The Cracksman's Kiss (12 page)

Cohen nodded with a cheeky grin. “That she is.”

The big man gave her a wide smile. “Well, then, it is pleased I be to meet ye, my lady.” He gave her an elegant bow for someone so large.

“Thank you, Mist
er Forton.” Cassie dipped her head, shy in his presence.

“See, you do so frighten the ladies.” Cohen chuckled, giving Kassie
a wink. “Do not worry, he may be big but like most Scotsmen his appearance is the only thing scary about him.”

Forton tipped his head back, his booming guffaws reverberating off the walls. When he
regained his composure he favored her with a sheepish grin. “Ach, ‘tis true, my lady. A fox has more bite than I.”

Cohen showed Kassie to the settee, settling in the chair beside it as Forton lowered his bulk
into the other chair. The Scotsman studied at her with a curious look. “How is it ye have come to be on Ashton’s ship, Lady Everton?”

“Please, call me Kassie. Cohen stole me from my husband’s house two nights ago.”

The look on Forton’s face said it all. His expression went from incredulous to gleeful within a span of a few brief seconds. “Ye scoundrel, not enough thrills so ye decide to steal the lecher’s wife, too?”

Cohen grinned. “In my
defense Forton, I had to rescue my son.”

Forton looked even more surprised. “Ye have a son?”

As if on cue, Lucca began to wail from the bedchamber. Cohen stayed Kassie with a hand on her shoulder as she started to get up. “I will get him.”

She nodded as he rose and crossed to the door.

He disappeared inside for a moment and reappeared with Lucca tucked in the crook of his arm. He stopped in front of the Scotsman. “May I present my son, Lucca.”

Forton took the small bundle in his large hands and rocked
the baby with a gentleness any mother would envy. “Ach, look at the wee laddie, the image of his sire, I’d say. There be no doubt he is yers Ashton, for the eyes do not deceive, eh?”

“I thought the same the first time I looked upon him.” He
took the baby when he began to fuss and handed him to Kassie. “I will tell you the whole story whilst Kassie feeds him in the other room. I will send one of Rennie’s men to the inn to bring back some afternoon tea.”

The Scotsman stood as she rose to her feet. “Until later, Lady
Kassie,” he said with a slight bow.

Kassie hurried to the bedchamber to atte
nd to Lucca’s needs in private.

Chapter
Fifteen

Forton pushed back his chair and dropped his napkin on th
e table. A sailor, serving as a footman for dinner, refilled his wineglass without having been asked. The Scotsman lifted the glass and regarded Kassie and Cohen over the rim. “So, tell me, Ashton, what are yer plans?”

Cohen pushed back his own chair and stood. He crossed to
the fire and sat in one of the chairs. “As soon as the ice breaks up I will be sailing to France. I am taking Kassie and Lucca home to meet my family.”

“Surely ye have realized Everton will eventually find ye and come for his wife, what then?”

Forton followed and sat in the chair opposite him.

Kassie sat on the settee. Forton asked the question she wond
ered about herself, and she was keen to hear Cohen’s solution.

“I was thinking about taking Kassie and Lucca on the proposed dig in Spain.”

“How long do ye think ye can run before Everton corners ye?” Forton shook his head.

“A year is long enough for Everton to give up and have her legally declared dead.”

She blanched at the admission.
Declared dead? Then what?

Forton leaned forward. “Come now, ye and I both kno
w Everton isna’ going to give up something of his without a fight. If it takes the rest of his life he will hunt ye down.”

For the first time, Kassie saw Cohen look defeated. He hung his head. “He will have to kill
me before I let him have my son, and I will never let him take Kassie from her child.”

It was hopeless.
Kassie’s heart sank. The earl would find them and there was no doubt Cohen would give his life to keep Lucca and her from him.

Forton settled back in his chair and pondered his friend with a tight-lipped expression.

“Then we best come up with a plan, eh?”

Cohen shook his head. “I do not want to get you involved. I
t was my folly that got us into this mess.”

“Folly is putting it mildly, my friend, but donna
’ count me out. I, too, have a score to settle with that whore-son Everton. Makes no matter to me who reckons with him or how it is done as long as he is put in his place, preferably in his grave.”

