He was shaking. Had been shaking all day. Rafe had done his duty, been to Pinkerton's and back, suffered through Jerome's lectures and the tailors.
Even staring into the mirror and seeing a gentleman looking back, the kind of man he could have been had war not ravaged his life, he was shaking.
It had taken him long nights to figure it out. He loved Kate. Loved her spirit, her independence, even her damn temper. The way she drank, shot, smiled. The look of lust in her eyes, her easy laughter. Her smart wit, the way she sized people up in an instant.
It had taken longer for him to realize he wasn't betraying Faith. Kate was the complete opposite of his first wife, but his love for her would never steal his love for Faith, nor the other way around.
Before he'd thought he had all the time in the world to convince her way of thinking to his, but now he had just a handful of hours.
And dammit, his child, their child, was inside of her. He would die before he let another man raise their boy or girl, he'd readily kill the man with his bare hands before standing there, watching Kate give herself to another.
If they failed tonight, he would just bind and gag her, drag her to the nearest preacher and see it done right. He had mucked up plenty and fixed it in the end, damnit, he could fix this.
"I don't like this," he said to Jerome as the other man motioned him over to straighten his neckcloth.
"You tied it too tight," Jerome said with a terse attempt at humor.
Rafe stayed his hand at his neck. "No. Damn it, Jerome, we've known each other for years. You're the talker, I'm the shooter. I hunt people down, and I take 'em back, dead or alive. Now I'm supposed to sit back and let some fancy Pinkerton get a confession, and take the man to court? You know as well as I do the man will never get to the noose, he has too much damn money, too much power."
"Rafe, there's a time for shooting, a time for talking, and a time for valor. Kate is scared, trapped, she's going to need you to have a clear head, be there, be her support. Tonight we try diplomacy."
Rafe cursed and dropped his hand, letting the other man fix the cloth. "And if it doesn't work?"
Jerome stepped back and clapped his shoulder. "Then we let you three shoot your way out."
"Amen to that," Dan said from the doorway. Both he and Finn had bathed, but with their rumpled evening suits and stubble, looked like hastily hired bodyguards.
Jerome groaned. "Come on, we've got thirty minutes to make you into gentlemen."
Dan snorted. "Better hire one in my place then."
Despite his nerves, Rafe smiled to know two equally dangerous men who cared for Kate would be at his back, and would be almost as uncomfortable as he was.
***
Kate was nervous, only years of playing cards with lowlifes kept her features schooled. Her father had hired two women, now fussing at her, and she felt a damn fool. Her hair as curled by a long rod heated in the fire, then smoothed back down and piled in a complicated and sometimes painful fashion on her head.
Her dress was too damn low cut, she was used to wearing shirts designed for men, buttoned to her neck, but her father wanted to "sell the goods" to the man he had promised her to.
Izzy better pull a miracle from her neither regions, Kate thought with a sigh. "Ow!"
"Oh, miss, you need to soften your hair," one of the ladies tsked in a gentle Irish brogue.
"I just need it to stay under a hat," Kate gruffed back, her retort met by puzzled laughter.
"Is she ready?" All three women winced at the sound of McMaster's rough voice.
"Yes, sir," the petite brunette maid said in a hushed voice.
McMasters, whom Kate resembled too much for her liking, wore a black evening suit. His frame was thin, like hers, but the cut gave an impression of bulk even she had to admit was flattering. His thunderous frown was not.
"Is she wearing a corset?"
"But sir, she refused, and if she's breeding-"
He crossed the room in three steps and raised his hand as if to slap her. Kate met his gaze levelly, prepared to take the blow, hoping she'd bruise, and she wouldn't have to appear at the farce of a party.
"No, not tonight, not before. But after we retire...your punishment will come. Put her in a corset, cinch it extra tight. If you refuse, you'll never work in this town again."
The petite brunette and the taller blonde nodded nervously, their eyes and Kate's tracking him out of the room.
The blonde sighed. "Miss, we'd better do as he says, but no need to make it tight, yer slim enough."
For the first time in days, Kate smiled. "Could you tie it loose enough to hide a gun?"
The blonde was shocked, but her compatriot smiled. "Why, yes, mum, we could."
***
