Page 175 of Stolen By the Heartless Duke

The room went silent. Even Zachary seemed to stop breathing.

Strachan stepped closer. “You are remarkably brave.”

“No.” Jane’s heart hammered. “I’m frightened.” The honesty seemed to catch him off guard. “But I am not going to let you use that fear against me.”

For a moment, Strachan simply watched her. Then he smiled. “That is exactly why your husband is so attached to you.”

The words had barely left his mouth when a sound echoed through the townhouse. A door crashing open. Footsteps. Fast. Heavy.

Strachan turned sharply toward the noise. And Jane moved. She did not think. She reacted.

She lunged forward, grabbing his arm with both hands and throwing her entire weight against him. The pistol fired. The explosion shattered the room.

Jane screamed as the shot tore into the ceiling above them, showering plaster and dust across the floor.

Strachan cursed. His grip loosened. The weapon slipped from his hand. It hit the carpet. Jane shoved away from him just as Hector stormed into the room.

For one terrible second, his eyes found her. Then they found Strachan. Something in his expression changed. Rage.

He crossed the room in seconds. His fist connected with Strachan’s jaw with enough force to send the man stumbling backward. Strachan crashed against a table, sending papers and glass scattering. But he did not stay down.

He rose with a viciousness that surprised even Jane. He attacked immediately. The fight was brutal. Nothing like the controlled movements Hector had shown her during their lessons. This was survival.

Strachan fought like a man who had spent his entire life escaping consequences. But Hector was stronger. More disciplined. Every strike was deliberate. Every movement precise.

Jane saw the pistol lying only a few feet away.

She moved. Before either man could reach it, she kicked it across the room. The weapon slid beneath a table.

When she turned back, Hector had Strachan against the floor. The crime lord fought wildly, but Hector held him there, one arm locked around him.

“You should have stayed away from her.” Hector’s voice was terrifyingly calm.

Strachan laughed breathlessly. “Is that all you have?”

Hector’s expression hardened. “No.”

Then he struck. Once. Hard enough that Strachan went still. The room fell silent. Jane stood frozen.

Her mother was unconscious, Zachary was trembling, and Hector knelt over the man who had threatened everything they loved.

For the first time since entering that room, Jane believed they might actually survive. Jane could barely breathe. For several moments, she simply stood there, staring. The room looked nothing like it had before.

The elegant parlor had been destroyed. A chair lay overturned. Plaster dust covered the carpet beneath the hole in the ceiling. Papers were scattered everywhere, and the scent of gunpowder lingered heavily in the air.

But none of that mattered. Her mother. Jane dropped beside her immediately.

“Mother?” Her hands shook as she gently touched Lady Wynten’s shoulder. “Mother, please wake up.”

A soft groan answered her. Relief crashed through her so quickly that tears filled her eyes.

“Oh, thank goodness.”

Her mother stirred, blinking slowly. “Jane?”

“I’m here.” Jane cupped her face carefully. “I’m here.”

Behind her, she heard Hector moving. She looked back. He was still standing over Strachan, his chest rising and falling heavily. The anger had not fully left his expression, but the moment his eyes met hers, something changed.