Page 17 of Unbound Duchess

“I’m comin’!” Nigel roared, turning his back to Laurence.

A low growl escaped from Laurence’s chest as he stood there in the hall, torn between obeying Nigel’s order and getting one good punch at the man’s face before his goons descended upon him. Solomon had been wrong. Clearly some people could not be bought.

Laurence was stewing over this as he started walking down the hallway the same way Nigel went. He was going to follow it back out to the main room when he spotted two familiar faces as he was rounding the corner, and he came to an abrupt halt.

He took a step back, hiding behind the wall, and peered out just enough to see Ellen Munro’s bruised and tear-streaked face as she struggled in Benedict Page’s grip. Nigel was standing a few steps away from them with a look of disgust on his face.

“You know how we work, my lord. We only take willing girls,” Nigel said gruffly, looking from Ellen to Benedict.

“She is my ward,” Benedict stated, his cold gaze landing on Ellen. “It is I who chooses what she is willing to do. And she has been given two choices. Beg me to take her back, or go to auction. So, what will it be, sweet Ellie? Me? Or those monsters out there who have no love or care for you?”

Fury tunneled through Laurence’s veins, and he clenched his fists tightly as he watched Ellen desperately trying to release her cloak from Benedict’s grip.

“All you have to do is beg,” Benedict sang the twisted words. “And we will go home. I will consider your lesson learned, and I can write to your sweet friend Judith to tell her she has nothing to fear. She was so worried for you in her letter, you know. So fearful that you would run away from your only chance at happiness. Is it not so very nice of her to send me her warning? She was so worried, you know. After your day at the Modiste. She was so concerned about your behavior that she felt the need to alert me that you were not of sound mind and insisted I kept an eye on you. So perceptive of her. I would have never found you if she hadn’t.”

Laurence’s eyes widened as his stomach twisted. Her friend was responsible for this?

“No,” Ellen sobbed, her tone defiant despite her tears.

Benedict’s smug expression dropped into an ugly frown.

“No!”

Ellen raised her chin defiantly, sending a shot of pride through Laurence’s heart as he watched her do so.

“I will beg you to take me out of here,” she gritted out. “But I will never beg to be yours.”

A bestial snarl ripped from Benedict’s lips as he shoved her into Nigel.

“Take her,” he commanded. “You heard her. She’d rather be sold than come with me. There is your consent.”

“Benedict, stop this!” Ellen pleaded as Nigel took her arms, angst spreading across his weathered face.

Benedict turned to her with a cruel smile.

“You can stop this any time,” he replied, his tone caustically sweet. “You know what you have to do. Beg.”

Even from his hiding space, Laurence saw defiance glitter behind Ellen’s tear-filled eyes.

“I will not,” she swore gravely.

Benedict’s sneer spread across his face before shifting back into that arrogant, impassive expression.

“Then you have made your choice,” Benedict said with a shrug. “I shall come find you in a few days. See if you feel differently after being bought and used as someone’s breeding mare.”

Laurence moved, unable to hear anymore. He had barely managed two steps before hands wrapped around his biceps and yanked, pulling him off balance. He whirled, ready to strike, but stilled his fist the moment he saw it was a woman who had grabbed him.

“You want to help her?” she asked, her green eyes sizzling with strength as she looked at him. “Aside from Nigel, I know this auction better than anyone here. You go charging in to rescue her like that, you will not only get your brains bashed in, but you will lose any chance of helping her. You’ll have to buy her. That’s her only way out.”

Laurence sneered under his mask; his body was taut with just how much was now at stake. Somewhere in his mind, a voice commanded him to speak more to the woman, to ask her the questions he had about Benedict and the owners since Nigel had proven to be of no assistance. That was what he should do. That is what he came there for. Yet all he could say was, “Please, make sure she’s alright, at least.”

The woman’s sharp eyes softened for a moment, then she gave a curt nod.

“I will help her calm down. Now go back out there before Nigel sees you are still back here,” the woman said, her eyes darting behind him toward Ellen.

“Get her out of here,” Laurence growled.

“I cannot. Only you can do that,” the woman replied, giving him a final, surprisingly hard shove back out into the main room.