Her stepfather stepped closer, knife drawn. “What the hell is that?”
“Marriage contract.” Gavin rose to his feet. He held the papers out to Neal, who snatched them immediately.
Evangeline blinked up at Gavin. “When did you have time to draft a marriage contract?”
“I didn’t,” he confessed. “This contract was supposed to be for Nancy and Teasdale. Heatherbrook was making copies of it that night in my office. I brought pen and ink in the carriage and changed a few details. Like the bride. And the groom. It’ll serve as intent until I can have my solicitor draw up another. By tomorrow, at the very latest.”
“Assuming I sign,” Neal interrupted. His face twisted in distaste. “Why would I?”
“Money,” Gavin answered simply. “I have plenty. If you keep her here, you’ll see none of it. So name your price.”
“You’d pay for her?” Neal sneered, but his eyes lit with greed. “Like a whore?”
Although his jaw tensed, Gavin lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I’d give her my life. What’s money? Sign.”
“Hmmm.” Neal cast Evangeline an appraising look. “If I keep her, I can use her as a witch and make far more money than whatever you’re offering.”
“I am not your plaything.” Evangeline picked up the pistol Gavin had placed at her feet and aimed it at her stepfather. She would never hurt another human being…but Neal Pemberton hardly counted.
Eyebrows raised, Neal glanced from Evangeline to Gavin, then back to Evangeline. “Put the gun down.”
She kept it trained on her stepfather’s chest.
“See here,” he said, backing up a step. “I can’t sign if I’m dead. I won’t sign either copy until it says exactly how much money I have coming. Ten thousand pounds?”
“Done.” Gavin gestured toward the papers.
“I meant fifteen,” Neal said quickly.
Gavin inclined his head. “Get your ink and I’ll sign.”
Neal returned with a traveling desk in seconds, dipped his pen, scratched a few lines on both sheets. “There. It says you owe me twenty thousand pounds, payable at the time of betrothal. Nonrefundable.”
Evangeline’s stomach dropped and the pistol wavered in her sweat-damp palms. Twenty thousand pounds? Did anyone have that kind of money?
“So be it.” Gavin’s tone was bored. “Did you sign?”
Neal did so with a flourish, re-inked his pen, held it out for Gavin.
When both documents had been signed, Gavin left one on the desktop and returned the other to his pocket. He turned toward Evangeline and held out his hand.
“Come, my love. Let’s go home.”
“Wrong.” Neal shook his head. “She’s not going anywhere.”
Gavin’s hands fisted. “You just signed—”
“A marriage contract. She’s still mine until the wedding.”
“Over my dead body.” Gavin scooped Evangeline into his arms and headed for the door. She laced her arms around his neck, careful not to let the pistol fall from her trembling fingers. She stared over Gavin’s shoulder at her stepfather’s twisted expression. Terror strangled her heart.
Neal slid a poker from the stand next to the fireplace. “As you said. ‘So be it.’ I’ll get my money either way.”
“No!” Evangeline cried. Gavin ignored both of them and hurried through the doorway. She beat against his shoulders. “Gavin! He has a poker!”
Gavin strode faster.
Evangeline held tight with one hand and used the other to aim the pistol at her stepfather’s arm. Neal leaped toward them, slashing down toward Gavin’s head. Evangeline squeezed the trigger.
The bullet burst into her stepfather’s chest, sending a tide of crimson pulsing across his waistcoat.
He dropped to his knees. The poker slipped from his fingers. He fell forward and didn’t move.
Gavin spun around, his heart thudding against Evangeline’s. She tightened her hold around him, buried her face in his neck.
The pistol fell from her fingers and clattered to the floor.
“Is he dead?” she mumbled into Gavin’s collar. He held her tighter, kissed the top of her head. She was safe.
“I’ll make sure.” He set her down, squeezed her hand. She hugged her arms around her chest and forced herself to breathe. He knelt next to the body for a long moment before glancing up. “Yes.”
“I didn’t mean to kill him,” she whispered. “But I’m not sorry he’s dead.”
“I know.” Gavin gathered her in his arms, hugged her, stroked her hair. “It was an accident. You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”
“Forever?”
“Forever.”
As she traded her village for Blackberry Manor once again, instead of running away, this time Evangeline was finally going home.
Epilogue
A breeze rifled Gavin’s hair as he peeked around the canvas.
“Quit hitting your sister, Rebecca,” he called from behind his easel.
Evangeline considered switching places with Rachel in order to break up the twins’ row before she remembered Gavin had already begun painting them standing in the previous order. Oh, well. He’d figure it out. She held hands with the twins to keep them from fighting, and exchanged a grin with their mother.
Having Rose and her daughters come to live with them at Blackberry Manor had been the best wedding present Evangeline could’ve asked for. A family. At last.
“Beautiful day, wouldn’t you say?” Rose commented, tilting her face to the sun.
