Chapter 4

"Damnit woman!" Paco covered Victoria's mouth. "Be quiet!"

Victoria struggled beneath the bandit's weight, ignoring the piercing pain in her head. She bit the hand covering her mouth and screamed her husband's name.

From somewhere behind her, she could hear her husband's steely tone as she struggled in the bandits arms. "Let the señora go."

Paco raised his head from Victoria's neck and glared at the masked man standing in the doorway. "You can have her when I'm done."

Zorro said flatly. "I will not ask again."

Paco pushed Victoria aside and reached for his sword, drawing it quickly. He sheathed his knife for use later as Victoria wrapped her dressing gown around her shoulders and flattened herself against the far wall.

Zorro moved forward, his eyes hard, unblinking. There was no bounce to his step. No customary smirk on his lips as he faced this adversary. Each move he made was precise and calculated.

In three short moves, the bandit was disarmed and forced to his knees, begging for his life.

Francisco, who had arrived just in time to see Paco draw his sword, moved quickly to apprehend the bandit.

Victoria launched herself into Zorro's arms and melted against his chest, trembling.

Zorro embraced her fiercely, kissing her eyelids, her cheeks, before claiming her mouth in a kiss that left them both weak.

Francisco dragged the bandit out of the cabin, leaving husband and wife wrapped tightly in one another's arms.

When they reached the upper deck, Victoria held tightly to Zorro's chest, Alejandro looked toward the masked man with a grateful look on his face.

"Gracias a Dios."

Zorro glanced down at the lifeless form of Alejandro's longtime enemy and then raised his head in a questioning look at his father.

"I had no choice." Alejandro explained, knowing his son did not support the killing of any man, no matter how evil.

"There is always a choice." Zorro said softly. "But in this case, I would be hard pressed to find one."

Victoria sighed as she imagined her husband's arms around her, holding her, his lips caressing hers in a prelude to a more intimate dance.

Zorro had left them a few miles from the hacienda, not wanting to draw too much attention to his former love.

Diego changed quickly and waited outside, smiling with relief as he saw the familiar forms riding closer.

Victoria slapped the reins and urged her mount into a light gallop. When she reached Diego, she was pulled off her mare and into such a tight hug that she was instantly breathless.

When their mouths met and clung, Alejandro and Francisco smiled and turned away, giving the couple what privacy could be afforded in the public homecoming.

Diego lifted Victoria into his arms and carried her inside, as the other men released their mounts to the stable boys and followed, stopping in the sala for a nice, long drink.

Much later, Victoria rested her head on Diego's chest and simply enjoyed the feel of her husband's loving, protective embrace.

His arms tightened around her shoulders and he pressed his lips to her temple. "Nothing would have kept me from you."

"I know," Victoria said, rubbing her cheek against his chest.

Diego grinned wryly, and leaned forward so that his lips slid to her cheek. "I suppose now is not the time to ask if you'd like to take a wedding trip to Spain?"

Victoria giggled. His attempt to lift her somber mood was working. When she lifted her head, he gently kissed her mouth before settling back into the mattress to watch her.

"I'm quite certain you could not deal with my cranky mood as the waves rolling beneath my feet turned me green."

It was Diego's turn to laugh and he pulled Victoria up his chest so that he had easier access to her mouth. After depositing a kiss on her lips that left them both breathless, he nuzzled her cheek with his own.

"Well, then, Señora de la Vega, where would you like to go?"

"Right now, I want to stay here in our bed and work on giving your father those grandchildren he keeps mentioning wanting to see before he is dead."

Diego laughed, "Has he started in on you already?"

"Oh, he's mentioned it once or twice," Victoria rubbed her cheek suggestively against his chest.

"It's a wonder. I haven't heard a peep from him on the subject for months."

"He found someone new to remind." As Victoria pressed a lingering kiss to his chest, Diego threaded his fingers into her hair. When she lifted her head to watch his reaction, she was unable to shake the uncomfortable feeling of dread spreading through her body.

Diego noticed the flash of fear flicker through her ebony eyes. "What is it?"

Victoria trembled in his arms and a concerned look passed across his face.

"Querida. Tell me," Diego implored.

"Just something Cordoba said to me. I can't get it out of my mind."

"What did he say?"

"He said he was working with an – associate."

Diego tilted his head and regarded Victoria with a curious look. "A –"

But Victoria continued. "He said the man called himself – Judas."

Diego shook his head, not understanding.

Victoria couldn't suppress a shudder. "He said that man wanted you – and me. The ship we were on would have been bound for Spain after his – business with father was finished."

Diego instinctively tightened his arms around her shoulders. "No one is ever going to take you away from me again. And we are not going to Spain unless we sail there together." He tilted her head to look into her eyes, to assure her in every way possible that nothing would happen to her again.

But even as she smiled and snuggled against his chest, Diego couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling of dread that her words caused in his heart. The name was a mystery. The solution of which was at the tip of his tongue.

They fell asleep wrapped in one another's arms, and it was in the middle of the night that Diego's eyes snapped open, the solution to his mystery falling from his lips in a startled, and unbelievable gasp.

"Ignacio."

With one enemy of the de la Vega's buried at sea, the other was busily working on a foolproof plan to take revenge upon the family for his disgrace. His first plan had obviously failed, judging by the one surviving member of Cordoba's team who had escaped and lived to tell his tale.

He would not so foolishly allow himself to be captured again. Being incarcerated for helping Cordoba escape had been a blow to his pride, but he was already working on another plan. One less cunning and more direct than his previously unsuccessful attempt.

Ignacio de Soto scribbled hastily in the well-worn journal, cackling softly in the flickering candlelight. He glanced up sharply when a passing guard took the butt of his musket and dragged it along the cell bars. "Lights out!"

De Soto stuffed the journal back into its customary hiding spot and lay on his straw cot, gazing up at the ceiling. "If it is the last thing on this earth that I do, I will destroy you, de la Vega – and all those you love."

The End

To Be Continued in : de Soto's Revenge

Classic Cowboy – Pain. Naw, Zorro doesn't kill, remember…..? You're going to write some Zorro fic! Yay! There isn't enough of it!

Trollie – there, happy now. Updated and all done.

WolfDaughter – your question should be adequately answered in this chapter…. :)

Jkl88 – I didn't want her raped either. And neither, it appears, did Zorro . . . :)