A poor Irish seaman and a beautiful English countess. It was my favorite fairytale.

He always ended the story on their first kiss, but this time, his tone was different. Harder. More determined. “I couldn’t let her get away.”

“You couldn’t?” I leaned back and searched his flinty expression.

“She’s had fourteen years to move on, and she hasn’t.” He lifted me from his lap and stood.

A question wasn’t voiced, but it was there, flickering in his eyes.

“No, she’s not happy.” My heart skipped a beat. “It’s not me that she needs, Father. She needs you.”

“Aye.” He paced along the tree line in his deerskin shoes, each step growing faster and more resolute. “I want you to return to the estate.” His gaze turned to the sea, where the horizon darkened with the approach of dusk. “I’ll come for you tonight. For both of you.”

Exhilaration and confusion tangled through me. “I thought living with a criminal would suck the life out of her?”

“Is she living? Does she smile? I will put life back into her!” He bared his teeth. “By God and the devil, I will spend every last tarnal breath in my body making her happy.”

An overpowering sense of hope welled up in my chest. “I believe you.”

“I love you.” He pulled me against him and lowered his mouth to the top of my head. “I’ve committed a lifetime of crimes and paid dearly for them. Fourteen years without my girls. There is no greater punishment.”

“It ends tonight?”

He released me with a wolfish grin. “Yes, it—”

A deep, threatening growl erupted behind me.

I spun toward the hounds and found them standing, noses pointed toward the shore and hackles up. My father went still, his hand locked tightly around my arm.

The dogs exploded into snapping snarls and took off toward the southern end of the beach. They sprinted around the copse of trees and out of view as their barking rose in volume.

My scalp tingled. I’d never heard such ferocious sounds. “Has Mr. Vane returned?”

“That’s not Charles.” He hauled me toward the horse and lifted me onto the saddle, his voice low and urgent. “Return to the house at once.”

“Father, what is it?”

He untied the reins and removed a sheathed dagger from his belt. “No matter what happens, keep going.” With a grip on my wrist, he wedged the sheath into the sleeve of my gown, concealing it beneath the fabric on my upper arm. “Do not turn back.”

In the distance, the barking grew feral, high-pitched, and terrifying. My belly twisted into knots, and my lungs couldn’t take in enough air beneath the vise of my stays.

“Go!” He slammed a hand onto the horse’s flank, sending me into the woods.

I grabbed the reins and adjusted my balance before twisting to look over my shoulder.

He was gone.