Evangeline nodded. “Absolutely.”
Gavin had been right about Blackberry Manor in springtime. The field at their back was alive with thick green hedgerows, delicate white flowers, and the most heavenly scent in the air. Beautiful as it was, Evangeline could hardly wait for the blackberries to bud. It would be her first time picking the delectable fruit. She smiled at the thought of Rose’s little girls racing between the hedgerows, hands sticky with blackberry juice.
“Everybody else chose pall-mall and kite-flying for their birthdays,” Jane groused for at least the hundredth time that afternoon, “and Uncle Lioncroft picks portraiture. We’d be done by now if he would’ve just painted a miniature like he did for the locket he gave me on my birthday.”
“You were just one person,” Nancy reminded her patiently. “We’re six. And this portrait’s to adorn a wall in Uncle Lioncroft’s library, not dangle from his neck.”
“We’ll fly kites afterward,” Evangeline promised. “You can have first pick of the colors.”
When the girls immediately began arguing over who would fly which kite, Rose cupped a hand over her mouth and turned to Evangeline.
“Any word yet?” she murmured.
Evangeline shook her head. “Benedict’s letter said he was sure the baby’s birth was imminent, and he still plans to raise the child as his own when Francine goes to Newgate. Gavin says Benedict’s always wanted a child.”
“And you?” Rose prompted, arching a brow. “Are you still nervous about motherhood?”
“Gavin isn’t,” Evangeline admitted, touching a hand to her belly. “He says if we have a daughter with visions, we’ll be sure to give her as many siblings as she wants so she’ll never be lonely.”
“And if your daughter doesn’t have visions?”
Evangeline grinned. “She’s stuck with plenty of siblings either way. Gavin promised.”
The twins began poking each other. Nancy rolled her eyes and let them fight. Jane started complaining again about kite-flying and pall-mall.
Rose shook her head. “How could any child be lonely with so many well-behaved cousins to play with?”
“No pugilism in the family portrait,” Gavin shouted, poking his head from behind his easel. “What has you ladies so excited?”
“We’re talking about families,” Evangeline called back. “And having one of our own.”
Gavin’s eyes crinkled. He tossed his paintbrush over his shoulder, strode into the middle of t
he melee, and scooped Evangeline up into his arms.
“I think,” he murmured into her hair, “I just changed my mind about what I want for my birthday.”
She threw her arms around his neck and squeezed.
“Splendid,” she whispered back. “That’s exactly the present I wanted to give you.”
THE END
What will happen when Susan’s mother banishes her to a towering estate high atop a remote cliff?
Find out in Too Sinful to Deny, the next Gothic Love Story!
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In order, the Gothic Love Stories are:
Too Wicked to Kiss
Too Sinful to Deny
Too Tempting to Resist
Too Wanton to Wed
* * *
In order, the 12 Dukes of Christmas:
Once Upon a Duke
Kiss of a Duke
Wish Upon a Duke
Never Say Duke
Dukes, Actually
The Duke’s Bride
The Duke’s Embrace
The Duke’s Desire
Dawn With a Duke
One Night With a Duke
Ten Days With a Duke
Forever Your Duke
* * *
In order, the Rogues to Riches books are:
Lord of Chance
Lord of Pleasure
Lord of Night
Lord of Temptation
Lord of Secrets
Lord of Vice
* * *
In order, the Dukes of War books are:
The Viscount's Tempting Minx (FREE!)
The Earl’s Defiant Wallflower
The Captain’s Bluestocking Mistress
The Major’s Faux Fiancée
The Brigadier’s Runaway Bride
The Pirate's Tempting Stowaway
The Duke's Accidental Wife
* * *
In order, the Magic & Mayhem books are:
Kissed by Magic
Must Love Magic
Smitten by Magic
* * *
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Acknowledgments
As always, I could not have written this book without the invaluable support of my critique partners. Huge thanks go out to Darcy Burke, Emma Locke, and Erica Monroe. You are the best!
Lastly, I want to thank my Historical Romance Book Club and my fabulous street team. Your enthusiasm makes the romance happen.
Thank you so much!
About the Author
Erica Ridley is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of paranormal romantic comedies and historical romance novels.
In the 12 Dukes of Christmas series, enjoy witty, heartwarming Regency romps nestled in a picturesque snow-covered village. After all, nothing heats up a winter night quite like finding oneself in the arms of a duke!
Her two most popular series, the Dukes of War and Rogues to Riches, feature roguish peers and dashing war heroes who find love amongst the splendor and madness of Regency England.
When not reading or writing romances, Erica can be found riding camels in Africa, zip-lining through rainforests in Central America, or getting hopelessly lost in the middle of Budapest.
* * *
Let’s be friends! Find Erica on:
www.EricaRidley.com
Too Wicked to Kiss: Gothic Love Stories #1 Page 35