Free Once Upon a Midnight Sea by Ava Bradley Page B

invest himself in criminal dealings. No, he knew he'd find himself with accommodations in the state penitentiary if he ever went to Edmund. And with the sum he'd been promised to finish the job, he'd be comfortably set for as long as he lived. John wisely held his tongue. Soon he wouldn't have to put up with this blather anymore.
    "If this marriage fails, R.L.W. Steel is finished. I didn't take care of Roland and Lennox just to watch some spoiled debutante foil my plans because she's too prissy to marry Preston."
    "Right, well, just remember it was you who took care of Roland and Lennox. And let's not forget R.L.W. was just fine until your debts chiseled away at it."
    "And neither will we forget who shot Edmund."
    The man never left without a threat. Their impact had begun to wane, and John merely took it to mean their meeting was nearly at an end.
    "He's still alive." John shrugged to show he didn't care either way. "And still set on marrying his daughter to the young prince," he finished with rancid sarcasm.
    "Is that so? And where is the lovely lady?" He delivered his well-practiced expression of condescension. "I told you not to let her out of your sight. Rumor has it she has run away."
    "She's always running off somewheres. She's a regular little pirate with that ship of hers." John wanted to slug that arrogant face into next week.
    "I have made certain inquiries. The ship has disappeared. No one from Maryland to Georgia has spotted her. Nor has she been sighted headed for Europe."
    "Maybe she sank," John said with forced disinterest. Deep in his gut, the first quake of fear started. If Adriana died fleeing, they'd surely find a way to pin it on him.
    He didn't want anyone to die. He'd been drunk the night he shot Edmund, and considered it a heaven-sent miracle the man had survived. A second chance gifted from God himself. Since then, he'd stayed up many long nights searching for a plan to make it only look as if he killed Edmund when the time came to finish the job, and escape with his payment before anyone realized he didn't.
    "Edmund will know where she has gone."
    John shook his head and swallowed a mouthful of cooling ale. "He don't."
    "We shall see about that. Go collect him, and bring him to the dock," the man ordered. "Tell him Vincent Weiss wishes a word with him."
    "I can't get him out of the sanitarium," John protested. He wanted nothing more than a hearty beef dinner across the street at O'Shaughnessy's and a good night's sleep.
    "You can, and you will," Vincent sneered. He slid off the seat and straightened his fine woolen coat. "He will take us to Adriana if he knows what is good for him."
    * * *
    Even though she convinced Mrs. Bailey to return to her own cabin, having demonstrated the solidness of the locks at her door, Adriana tossed and turned through another sleepless night. When she wasn't pondering the many strange revelations that seemed to be materializing about her father, she was thinking about the irate young man sleeping on the other side of her cabin wall.
    Though his unruly hair was in need of a trim, he'd been transformed into the most handsome vision she'd ever laid eyes on merely by putting on her father's fine clothing.
    No, Adriana realized, it wasn't the clothes, but the man she saw in a clearer light. Unlike the refined young men who pranced around like peacocks in their up-to-the minute fashions, Christian stood with a distinctive degree of integrity in those squared shoulders and proudly held chin. He was a man who knew what he wanted, and took it the best way he knew how. Strangely, Adriana admired him for the passion with which he pursued his quest. In the wrong or not, his determination was admirable.
    What if he were to pursue her with the same tenacity? Strange flutters rolled through her stomach at the thought. She closed her eyes and imagined handsome Christian seeking her with the same passionate energy, and her body grew heated. These thoughts were sinful. She was to be