Page 19 of A Whiskey River Princess

The younger man cleared his throat.

“Wewere wondering,” the man with the gold tooth continued, “if you had seen her.”

Dirk pretended to think hard. From the look of the men, there was no way he would ever think of giving her over to them. But what would they want with her? Obviously, she was refined, and they… weren’t.

“No, I’m sorry, but I haven’t seen the girl,” Dirk replied, donning his best Poker face. “So sorry you lost her, but I’m sure she’ll turn up.” He started to close the door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me—”

But the younger man put his foot in the door, preventing Dirk from closing it. “If you see her, please tell her we’re looking for her. We miss her so.” He tried to sound sincere, but there was a threat in his voice.

Dirk smiled. “Of course.” As he glanced over the men, he noticed all three were armed. His rifle and revolvers were in the house, but if they made a move, he was sure he could take them. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, gentlemen.” He closed the door before they could say another word.

Dirk waited behind the door, listening to see if they walked away. They mumbled something incoherent to each other, and a moment later, the sound of their boots going down the icy stairs resonated up to him and then slowly faded away.

Dirk headed toward the kitchen to look for Gabriella, hoping she hadn’t been scared off by those men, and wondering who they were to her.

Chapter 5

Gabriella

Gabriella held her breath, waiting in the kitchen as Dirk had asked. She had hoped it was one of Dirk’s friends and not the men who had kidnapped her, but when he opened the door, her worst fears had come true—they had found her.

As quietly as she could, Gabriella looked around for anything she could use as a weapon. She finally settled on a huge butcher knife. After pulling it from the wooden block, she held it tightly with both hands as she prayed.

Please, don’t let them find me. Please, don’t let anything happen to Dirk….

When Dirk closed the door without incident, she whispered a silentthank you.

“Gabriella?” Dirk asked quietly as he headed into the living room. “Gabriella?” When he walked around the corner, she ran to him and wrapped her arms around him. “Here, you’d better let me have that.” He carefully took the butcher knife from her hand, laid it on the counter, and then wrapped his big, burly arms around her and pulled her to his chest.

“Thank God you’re okay,” she breathed as she hugged him tightly to her.

“Gabriella, you’re shaking.”

For reasons she didn’t know, she felt safe in Dirk’s arms, as if nothing could harm her, as if everything would be all right.“I’m fine.” Gabriella suddenly realized what she was doing and let him go, dabbing at her eyes.

He released her but kept his hands on her shoulders. “Who were those men, Gabriella?”

She just shook her head, unable to speak, unwilling to tell him. What happened if he found out who she was and tried to hold her for ransom himself? Although she sensed he would never do that, she just couldn’t take the chance. Over the last few days, she had been through too much.

“Why don’t you relax, and eat lunch? The sandwiches will—” Gabriella instructed, still dabbing at her eyes.

Dirk shook his head as he took her hand, looking into her eyes. “Gabriella, I know we just met, but you can tell me anything. I won’t judge you, and I will never harm you.”

She nodded, tempted to tell him. No, her best bet was to go back to the train station in Laramie and try to make it back to New York without further incident. She knew that in Monaco, she would be expected to marry someone she didn’t know for the good of the monarchy, but she would deal with that when the time came.

“Thank you,” she replied.

Dirk waited and didn’t leave her side, waiting for her to tell him, but she just couldn’t. Not now. But when she looked into his eyes, he was sincere. She could probably tell him, but she wasn’t ready… not yet.

When she didn’t answer, he led her to the table where the sandwiches still sat. “Let’s eat these good sandwiches before they go to waste.”

Gabriella looked at the food and admitted that they didn’t look that appetizing. She sat down, defeated. “I’m sorry, Dirk. I tried my best, but these sandwiches—”

“Look fabulous,” he cut her off, then took a bite of a sandwich. Then his face turned red as he gasped. He quickly roseto his feet, poured a glass of water, and downed the whole thing in an instant.

Gabriella couldn’t help but laugh. “You were saying?”

He suppressed a smile as his color started to return. “Maybe you used a bit too much mustard,” he gasped, and then poured another glass of water. “And was that pepper I tasted?”

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