Page 97 of An Extraordinary Lord

Her presence slammed into him like a punch. She didn’t belong here. She was the present, not the past. “Leave.”

“No.”

“You’re not needed here.”

“So much more than you realize.” In her short pause, he could almost see her arching her brow in that chastising manner she had. “Did you really think I’d let you go off alone?”

His heart slammed into his throat, but his eyes never left those of the bastard in front of him. The end was so close now that he could taste it, like acid on his tongue.Whywouldn’t she leave and let him finish this?

“He killed Joanna,” he explained hoarsely. “It’s him. I finally found the bastard.”

Thank God she didn’t ask if he were certain, or if he could have possibly made a mistake and caught the wrong man. Five years of memories and nightmares and always seeing that man’s face with every stroke of a sword, every punch he learned to throw, every time he sharpened his knives, every step he took through the dark city in his hunt—he knew this man’s face as well as he knew his own.

“Now it all ends.” Each panting, fear-filled breath the man took pulsed against the tip of Merritt’s knife. How easy it would be to simply step forward and plunge the blade deep into his gut. It would be as smooth as slicing into butter, not at all the hard crack of the hammer the bastard had used against Joanna. “He deserves to die.”

“Yes, he does.” Her voice grew closer. “But at Newgate.Nothere.”

“Here seems as good a place as any.” His left hand tightened its hold on the man’s throat as he leaned in and dangled the man even farther over the balustrade. With one small push, he would tumble over the edge. “Or on the stones below.”

The man’s eyes grew wide with terror, and his hands clawed at Merritt’s arms to somehow make him release him. But he wouldneverlet go now. Not when he was only heartbeats from finally driving away the darkness.

“The last time I checked, you were still a barrister.” She stopped directly behind him. “When did you also become judge and jury?”

That rankled, more than he would admit. But she didn’t understand, couldneverunderstand—

“Your whole life you’ve put your faith in the law, in its integrity.” Her hand slid up his back to his shoulder, and the heat of her touch sizzled through his clothes and into his flesh. “So put it there now. Arrest him and let the courts bring justice.” Her fingers squeezed into his tense muscle, and her soft voice tickled at his ear as she leaned in close to his shoulder, her cheek next to his. “But don’t make a mockery of all you believe in because of this man. He doesn’t deserve to have that power over you.” Her hand slid down his right arm. His muscles trembled beneath the brush of her fingertips. “So don’t you dare give it to him.”

He shuddered when her hand closed around his on the knife. But he refused to surrender it to her, refused to concede now that he was so close—

“You’re a good and decent man, Merritt Rivers. That’s why Joanna loved you.” Her fingers squeezed his, and she said so softly that only his heart heard, “That’s why I love you, too.”

Her words shot through him like a bullet, and he shuddered. She loved him… The black revenge that had consumed him for so long lifted like a fog, and in its place came Veronica.

Slowly, he loosened his grip and let her take the knife from him.

As she straightened away, she grazed her lips against his cheek. The warmth of that affectionate gesture blew through him like a whirlwind and left him breathless and trembling. “But you still infuriate the daylights out of—”

Without warning, the murderer lunged.

He shoved Merritt aside and hurled himself away from the balustrade to charge straight at Veronica. Caught off guard, she didn’t react fast enough to dart out of his way, nor could she stop his hand as he grabbed for the knife. She attempted to fight back, but she was simply too small, the brute too strong.

He wrenched the knife from her, yanked her in front of him, and placed the blade to her throat. “Move, and I’ll kill her.”

Merritt went instantly still.

The man began to back slowly toward the steps, taking Veronica with him as a shield. Merritt flashed between hot rage and icy fear, but if he made any move toward them, the man would slit her throat.

“I’m leaving,” the killer called out. “Stay where you are until I’m down on the street and out of the building.”

Like hell I will.“No.” The word tore from him in an animal growl. The warning in his voice was murderous. “You don’t get to take away the woman I love.”

He met her gaze through the shadows, and the same determination that was on his face was mirrored on hers. There was no fear visible in her, just complete trust in him. He wouldneverfail her.

He let the man back across the roof toward the doorway and the dark stairs beyond, and his heart thumped painfully in his chest at every step the man forced Veronica to take with him. But she was smart—oh, she was brilliant! And she didn’t fight him, didn’t let out a single sob or plea. She knew to go along and wait for the right moment to attack.

But waiting was the last thing Merritt would do.

They moved closer to the dark stairs. When the man reached the doorway, he eased his hold on her and glanced down over his shoulder to find the first step—