Page 54 of Outrageous

“You know it don’t matter if you take all our guns—even if you shoot each and every one of us. The rest o’ my men’ll wonder when we ain’t behind ’em. They’ll come back.” Flynn smiled in a way that made Eva’s skin crawl so badly she thought it might crawl right off her body. “And when they do, it won’t go well for you.” His eyes slid toward Eva and she took a step back. “Especially the girl.”

“Is that so?” Godric cocked his head, sounding amused. “Because I can’t help feeling that if I cut off the head of the snake, the tail will just twitch a bit before going still. How about that, Flynn? How about I just kill you?” He knocked Flynn’s hat off with the point of the gun and pressed the muzzle against his temple.

Flynn swallowed noisily. “You could do that or you could stay here and I’ll let your wife go.”

Godric laughed. “Because I would take your word for anything.” His lips twisted into a jeering, almost feral grin. “The word of a thief, a liar, deserter, and a rapist.”

Flynn’s body stiffened. “I never raped a woman. That’s a bloody lie.”

“Then why do you want my wife—why did you say it would go bad for her?”

Flynn looked poleaxed. “Not to rape—to ransom, man! I just meant she’d be livin’ rough with us while we waited. Yer the bloody Duke of Tyndale’s heir! Even an ignorant criminal like myself ’as ’eard of ’im—richer than Croesus. I don’t need the both a ye—just one’ll do.”

“You want to ransom me to my grandfather,” Godric said flatly.

“Aye,” Flynn said, his tone indicating any idiot should have known that. “I’m a thief, a liar, a deserter, a grave-robber, a forger, and ’alf o’ dozen other things besides. But I ain’t no killer or raper. And I don’t allow it among my men, neither. You must o’ read about me in the papers—ever ’eard o’ me killin’ and rapin’?”

His men grumbled behind him, but the one in the hat was still looking at Eva. “What about him?” she blurted, jabbing the arquebus in the starer’s direction. “He hasn’t stopped staring at me since he got here.”

Flynn’s eyes widened in a look of genuine confusion. “Who, Matthew?”

“He’s not stopped smiling at me—leering.”

Flynn gave a genuine laugh. “’E’s simple, my lady—but ’e likes pretty things.”

“I’m not a thing.”

Flynn grimaced. “Awright, awright, don’t get in a twist. But you know what I mean—beauty, that’s what our lad Matthew likes. Why, ’e’d never ’urt a fly.”

Eva looked at the man in question. Who was still smiling his blank, eerie smile.

“Why don’t you fight?”

Everyone turned to the sound of the voice. It was the same man who’d recognized Godric first. “Isn’t that how it goes with a gentleman?” he sneered, his accent far more refined than all the others. “Have a duel? We’ve not got fancy swords, but we’ve got these.” He held up two fists the size of Christmas hams.

“That’s not going to get you your ransom, is it?” Godric sneered right back.

“No, but it’ll allow one of us to hit you in the face.”

The murmuring among the men rose above the rain, which seemed to have lessened suddenly, as if even the heavens were interested in hearing where this was going.

“Vote,” somebody muttered. “Vote,” another said more loudly. And then another, and another, the word echoing under the gunmetal-gray sky.

“A vote it is,” Flynn said. “All in favor of settlin’ this like gentlemen?”

“Aye!”

“All opposed?”

Only the rain could be heard.

Flynn grinned up at Godric. “A fight it is. If’is lordship fights and wins, we let ’im and ’is wife—”

“And the boy,” Godric added.

Flynn’s eyebrows rose, but he nodded. “Awright, we’ll let all three of ’em go. If ’e fights and loses, then ’e comes with us, we let the other two go, and ’is lordship writes a pretty beggin’ letter to ’is granfer.”

The men roared their approval.