Droplets of dew gleamed on the toes of his black boots. A three-cornered hat lay upside down on the table beside him, his inky hair tousled and windblown. He must have just arrived.

Like Priest, his muscular frame appeared leaner, his shoulders twitching with harnessed energy, hinting at the careful calculation of his every action. Such a gorgeous man at once confident in his body and stifled by his nobility.

“Misplaced? I’ve spent the last few months fighting the impulse to carve out your liver.” Priest wore a path across the wool rug, shirtless and seething, his hands clenching at his sides. “I can think of at least ten reasons why I should do it now. First and foremost, let’s not forget that you intended to hang my wife.”

“Ah, but she’s the one reason you will leave my liver precisely where it is.”

With a quickening pulse, I slid my legs off the side of the bed and leaned forward, deciding to listen to the conversation rather than interrupt.

By God, I could hear!

“If you hadn’t captured her…” Priest spun and charged toward Ashley, bellowing, “She wouldn’t have suffered so!”

“Don’t put that on me.” Ashley went deadly still, his voice terrifyingly calm. “Don’t you dare. Damn you, I would give my life for that woman.”

His declaration filled me with warmth, but Priest wouldn’t appreciate it. This wasn’t going to end well.

I grabbed a nightgown from the floor and yanked it on.

“She almost died because of you!” Priest shouted inches from Ashley’s face.

Calm as a windless sea, Ashley slammed a fist into Priest’s jaw. I hurried toward them as Priest countered with a brutal punch to Ashley’s mouth, bloodying his lip.

Confound it! I circled back to the bed and snatched a full bucket of water.

“One, you never told me you were married.” Ashley tackled Priest to the floor, face-down. “Two, I was hunting you so that I could put her in your protection.”

“You captured her to take her to London and secure your bloody promotion!” Priest exploded with fury, knocking Ashley off with an elbow to the head. “Then you fucked her!”

Fists flew. Grunts echoed off the walls. Extravagant baubles crashed to the floor as they rolled through the bedchamber, grappling, cursing, and taking out more furniture. I stormed toward the chaos, intent on dumping the contents of the bucket on top of their foolish heads.

Partway there, I slowed, stumbling to a halt. The room went silent, the air taut and still. They weren’t moving.

Ashley lay atop Priest’s supine body with a hand around Priest’s throat. They didn’t look at me, didn’t even notice me standing off to the side behind the armchair.