he shrank away from the idea. No. Hadn’t he learned his lesson already? Could he so easily forget that such indulgences could bring a searing pain along with the pleasure? Could he forget his responsibilities?
He was tired, that was all. He’d already decided that this would be his last job for the Pinkerton Agency. He’d grown increasingly restless within the structure the job required.
But where did he intend to go? What was he looking for that he didn’t already have?
Not a woman, surely. He wasn’t a man worthy of a good woman, and he’d already sworn to himself that he would never allow another female into his heart. He owed Emily that much. He might not have been the husband she’d needed during her short life, but he would grieve her properly now that she was gone.
Which was the very reason he needed to return to his duties and forget this woman, this moment.
But just as he would have released her, Louisa shuddered, and in that instant, he knew he had no recourse but to remain for a few minutes longer. If he didn’t, he would regret his aloofness for the rest of his life.
“I’m sorry,” the woman sobbed again.
Reaching out, he briefly laid his fingers on her arm. “There’s no need to explain.” He didn’t want to know what had upset her. Once he learned the cause of her pain, a bond, no matter how innocent, would be formed between them.
Louisa looked down, then took a shaky breath.
“I don’t know why I’m crying. I have everything ahead of me. Everything I’ve ever wanted.” She offered a sound that was half laugh, half sob, and pressed his handkerchief to her mouth. “I guess that the strain of worry has merely worn me down.”
Not sure how he should respond, Gabe stated, “You’ll be on dry land tomorrow.” Despite his matter-of-fact observation, he stroked her hair with his thumb, and one of the tendrils wrapped around his knuckle as if to trap him there.
She nodded. “Yes, but I still have a long journey ahead of me.”
“Eventually you’ll arrive at your destination.”
“I suppose that’s true. I’ll be glad when I have a home of my own.” Her tone was wistful.
A home of her own.
Gabe could understand the woman’s longing. There were times when he failed to work long and hard enough to exhaust himself before sleep. On those evenings, he remembered when he’d belonged to something other than himself.
A family.
Dear heaven, why think about that now?
Just as suddenly as he had been swamped with the need to follow this woman, Gabriel now had an overwhelming urge to walk away. In the scant moments they had been together, she had managed to stir emotions that he had buried in the same cold earth that now held his wife and son. If he didn’t leave her now…
He tore his hand free from the capricious tendril that would have held him captive.
“Will you be all right here alone?” Although he kept his voice a soft whisper, he couldn’t completely conceal his sudden brusqueness.
The woman stiffened in obvious embarrassment. “Yes. Yes, I’m sorry.”
She made a move to return his handkerchief, but he quickly said, “No. Keep it. You may have need of it sometime in the future.” And he didn’t need another reminder of how quickly this woman had infiltrated his defenses.
He hesitated only a moment, feeling that he should do more, offer more. But with a final light touch to her hair—an action that was more caress than dismissal—he retreated into the darkness, stepping behind a stack of crates.
He waited there for long moments, his heart pounding inexplicably, until he finally heard the rustle of silk.
Then she was gone, hurrying below deck, narrowly missing Gabriel’s hiding place in her haste.
Berating himself for being ten times a fool, Gabriel made his way to the skiff. He had a job to do, and he’d best be keeping his mind on the matters at hand. He didn’t have the time or the energy to worry about a mysterious woman whom he would never see again.
Nevertheless, as he rowed into the shadows, his mind returned irresistibly to the woman in silk and sapphires. What had brought her here to New York?
And what kind of freedom awaited her that would make her call out in happiness, then cry as if her heart were broken?
Dawn was still hours away when the woman stretched sinuously, her hand sliding over the cool silk of the sheets.
“I should go,” she murmured, lifting an arm to plant a kiss against the spine of her lover.
She wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t slept long. He was a restless creature—and with everything on his mind, he was bound to have a few sleepless nights. It was just that…
She stifled an inner sigh. What worried her was that he seemed removed and distant, even in the heights of passion—as if she weren’t enough for him.
Brushing the thought away, she ran her hand over his taut flesh. Scars crisscrossed his back, but she carefully avoided drawing attention to them. She had learned long ago that to caress them would cause a black mood to descend over his features. At those times, he could be cruel.
“Isn’t there a way you could arrange for the brides to take the train West?”
He grew tense and she immediately wished that she’d kept her complaints to herself.
“No.” His tone was curt. Cold. “From what I’ve been told, Gabriel Cutter is adamant. The mail-order brides will have to make other plans. He absolutely refuses to allow the women to make the journey.”
She frowned. The gold would be on that train. She could feel it. Gabe Cutter, the trail boss for the Overland Settlers Organization, had decided at the last minute that the mail-order brides would not be allowed to accompany the rest of the group—and his arbitrary decision merely strengthened her suspicions.
Damn that man and his meddling. Since it would prove suspicious for her to travel on her own, she had agreed to pose as one of the brides so that she could journey West with her lover. She’d been left out of so many raids against the Overland Express that she didn’t want to miss this one as well.
Her gaze darted around the luxurious hotel suite with its hand-painted frescoes, gilt and antique furnishings.
She loved money and everything it could buy. By becoming this man’s mistress, she’d been showered with riches such as she had never imagined. But she feared that her lover was beginning to grow restless—not with her, but with the effort of stealing so many payroll shipments. He had decided that this would be his last raid.
She shivered, knowing that there was more to the enterprise than mere greed. This time, with an old enemy guarding the shipment, the plots had become personal.
Her lover meant to have revenge.
Which was also her greatest fear. If he managed to punish