At Kassie’s gasp, both men looked at her.

“Perhaps you should explain to Kassie just what kind of monster Everton is,” Cohen said with a hard look in his eye.

Forton clenched his jaw. “The bastard blew up a dig, killin’
my father, sister, and a dozen workers. He doesn’t care who he hurts, long as he gets the prize. His last wife was the cousin of a mutual friend. He tormented the woman with her supposed inability to get with child until she finally killed herself, when it is he who is unable to sire a child, ye see.”

Kassie put the back of her hand to her mouth
to smother her gasp of horror. The man whose love she sought to gain all those months was, in truth, a monster. Did her father have any idea who he pledged her hand to? No, she refused to believe her father would have sentenced her to a life of misery if he knew of the earl’s baser qualities.

Cohen leaned back in his chair, his gaze locked on the coals
flickering in the brazier. “So, what do you think we should do?”

The baby awoke in the bedchamber and whimpered. Kassie got up and hurried to him.

“We find a way to stop the bastard,” Forton said as she closed the door.

A shiver ran down her spine.
Blood is going to be shed because of my sinful action. God will
surely condemn me to an eternity in hell now.

She was just finished changing Lucca when Cohen
poked his head around the door. “Kassie, Forton and I have a few errands to run. Is there anything you need me to get for you?”

“I am almost out of swaddling for Lucca.”

Cohen nodded.

“Shall I make dinner for us tonight?”

He smiled. “Would it be too terribly inconvenient if Forton were to stay the night?”

She shrugged. “If he does not mind simple fare it would no
t be a problem. Did you get all the supplies on the list?”

“They were delivered a few minutes ago. I had Alexander, o
ne of Rennie’s men, put them in the galley.”

Kassie nodded and set Lucca back in his basket.

“If you are worried about being left here alone, I will stay.”

“I will be fine. It was silly of me to be afraid before.” Kassie smiled her thanks.

He crossed the room and took her hand in his. “No, it was not. I promise you Rennie and his men will do everything in their power to protect you. You are safe here, Everton has no power over this ship or my crew as they belong to France.”

Kassie smiled at him hard-pressed to conceal her doubt
. “I thought the Emperor gave you this ship?”

“He did, but in the end I serve the Emperor. The artifacts I ste
al from Everton, and those like him, I turn over to the Emperor at his command.”

She stared at him wide eyed. “Do you mean to say you steal for the Emperor?”

He shrugged. “I guess you could say that. It is my job to keep an eye on Everton. Anything he takes from another country through ill means I steal back. The Emperor returns the artifacts to their country of origin, for a price of course. In the end they get their artifacts back, and France gets an ally.”

She furrowed her brow, wondering why France needed an a
lly. Before she could voice her thoughts, Cohen placed a kiss on the palm of her hand. A familiar tingle started where his lips touched and then traveled up her arm, making her head spin. He straightened and was out the door before she came to her senses. She picked up Lucca’s basket and headed for the galley. When she arrived at the kitchen she found Alexander there, unpacking crates of provisions.

“Mademoiselle,
les sacs d’epicerie sont ici
. Magnifique, oui?” He smiled at her.

Kassie smiled back and set Lucca’s basket down on the large
dining table. “Wonderful. I do not suppose you understand English?”

He laughed, displaying a dazzling set of straight white teet
h. “Oui, Mademoiselle. I speak, ah, some English, oui.”

“Good. Perhaps you can teach me some French, and I will help you with your English.”
With a giggle, she picked up a loaf of fresh bread and held it up. “Bread.”

He nodded. “Oui, pain.” He smiled. “Bread.”

She grinned. “Pain.” She held up the next items. “Eggs, cheese, and potatoes.”

He nodded again, his eyes twinkling.
“
Oeufs, fromage, pomme de terre
. Ah, eggz, cheez, potatoz,” he repeated with a triumphant grin.

“Yes. Oui!” She smiled.

They spent the afternoon teaching each other and cooking. For the first time since her marriage to the earl, Kassie began to relax and enjoy herself. Before long the galley was put to rights and the evening meal made.

