“No.” Ian clasped her arm, but gently stayed her movement. “She is beyond rational thinking at this stage. There’s too much at stake for her. Think of what she’s already sacrificed. She ransomed innocent, abused women. She’ll risk her own daughter if she has to.”
“You know I want to stop her.”
“Of course. But it’s an impossible position for you. It would be for any child. You don’t have the perspective you need.Il Giocois in motion now. You need to let me take the lead.”
“Let’s get out of Monte Carlo first.”
“This isn’t up for negotiation,” he repeated, irritated that he had to.
She wriggled free of his hold. “And you’re delusional if you think what happened between us last night means you can order me around like some indentured servant.”
There was no heat to her tone, but her assumption that he was like every other man who’d chased her skirts and her money stung.
“I’d never dream of taking that liberty,” he volleyed back. “What happened between us has no bearing on the danger chasing us, and I’m the one who knows the territory. If you want to get out of this with your hide—and continue with your mission—you need to let me direct our next steps.”
Diana tucked a lock of stray hair into her cap. “What is your counterproposal?”
“We miss the rendezvous with Birdie. Lie low here in Monte Carlo until I can signal for an extraction.”
“Why should I trust the peopleyou’reworking with any more than the Stags?”
“You shouldn’t. I don’t.” Ian lifted a shoulder. “But I’m asking you to trust me.”
Her expression softened. “I do, you know. And…it scares me how much I trust you.”
She spoke the uneasy words that rested in his heart. And to assure her of it, he placed his hands on her shoulders and brushed his mouth against hers.
Diana studied him for an excruciating moment before sighing and bowing theatrically toward the door, gesturing for him to lead the way.
They departed by the rooftop exit Ian had reconnoitered the previous day and hopped across to the neighboring building, where they used the cover of a carriage queue to snake through the side lanes. As the morning waned, they hid among the canopied market stalls of thecentre-ville. Ian sacrificed a few precious coins to pay a lad to retrieve ham and cheese tartines for them, along with two tin cups of cider.
Dark clouds hovered over the harbor, and eventually Diana said, “We’re past the meet time. They’ll be looking for us soon. Maybe we should risk the train?”
“If they’re intent on trapping us, they’ll have lookouts at the station. There’s a church a quarter of a mile away where I can make a drop.” It would take more time to ask a priest to wire Sunderland, but Birdie’s sparrows were watching the telegraph office.
They traversed the Place d’Armes, ducked past the fountains, and walked along a tree-covered lane that led to the church. Ian directed Diana to the small door on the west side. “It leads to the crypt. We can wait there until the rector arrives for evening confession.”
He held open the door and mimicked the bow she had given him earlier, which made her roll her eyes before she marched into the dark basement.
Diana’s footsteps halted as she froze on the stone floor.
Ahead of them, a man stood in the flickering light of the altar candles, pointing a gun at them.
Chapter Twenty
Ifthebrutehadconfronted them alone instead of accompanied by three more men brandishing guns, Diana knew that she and Ian could have flayed the bastard.
Since the night they’d fought together in Mayfair, she’d cultivated a deep appreciation of his physical prowess and defensive acumen. But now that she knew Ian’s body intimately, she was desperate for him to unleash his strength and agility to throttle the thugs who held them.
Out of reflex, her fingers crept into her pockets.
“Hands up, Miss Rives,” the assailant ordered in accented English as he turned the gun on her. “Wouldn’t want you reaching for those pretty knives of yours.”
Beside her, Ian remained ethereally still. Diana hoped he was bracing for an attack. Then she feared what would happen to him if he went off too quickly and she didn’t have time to cover him.
The leader cocked the trigger of his gun. “I believe I asked you toraise your hands.”
Ian gave a feral hiss.