Charming a Spy (23 page)

Geoff forced his muscles to move. Fiery pain shot through his body with every flex. His chest burnt as he tried to gulp for air and inhaled only salt water. Breathing…moving…it was impossible. He had to try though, for Katherine. He forced his arms and legs to kick against the water. Eventually he hit the surface and gulped in air.

While he was thrown side to side by tumultuous waves trying to push him back under, he spotted Luke in the dinghy grabbing for the oars, swimming a distance away. He could make it. He could live. But where was Katherine? Still no sign of her on the surface.

Struggling to dive under the swells again, he opened his eyes to no avail. They might as well remain closed because there was nothing but inky blackness. A void. Nothing. She was gone. He’d lost Katherine, for good this time. He’d failed to save her. He might as well give up.

Just as Geoff stopped struggling against the water, he spotted a glimpse of something white.
Katherine’s dress
.

Lungs burning, craving air, he dove down even deeper as he ignored the pain and swum deeper after the floating white glimpse of hope. He saw Katherine’s shape, struggling, flailing wildly trying to swim. The weight of her skirts was pulling her deeper into the black oblivion.

Stamwell reached out and grabbed at her sinking body. He found her arm, locked onto it and then kicked as hard as he could to reach the surface. They were barely moving, weighed down by each other and her dress, but Geoff did not stop kicking. Eventually they reached the surface. They both gulped in huge breaths of air, refilling their lungs while thrashing around attempting to remain above water.

Luke rowed to their sides within moments. Geoff treaded against the waves until Luke reached down and grabbed his sister’s arms and hauled her into the dinghy. Then he pulled Geoff into the boat.

Geoff caught his breath. He’d done it. He’d saved Katherine’s life.

Gunfire from above immediately brought Geoff back to the task at hand. A bullet whizzed past and into the water less than two arms-lengths from the dinghy. They weren’t safe yet.

Geoff heard guns discharging from the other direction. “Pennington,” Geoff said. “He must have heard the gunshots and realized our plan to sneak off the ship undetected failed. Let’s get to safety.” Geoff grabbed one of the oars from Luke and together they rowed towards the cutter where Pennington and the other men were providing cover.

“Wait,” Katherine cried. “We have to get Rafe. We can’t let him die in the ocean.” Geoff looked around, saw where Rafe was splashing. He was barely keeping afloat as the large wakes from the cutter and ship sloshed him around. Bullets continued to whiz around their heads in both directions. It was dangerous, but Geoff took one look at Katherine’s face and knew there was no use fighting her on this. She was going to get her way, and he didn’t have time to argue.

Geoff nodded to Luke. They turned the boat around and rowed over to Rafe. Geoff picked him up by his shirtsleeves and hoisted him into the dinghy. As he slipped over the edge, Geoff noticed that Rafe was bleeding profusely from his shoulder. Not a priority at the moment.

He and Luke rowed as if they were trying to outrun the devil. It took them several minutes with bullets still flying overhead, but they made it to Pennington’s ship and got on board.

“Why are you bleeding? Did a stray bullet catch you under water?” Geoff asked Rafe when they were safely on the deck.

“That bitch cut me,” he said, pointing to Katherine.

“You what?” Geoff asked Katherine.

“When the pirates started attacking us, Rafe ran towards you. I thought he was going to kill you. So I stabbed him.”

“Where did you get a knife?”

“From my big brother,” she said, smiling at Luke.

“Good girl,” Luke said, putting his arm around her shoulder. Geoff was going to have to talk to Luke later about arming his sister with knives. For right now, he was in awe. She’d saved him too.

‡

H
ours later, Kat
sat safely in Stamwell’s drawing room, with a mug of hot tea in her hands and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She could hear the dull mumble of Geoff and Luke talking with the constable in the adjoining study, no doubt recounting the sordid and crazy tale leading them there. It had been the longest and most extraordinary day of Kat’s life for so many reasons.

First, Luke was alive and well. Sure, he could use a year’s worth of sunshine and cook’s meals, but he was mostly intact. After years of agony and not knowing, tonight she’d held him in her arms. Her brother. As soon as he was done with the constable, she didn’t plan to let him out of her sight ever again.

Second, Kat had almost lost her life multiple times. When Rafe forced her to their cabin alone and then when pirates fired bullets at them. And she had almost drowned in the ocean.

Lastly, Geoff saved her. He was always there to save her. He found her on the ship, protected her from the freighter crew and then saved her from drowning. All of that after he’d found and rescued Luke.

Honestly, Kat wasn’t sure how to feel. She was conflicted and certainly grateful to him for saving her life and finding her brother. Kat would never be able to thank him enough or to even put into words what he’d done for her.

But it wasn’t that simple. He’d lied and used her. The duke had tricked her into believing he wanted her and had never told her he was already looking for Luke. He let her believe he was only searching for her brother on her behalf and took his due in exchange. Geoff had taken her innocence under the guise of a lie. She couldn’t place all of the blame on Geoff though. From the moment, she concocted the ill-conceived bargain, she told Geoff their intimacies were for the purpose of getting information. She’d given him permission to use her as long as he helped her find Luke. In the end, that’s exactly what he did.

The real problem was she’d gone and fallen in love with Geoff. Even though it was based on a lie, she could never undo her feelings for Geoff.