Kassie looked up at Cohen’s laugh. He leaned on the door frame, his eyes dan
cing with mirth. She lifted an enquiring eyebrow. “What?”

He pointed.
“You have a little flour there.”

She brushed her cheek.

The corners of his mouth curled. “You missed it.” He straightened and crossed to where she stood. When she looked up he wiped the offending smear away.

Swallowing, she steeled herself as his fingers stroked th
e skin along her jaw. Her hands began to tremble so bad she wrapped them together in her apron to keep him from seeing.

His eyes darkened and
then his gaze shifted to her lips. “I think you missed some here, too,” he murmured, just before he dipped his head and touched his lips to hers.

Her heart flip-flopped as his lips caressed hers in a s
weet symphony of sensation. She melted into him with a sigh. Then his lips were no longer there. She opened her eyes and blinked up at him in dazed confusion as he stepped back.

His eyes smoldered with passion and humor. He looked over her head. “Bonjour, Alex.”

Kassie wiped her hands on her apron and busied herself setting the table. What would the sailor think of her wanton behavior? She listened to the two men converse in French, the elegant words rolling off their tongues like a wren’s lilting song.

“Ah, there ye are.”

Kassie looked up as the Scotsman strolled in.

“I hope ye donna’ mind me staying for dinner, lass.”

“It is no problem, Mr. Forton. I would be glad of the company.” She smiled, genuinely pleased he was staying.

He gave her a humble grin, pulled out a chair, and lowered his considerable bulk into it.

“Please lass, call me Auggie. I was Auggie long before I was a mister.”

Kassie could not help but like the man. “Then you must call me
, Kassie.” She turned away from the table and stopped short as Cohen stepped in front of her. He smiled and twirled his finger around in a circle. She lifted a brow, puzzled, until he spun her around to untie the apron at her waist.

“Sit.” He tossed the apron on top of the counter. “Alex can serve the meal.”

She slid into the chair he pulled out for her. He was always a gentleman. Alex served the hearty chicken stew and fresh baked biscuits. Both men dug in with relish. “I am sorry it is not the fanciest of fares, I am used to preparing aught but simple meals.” Kassie picked up her spoon.

Cohen looked up from his second spoonful. “It is a fine meal, K
assie. If you are not careful I may have to fire my own cook.”

The Scotsman nodded in agreement, polishing off his first biscuit, and reaching for a second.
“Aye lass, a fine meal ye have prepared for sure.”

Kassie smiled, assured their compliments were sincere and
turned her attention to her own food.

“Auggie and I have been talking.”

She paused, the spoon part way to her lips and regarded Cohen.

He smiled. “We thought it would be best if we passed you off as my wife for the time being.
You would be safer aboard the ship if the men believe you are married to me. It would preserve your reputation as well. We have to decide what to do. We spotted a couple of suspicious characters in town today. This means Everton may have already figured out we are here. We have to move, either by carriage or we can chance the sea. The weather has been warming, and I think, if we hug the shore, most of the ice flow should be melted by the time we reach the channel. It will be dangerous this early in the year, but I believe it is our best chance.”

Her mind froze, and she dropped the spoon to the table with a clatter.
My husband has found
us. Will he kill us as Cohen fears?

“Kassie?”

She blinked, pushing her thoughts back into the tumultuous recesses of her mind. Her eyes focused on Cohen. “I am sorry. You were saying?”

He leaned forward and gripped her hand in his. “I want to kn
ow what you want to do. I think we should sail. It would be more comfortable for you and Lucca, but it is your choice.”

She stared at his hand for a moment, warm, solid, and secure.
Is he really asking me? No
one ever asked me what I wanted before. Perhaps if my parents asked me if I wanted to marry
the earl, none of this would have ever happened.
For the first time in her life she reveled in the thrill of making her own decision. She looked up. “I think we should sail.”

Cohen nodded
with grim satisfaction. “All right. I will have Rennie round up the men tonight, and we will weigh anchor at first tide.” Lucca began to fuss in his basket by the door. “Go and look after our son. I will have Alex clean up here. You must be tired from putting the galley to rights. Take my bed, and do not wait up, Forton and I have things to do to ready for the journey.”

Kassie nodded, scooping up the baby, and heading for the cabin.