AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A sister who works for her, a nasty little voice whispered in her mind.A bastard sister who will never be her equal.
He gazed at her for a long moment, then nodded his head jerkily and resumed pacing. “I did not mean to offend. The relationship between you and Lady Allison is none of my business.”
Drake Blackstone would obviously never let one of his servants call him by his first name. But to be fair, Allison wasn’t the typical spoiled daughter of theton. One of her older half-brothers, the Earl of Winters, had been a true villain, a purveyor of all kinds of vice, and when Allison had inherited the bulk of his unentailed property and fortune, she’d been determined to find a way to help people as a penance for all those he’d hurt.
Heather stared down at her lap, deciding that there really wasn’t anything she could say to that. Allison had always treated her with respect and even love, but she knew that wasn’t the way most of the aristocracy treated those of her class. This man would never be having a conversation with her at all if not for their unusual circumstances.
Somehow, she had to find a way to dance the dangerous line between what Jacob wanted from her and Drake Blackstone’s undeniable charisma. If she could accomplish this minor miracle then maybe, just maybe, she could make it out of here alive.
Chapter Three
How long had he beendown here?
Drake continued to pace the large, dank, low-ceilinged room that had become his prison, his thoughts in utter turmoil, his skin crawling with the need to break free. He’d expected that once he was safely caged, his brother would come to rub it in his face, and that was when he’d planned to strike. But as the hours stretched on, his consternation grew. What if Danbury wasn’t behind this?
His gaze fell upon his lovely companion.
Heather Fields.
He’d been lying when he’d said he didn’t remember her name. And he wasn’t certain why he’d felt the need for such artifice. She was a lady’s maid, for heaven’s sake. Yet, he’d been struck by her the moment Quinn O’Brien had introduced them, and then, as now, he really hadn’t understood why.
Of course, her breathtaking beauty would be enough to catch the attention of any man. She reminded him of a porcelain doll his sister Amelia had when they were children. Wide, bottomless blue eyes fringed by dark lashes, her black hair pinned up neatly but with tendrils escaping to frame her face. Her features were lovely—high cheekbones, rosy cheeks, and full, bow-shaped lips. When she’d taken off his hood, he’d towered over her, but her voluptuous curves were obvious even in the modest, serviceable gown she wore.
Yes, she was a beauty, but he’d known many beautiful women.
He studied her now as he paced, glad for the momentary distraction from his untenable predicament. She sat in profile to him, her lovely face downcast as she picked at a loose thread near the elbow of the sleeve of her dark blue dress. Her even white teeth worried her lush bottom lip, and a sinking feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as he suddenly had an idea of why his brother might have taken her.
“Do you know my brother, Viscount Danbury?” he asked, more sharply than he’d intended.
She startled, then turned those luminous blue eyes his way. “Do I seem like someone who would know a viscount?” Her tone was soft, but he knew he’d offended her earlier with his dismissal of her low station, and he felt a pang of regret. She was his only ally in this mess, and he didn’t want to upset her when she was already frightened out of her mind.
“Think carefully,” he said, crossing to her side and kneeling before her. “He might not have identified himself as such. But have you recently turned down a man’s affections? A man who dresses like a dandy and looks somewhat like me?”
Drake had only recently admitted to himself that Mortimer was the notorious murderer known as The Viper, although he’d suspected it for some time. The thought that this lovely girl had been brought here to be Danbury’s next victim brought bile rising to the back of his throat.
He’d seen the women that The Viper had brutalized. His childhood friend Lady Evelyn Lindsay had been the last, only a few months ago. He couldn’t bear to think of such a thing happening to Miss Fields, and he made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t allow it. He’d guard her with his life.
