Page 81 of Her Wicked Highwayman
Diana crouched beside Rafe, brushing her fingertips over his face. A lump formed in her throat when she saw her mother’s pearl necklace wrapped around his wrist. He truly was both her beloved Tyburn and her darling Rafe. He waseverythingto her. She couldn’t lose him now.
“Rafe, fight for me—forus,” she said, tears falling now, blinding her to all but his face. His eyes finally won the struggle, and they remained open as he looked up at her.
“Di . . . ,” he rasped. “You came back . . .” He choked on the words, a shocked look in his eyes.
She could scarcely breathe. “I’ll always come back for you.”
His lips twitched, but he didn’t have the strength to smile. “Father told me... upend the board... break the rules...” His eyes drifted to his brother’s face. “Ash?” he whispered in shock.
“I’m here.” Ashton’s usually controlled voice broke as he held Rafe’s face in his palm. “I’m here, little brother.”
“Ash . . . No . . . He’ll kill you . . .” Rafe’s body shuddered. “Can’t let you face him.”
“Haven’t you learned by now that I would doanythingfor you, you fool?” Ashton asked. Diana put a fist to her mouth to hold back a sob.
“My fault . . . Father . . .” Rafe’s gaze began to drift into the distance.
“No, it wasn’t!” Diana said, then turned to Ashton. “What happened to your father wasn’t his fault, Lord Lennox. Caddington met Rafe and wanted your father to give him over for his debts. Caddington wanted to hurt Rafe as he’d done to many young men in his care. Your father saw the danger he posed to Rafe, so he tried to send him home. What happened to your father, that coach hitting him—it wasn’t Rafe’s fault. You can’t blame him.”
“Is that the truth?” Ashton asked her, his blue eyes swirling with storms. “Caddington wanted my father to give Rafe over?”
“Yes,” Diana said. “Even your mother doesn’t know, but Rafe has carried that guilt all this time, guilt that he stayed when he shouldn’t have, but he couldn’t leave your father and you behind. He was a child, and he only wanted to help you bring your father home.”
Sudden tears dripped down Ashton’s face as he bent and pressed his forehead to Rafe’s, his body sheltering his younger brother’s as he drew in a ragged breath.
“I didn’t know. Forgive me—I didn’t know. I should never have placed the blame upon you, but I was a coward.”
“No . . . ,” Rafe murmured drowsily. “You were . . . my hero . . .always.”
“Ashton, I have a wagon ready out front!” Will shouted from the doorway of the house.
“Caspian, help me lift him. Diana, be ready to assist us if we start to fall,” Lennox commanded.
Lennox and Caspian got Rafe to his feet. They were halfway down the hall when something clattered behind them. Diana retrieved Ashton’s pistol from the floor and spun to face the threat.
Caddington stood in the doorway to the cellar, his face a mess of blood and dark bruises. One arm clutched his chest as if protecting broken ribs. It was clear he and Rafe must have fought before Rafe had escaped the cellar. In his other hand, he held a gun, pointed at Rafe’s back.
“Stand down... Lord Lennox,” Caddington wheezed as he approached the body of his dead manservant. “Your brother is wanted for... so many crimes. I have his... signed confession to it all. He ismine.”
Diana raised the pistol. “He will never belong to you!”
Lennox gently took the gun from Diana’s shaking hand. “No, my dear. You’ve been brave enough this night. I will not have you shedding any more blood.”
Ashton now faced Caddington, who seemed to be enjoying the agony he was causing.
“Careful, Lennox,” he said, still shuffling forward. “Helping two murderers escape? Assaulting a magistrate? You will be ruined.”
“On the contrary. The Lord High Chancellor is a good friend of mine. If I were to suffer you to live, he would see you removedfrom your position and charges brought against you. It isyouwho will be ruined, Caddington.”
For a moment, Diana saw doubt cross Caddington’s face. He looked at the pistol that lay beside Phelps’s body and lunged for it. He grabbed it and took aim. Diana turned her body to shield Rafe as much as she could.
Crack!
Diana flinched at the gunshot, expecting pain. But none came. When she opened her eyes, she glimpsed Caddington slumping to the floor, dead, Ashton’s bullet having struck the center of his evil heart. Ashton slowly lowered his pistol, still staring at Caddington for a long moment as though to make sure the man breathed no more. It was only then that Diana remembered the pistol Caddington had tried to use had been spent when she’d killed his manservant.
“They say revenge doesn’t bring any satisfaction,” Ashton said quietly. “But they are wrong. I am quite satisfied knowing that man shall never hurt another person ever again.”
Diana agreed. She found that justice was only for someone who could be redeemed. A man like Caddington had no chance at redemption. She let out a shaky breath, her legs feeling like they just might give out beneath her in sheer relief that it was all over.
