Page 30 of A Heart Worth Loving

“Mister Harris,” Ewan murmured.

Kyla started to correct him, then realized that doing so would give away the fact her father was home. Her heart pounded.

“I must admit, you completely fooled me when we spoke this afternoon,” Mister Laurent said.

Anger whipped through her. “Indeed?” she said.

“Oh, not you. Lord Kilbreck.”

Kyla snapped her head in Ewan’s direction to see if he was watching her, then remembered he couldn’t read her expression in the dark.

“I actually believed you knew nothing of the smuggling ring,” Mister Laurent said.

“He was telling the truth.” Kyla eased from the table. “My father runs the smuggling ring.”

“I guessed as much,” he said.

Ewan shifted.

“Tut, tut, my lord,” he said. “I cannot see well in the dark, but I can see well enough to hit you with a bullet. I have a pistol aimed at you. You wouldn’t want me to miss and hit the lady.”

Tension radiated off Ewan and Kyla feared he would do something foolish—like charge Mister Laurent.

“I have told you, Lord Kilbreck is not the guilty party,” Kyla snapped. “He simply had the misfortune to purchase the property my father was using to store his goods.”

“It sounded to me as if he knew,” Mister Laurent replied.

“Do you make a habit of listening in on others’ private moments?” Ewan asked.

Kyla didn’t wait for an answer. “Lord Kilbreck guessed my father’s identity just as you did, you fool. Now put that pistol away and have the viscount call the constable.”

He gave a low laugh. “I do not want the constable. I want your father.”

“Well, he isn’t here.”

“He will come once he learns I have you.”

Her head spun. Their lives were over. Margaret’s marriage, her father’s life…her life. What would her mother and Margaret do without her and her father to protect them?

Kyla started at sight of a figure swinging a leg through the window she’d entered Then she recognized the figure. Papa.

“What will you do, Mister Harris?” she asked in a clear voice. “Kill Lord Kilbreck and take me hostage?”

“Why not? Everyone will believe smugglers killed him.”

“I do not know where my father is or when he returns. As you can imagine, he is seldom home.”

“I am a patient man.”

Kyla stepped in front of Ewan. He grasped her arm.

“Move another muscle, Kilbreck, and I will shoot you both. Her father will come to me whether I have her alive or not.”

“I will not let you shoot him,” Kyla said.

Her father crept forward like a cat. Aye, he was a very good smuggler.

“I promise you, Miss Brodrick, I mean what I say,” Mister Laurent said. “The bullet will pass through you into his body.”