The brute chortled, thinking she spoke to him. She seized on the distraction and beamed her brightest society smile at the lowlife.
The man halted and blinked.
The rest of his crew were equally stunned when she shouted for Ian to move before she hurled her throwing knife at the assailant’s throat.
Ian shifted so quickly, he blended in with the misty night and the fog curling around them. He knocked out the next man with a blow that solicited an audible crunching of bones. Diana shook off the sound with a shudder.
One of the goons recovered his wits and barreled toward them.
She drew a breath. Reached again for her pocket. And let her steel fly.
The man met the end of her second dagger and collapsed to the ground.
After that, she lost sense of how time unfolded. There was an ensuing scuffle, and more rain swirled around them. Ian seized the pistol the first thief had dropped. Shots reverberated.
Diana didn’t surrender her attention from the felled bodies until Ian’s harrowed face bent toward her.
“Are you hurt?”
A flush burnished the fine planes of his handsome face. Somewhere in the altercation, he’d lost his hat, and his black hair tumbled over his forehead. These days, he always dressed in shades of black and gray. The starched collar of his shirt was his lone splash of brightness. A spot of blood nowmarred it.
“Diana?”
Slowly, she shook her head. Her gaze returned to the bodies on the footpath.
Ian stole across and examined each of the men before confirming, “They’re all down.”
“Down or…” She couldn’t bring herself to saydead.
“Doesn’t matter.” He retrieved her knives and wrapped them in a handkerchief. With his free hand, he clasped hers and towed her down the street. “Come quickly. There could be others following.”
They broke into a run. Ian directed them through the back lanes to the service gate of her father’s London house. The familiar sight of the little stone bench where the servants sat to smoke made Diana’s knees buckle. She fell upon it, dragging Ian with her.
“I think I might have killed those men,” she whispered.
“They had it coming. Don’t worry about the scene. I’ll sort everything out.”
She tightened her arms around him. “Don’t go alone.”
“I won’t,” he murmured against her hair in a soothing voice. “We’re both safe for the moment. Thanks to you. Have no remorse for defending yourself. It was…brilliant.”
His hand stole under her chin and tipped her face toward him. “Youare brilliant. And beautiful.”
The awed expression he wore made warmth bloom in her chest and quieted the riot in her stomach. If he kept looking at her that way, she was going to kiss him. She wouldn’t be able to stop herself.
“You were quite remarkable too,” she said, leaning closer. “Where did you learn to shoot like that?”
The transformation in his countenance was like a cloud blocking the sun.
“It’s all part of the job.”
“What job?”
He slowly released her and stood up from the bench. The sudden absence of his warm embrace made her fight off a shiver.
“What job?” she repeated. “What does that mean?”
“My legacy. I made a promise to my father too. When he first fell ill.”