Page 54 of An Inconvenient Duke

She turned to glance over her shoulder—

Her wrist slipped out of his grasp, and she tripped. She fell forward. Her hands slammed against the compacted dirt and gravel. She felt the rip of her flesh as a piece of glass sliced into her palm, and a pained cry rose from her throat.

But then Marcus was beside her, picking her up in his arms and running with her through the crowds.

Her arms tightened around his neck, and she clung to him, burying her face against his neck as he carried her through the gates. All of her went numb with fear and fresh grief, but her hold on him never eased, not even when he placed her inside his carriage and slammed the door closed.

“Drive!” He pounded against the side of the compartment with his fist. “To the armory—go!”

When the coach jerked to a start, he pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. He grabbed his great coat from the opposite bench and placed it over her shoulders to keep her warm, then cradled her close.

She shook against him, unable to stop the shudders wracking her body, unable to ease the clenching of her arms around his neck. Fear and betrayal overwhelmed her, and she could do nothing more than cling to him.

“It’s all right. You’re safe now.” He lowered his mouth against her hair and assured her, “It’s all over.”

She squeezed shut her eyes. Oh, he was so very wrong! The worst was only beginning.

When they finally came to a stop, the city around them was dark and unfamiliar. Marcus helped her to the ground, her hand secure in his.

Ordering the driver to go home to Charlton Place, he grabbed a carriage lantern from one of the tigers, then pulled her toward a metal door in the outer brick wall surrounding the armory. It clanged so loudly when he shut it behind them that she startled, but he didn’t stop, pulling her across the small courtyard to the armory building itself and then inside its thick walls, where the darkness was so intense that she couldn’t see beyond the small circle of lantern light.

Silence, darkness…safety.

Letting go of his hand, she staggered forward a few feet, then collapsed onto her knees on the stone floor.

“Danielle!”

He knelt beside her and pulled her into his arms. He held her tightly against him as the sobs finally tore from her.

“You’re safe.” His hands stroked her back, but she couldn’t stop the emotions that poured from her. “They didn’t follow us. They can’t get inside—”

“No.” Her fingertips dug into his shoulders as she clung to him, desperate for an anchor as the world tumbled away beneath her. “No…”

“Are you hurt?” He released his hold on her to cup her face in his hands.

So much concern gripped his face that she squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t bear it! Her chest felt like a gaping wound had been ripped into her, and every inch of her body flashed between punishing pain and blessed numbness.

“Beatrice, the earl…” she choked out in a rasp. Then the name that sliced through her like a knife—“Elise.”

Marcus rocked her in his arms. “We know now—we have answers.” His whisper emerged as a solemn promise. “It’s going to be all right. We’ll have justice for her after all.”

Dani vehemently shook her head. Oh, he didn’t understand! The lies, the betrayal—so brutal that she shook from it.

She tried to push him away, but he refused to loosen his hold around her, even as they continued to sit there in the silence, surrounded by darkness so thick that she couldn’t see the room around them. Only darkness, coldness, hardness…betrayal.

“They lied! All of them… They lied to me, nothing but lies and deception…” Dear God, she felt like such a fool! “And I trusted them, all of them, with so much…with so many secrets…with my life…”With my heart.

A sob caught in her throat as another tear that she couldn’t stop fell down her cheek.

“You didn’t know.” He soothed his hands down her back. “You can’t blame yourself.”

She shook her head and pulled back just far enough to look into his face. Her hands tangled desperately in his waistcoat, and she could feel the pounding of his pulse beneath her fingers. So strong and certain… Dear God, she wished she could have that same surety and strength! She wanted to find a way to crawl beneath his skin, claim it, and never let go.

“Itrustedthem.” Especially Elise.A woman whom she’d thought had been closer to her than a real sister—ashes! The pain of mistrust was blinding. All she’d risked during these past few years, all she’d worked so hard to accomplish, had only led to lies and betrayal. “How do I ever trust again?” She clenched and released her fists against his chest in frustration. “How can I ever believe in anyone again?”

“Believe in me.” He touched his lips to hers, and the bittersweetness of that kiss ached on her lips. “You can believe inme, Danielle.”

A ragged sigh tore from her, and she wilted against him.