for a long minute until he spoke again. “When did you capture him?”
“One month after we married.”
Win seemed to sag. “And what is your plan to lure him out now?”
“To wait.”
“I’m sorry?” His smile was thin. “To wait? That is the whole of this grand production?”
Her lips pursed. “Believe me, Isley had his sick little game in place well before I arrived. He wants me here, and he has a reason for it. I’ve simply opened play. The next move will be his.”
Win’s nostrils flared as if scenting something off. “You know each other well.”
“I hunted him for three years.” She did not like the accusation in his tone nor the way it made her skin twitch. “This is the only way to draw him out. Besides, we are on a ship. His ilk can only be sent back to hell when standing upon the earth.”
“So then,” Win said, “this demon is after me because he believes that it will hurt you. I would counter that the solution might be a bit more simplistic.” His expression grew implacable, but the scars on his face seemed to stand out more. “You only have to make it clear that you no longer care for me.”
Her heart stopped painfully then promptly beat a wild rhythm. “He would see through that in an instant.”
“Why?”
“Because it would be a lie!”
Pride had her turning because she could not look at him now. But she got all of five feet away before he caught her by the upper arm, his grip hard and biting as he wrenched her round. “Oh no, you don’t.” He let her go but boxed her in against the railing with his frame. “You do not get to walk away from me. Not yet.”
“Why? You’ve walked away from me.” Her nails dug into her palms. “Hell, you left me, Winston.”
His eye twitched, a fleeting gesture, followed not by repentance but irritation. “And you followed me here.” His long finger pointed in accusation. “Evading the situation now does you little credit.”
“Why, you bloody hypocrite…”
“Call me all the names you like.” His rough countenance hardened. “It will not put me off from having answers.”
“You haven’t asked a question.”
He loomed, looking thoroughly capable of mayhem, before he leaned against the wall behind them with a grunt and gave her the gimlet eye. “Why did you keep it all from me?” he blurted out. “While I may understand why you were reticent to let me in, I cannot accept that you did not know me well enough to believe that I would ever have betrayed that trust.” He slammed a fist against the wall. “By the love of God, I thought you knew me better. That you knew my heart entirely.” His shoulders sank a little. “The way I thought I knew yours.”
Deep inside her, the black, ugly feelings she’d kept bottled up boiled over, burning her lungs, choking her throat. She rounded on him, fisting her hands so hard her knuckles ached. “I took a vow, Win. An oath never to reveal what I was, or what I did, to anyone. Anyone. Not to you, not to my family. Have you any idea how difficult it was to keep it inside? Or the isolation I felt in doing so? Bloody hell, do you think I do not feel the depth of my betrayal to all of you? Miranda can barely meet my eyes anymore. Daisy looks at me as though she has one over on me. And you. I ached to tell you. I died a little each day I could not. But this is what I was born and bred to do. My word is my honor. Break it and I am nothing. Break it and everything I sacrificed is for nothing.”
It wasn’t until the words died on the air that Poppy realized they were nose to nose, shouting like common riffraff, while their fellow passengers hurried by with eyes averted and postures stiff in disapproval. Win’s chest lifted and fell in a soft yet quick cadence as they glared at each other.
He was mere inches away, his eyes dark with close-kept emotion, yet he seemed utterly unreachable. She pulled in a breath and ended any possibility of bridging that gap. “To speak with perfect honesty, had you not found out, I would never have told. Because I keep my word. No matter how painful it might be to do so.”
He flinched, his broad shoulders tense beneath his coat. In the resounding silence, the wind