It didn’t matter though. After today, they would probably never speak again. He would have no purpose for her, now that his mission was complete. He would likely go on to the next assignment and his next conquest. It was time for Kat too. She would move into the next phase of her life, whatever that was.

With Luke home, Kat and Aunt Ellie could go back to being a family. Nothing else should matter because Luke was safe. So what if her heart had been broken. Humiliated. Ruined. All that mattered was Luke was home.

The door opened and Luke and Geoff joined her in the study. Kat put off her melancholy musings and forced a smile, for her brother’s sake.

“You ready to go home, little sister?” Luke asked, extending his hand. “I can’t wait to see the look on Aunt Ellie’s face when I walk in beside you.”

“Nothing would please me more,” Kat said. She rose and took a few steps to follow Luke to the front entrance. Geoff interrupted.

“Dubois, I know you’re in a hurry to get home and no man deserves to more than you. But do you think I could impose on you for a few minutes longer while I speak with your sister?”

“For the man who saved my life? Of course,” Luke said. Awkwardly standing there for what seemed an eternity, Geoff cleared his throat.

“Oh, you meant alone,” Luke said. He grinned at Kat, asking with his eyes if it was okay. She nodded in silence.

“Right, right, of course. Kat, I’ll be just outside this door,” Luke said, pulling the study door behind him.

“Katherine, are you okay?”

“Yes,” she said, knowing he was asking about tonight and not her broken heart. “I’m alive and unharmed,” she said. “Thank you… for rescuing me from Rafe and for saving my life. And for Luke. Thank you.”

“I wanted to tell you. All along Kat, I swear. I wanted to tell you that I suspected Rafe and was on your side, but I couldn’t. Not until I was sure. The success of the mission depended on it.”

It was all about a blasted mission. “Sure,” Kat said, hoping this interview could be over.

“Katherine, I did what I had to do.”

“I was what you had to do?” Kat couldn’t help herself from firing back.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” he said.

“No, don’t apologize, Geoff,” she said, wishing she could take back her gut reaction. “It was my fault too. I was the one who made that stupid proposition in the first place. You simply went along with it.”

“I did at first. It was wrong of me. I shouldn’t have, but dammit, do you know how badly I wanted you? From the moment you were crawling around on your knees when you broke into the government offices, I knew I had to have you.”

“I understand,” Kat said. It was all about desire. Sex. He wanted, she offered, he took. She couldn’t blame him.

“No, you don’t understand. It changed. It started out that way. I was hungry for you and told myself I was just doing my job. Hell, I even planned to seduce you before I even met you because I thought you had the information I needed. But somewhere along the line, I fell in love with you.”

“Excuse me?” Kat asked, not trusting her ears. Geoff stepped closer and took both of her arms in his hands.

“Katherine Dubois, I love you. I don’t know when I realized it or why I was too stupid not to tell you before, but when I heard you were kidnapped, I wanted to die. I couldn’t live one more moment if I lost you.”

“How do I trust you?” Kat asked. “How do I know you’re not lying to me now for some new mission?”

“No more missions. No more lies. As of today, I’m retiring from espionage. My only mission for the rest of my life is to make you happy. I adore you with my whole being and I don’t ever want to worry about losing you again. Marry me, Katherine.”

Kat broke into tears. Huge sobs wracked her entire body. Two years of doubt, loneliness, all these months of propositions and lies hit all at once and she couldn’t be brave for one more second. She finally let go and cried the tears she never shed, for her brother and her broken heart. Geoff stared at her, no idea what to say.

The door swung open and Luke crashed into the room. “What did you do to her, Stamwell? I don’t care that you saved my life, I will kill you if you hurt her,” Luke yelled.

“No, Luke, it’s okay. We’re getting married,” Kat said.

“We are?” Geoff said. “Oh, thank God!” He held her tight to his chest in an enormous hug. Luke joined and wrapped his arms around both of them, laughing. Everything was finally exactly as it should be.

‡

K
at lay with
her head on Geoff’s lap on a lounging sofa in front of the fire, still in her wedding gown, more blissfully at peace than she ever thought she could be. She looked at her husband, which still seemed unreal, and smiled.

“You look happy, my love,” he said.

“Happy is an understatement for how I feel. I am over the moon.”

“And why is that, my bride?” he asked.

“Because today I walked down the aisle with my brother by my side so I could marry the man of my dreams. It was everything I wanted.”

“And everything I wanted too,” Geoff said. They sat silently for a few moments, enjoying the perfectness of it all.

“I have a proposition to make,” Kat said after some time.

“A proposition?” He raised one eyebrow. “I believe that’s what got us into this whole mess in the first place.”

She sat straight up. “This whole mess. Are you calling finding the woman you want to spend the rest of your life with a whole mess?”

“Stand down soldier,” he said, pulling her back onto his lap. “You know I was teasing. You’re so fiery.”

“You like me that way,” she said, smiling.

“I do indeed. Now, what type of proposal are you offering this time, you little minx?”

“I need a lifetime of your undying love and devotion.”

“No deal,” he answered.

“What,” she protested. “You can’t say no.”

“Of course I can. Even though I already agreed to that once today in front of a church full of people, right now I’m taking it back.”

“You cur. Don’t you even want to know what I’ll give you in exchange?”