds sat like an anvil in Ian’s breast pocket.
Diana had handed them to him like they were a pair of gloves, or a reticule she’d borrowed from a friend.
Acquiring them with such little effort on his own part left him wanting. She couldn’t appreciate how important the necklace was to him, and this rubbed at him, even though he knew he should be grateful she’d never know what he’d planned on risking to possess it.
Defending the emeralds would require immersing himself in a world of orchestrated crime. Ian didn’t fool himself into believing he had even a slim chance of ever escaping. Once he left England with the necklace in hand, he could never risk seeing Diana again.
But he would send her off with a proper farewell.
At the docks, he followed Diana along the pier to the warehouse that housed Rives Shipping’s London offices. When Diana removed a key from her pocket and unlocked the door, they found the place deserted.
“Damn, we’ve missed them.” She wrinkled her nose at the clock mounted on the wall. “I was hoping to catch my head of engineering before he departed.”
“Why is he here in London if he’s your head engineer?” Ian asked. “Shouldn’t he oversee the building operations in the Bristol shipyard?”
“He goes back and forth. He’s training his deputy to oversee construction so he can focus on designing. And representing the business side of things. Contracts, suppliers, and such.”
“It sounds like a massive job.”
“It is.”
“Too big for one man alone.”
Her chin twisted over her shoulder. “My team are quite talented.”
“As are you.”
“If you’re implying that my temporary absence will impact the business, you shouldn’t fret.”
“That isn’t what worries me,” Ian said darkly. He wanted to know where she was planning to flee to. It amused him mildly that she persisted with any attempt to conceal her destination.
Eventually, he’d find her. After he won the emeralds. When it was safer for him to search for her.
The front office bell chimed, and a breathless messenger rifled through his satchel. “Rives Shipping?”
“I’ll take it.” Diana ignored the way the man’s mouth twitched when he took in her hat and garb as he handed her a parcel wrapped in pink ribbon.
Ian paid the man, locked the door, and checked that the deadbolt lock was sound.
“It’s a legal notice,” Diana said haltingly. “From the chambers of Bates Holloway.”
Ian paused. “They represented my father.”
She flicked the ribbon apart with her knife and rifled through the first page.
“This is a notice for Rives Shipping to vacate the warehouse and the docks. There’s a contract for possession and sale of the building.
” She passed each page to Ian after she quietly read it.
On the last page, she hesitated. “That’s my signature. ”
When she looked up, her face was pale. “It’s a forgery, obviously.”
“A bloody good one.” There were only one or two counterfeiters who could produce such high-quality fakes. “Now we know why Jared was at the Swan’s Nest. He must be desperate for funds if he’s embroiled himself with the Skinner’s Lane Lads.”
Diana made an unladylike sound of disgust in the back of her throat. “He knew it would take time after the wedding to get his hands on the bank accounts, so he tried to get a quick sale.”
“One of those toughs could have drugged him.”
She worried her lip. “But if Jared was paying them, why would they need to?”
A forceful fist pounded at the door. “Open up. City police.”
Diana slowly shook her head. They both knew whoever was at the door was not a legitimate member of law enforcement. She motioned for him to follow her into the dimly lit interior office in the back, and Ian alarmingly noted the door had no lock.
The pounding outside grew louder, and the floorboards shook, until the noise suddenly halted.
Then came the unmistakable echo of shattering glass.
They’ve broken in, Ian mouthed.
Diana darted to the back of the room and drew aside a drape to a small broom cupboard.
“We won’t both fit—”
She covered his mouth with her hand, pushed him inside, and pulled the curtain closed.
They fell into each other. As she tried to right her balance, his arms came around her. There was no spare space to turn, nowhere else for him to put his hands without smashing something that would call attention to their presence.
There was a crashing sound of the front door being flung open, and several sets of heavy footsteps clomped across the wooden floorboards.
Diana’s breath came in jagged, hot bursts that warmed his neck. He grasped for some action to calm her. But he could only tighten his hold to still his shaking hands. He held her so close he had no doubt she could detect the wild pace of his heart.
When she leaned into his embrace, exultation warmed his limbs. His mind took a brief jaunt into a fantasy where that heat built between them, and their clothes evaporated and they were touching skin to skin. Lips to lips.
A few feet away, the ruffians dragged furniture across the floor, but Ian couldn’t make out what the harsh, muffled voices were saying.
Diana’s arms tightened around his waist, and his hand instinctively cupped the back of her head. “You have your knives?”
“Of course. Your pistol?”
“At the ready.”
The door to the inner office rattled.
He tensed, bracing himself. “If they find us, I will throw the first punch to disarm them. But if I can’t—”
“Knives, then pistol,” Diana finished.
An inelegant clatter arose in the front office.
“What’s going on here?” a familiar voice echoed loudly. “Who are you?”
A muted exchange followed. Furniture thumped and doorknobs rattled.
Then silence descended.
Diana’s arms trembled around him.
“Hello? Miss Rives? Mr. Holt? If you’re here, it’s safe to come out. They’ve gone now.”
Ian relinquished his hold on Diana. He flung back the curtain and yanked open the door. “Hepburn.”
“Are you well, sir?”
Diana gave a startled laugh. “Your timing was exquisite.”
“The intruders skived off. They claimed they were with the police.” Hepburn’s lip curled as he took in the mess they’d left.
Ian searched the tumbled outer office for an indication of exactly how much trouble they were in. “What did the fake coppers claim they were looking for?”
“You, sir.” Hepburn nodded at Ian. “Two more came to the house. They must have been watching and followed you here.”
“Did they take anything?” Ian asked.
“Doesn’t appear like it. But they made this place a disaster, the filthy cretins.”
“Everything important is in the safe,” Diana said. “Did they say why they were looking for Mr. Holt?”
“Allegedly, someone saw Mr. Holt at a tavern that was the scene of an exchange of knives and counterfeit notes.”
The odds of the Metropolitan Police Constabulary working that quickly to track them down were as probable as Ian inheriting the throne. The Skinner’s Lane Lads had sent the men.
It wasn’t anything Ian couldn’t handle. But he’d manage it better knowing Diana was out of the fray. She had to leave London tonight.
Hepburn left to summon the port-side guards while Diana surveyed the ransacked room. She shook her head. “Jared is in more trouble than either of us suspected. And if it slipped past both of us, some clever people are manipulating him.”
Although she’d included herself in the blame, the observation landed like an admonishment.
“I’ll take care of it,” he clipped.
“You shouldn’t handle it alone.”
“Is that an offer?”
Her blush deepened; she hadn’t expected he’d call that bluff. Or perhaps she colored because, despite his indifferent tone, he regarded her more openly than he’d ever allowed himself to in the past.
The very act of trying to conceal it seemed ridiculous at this point. Their remaining time together would be measured in minutes.
He was suddenly angry he’d spent their brief interlude in the cupboard terrified for her safety and overwhelmed by holding her. If he had acted more like the scoundrel everyone thought he was, at least he could have touched and tasted her the way he dreamed about.
In a hushed voice, Diana asked, “Do you want me to stay?”
He needed her to be on the other side of the planet, but he selfishly wanted to believe the only way to truly protect her was to keep her by his side. “The safest thing is for you to leave. As soon as possible.”
She looked forlornly at the remnants of the room before lifting her gaze to his. “There’s a ship waiting. Will you walk with me?”
He agreed before she finished asking.