Page 22 of Only Pleasure Will Do

The hope of subduing Redmond died immediately as two burly men entered the room behind him. Reginald didn’t know the two bruisers but was acquainted with their ilk. Bouncers who were ready with their fists or any other weapon to hand, but pudding-headed, both of them, by their looks. Still, three to one weren’t odds he wished to take. Not with Maddy and the child to think of.

“You were always good at following directions, weren’t you, Amorina?” Chuckling, Redmond lowered the pistol until it rested on Pearl’s shoulder. The girl was crying and trembling, her eyes round and miserable. The villain would pay for terrifying the child so. “Both in and out of bed.”

Maddy glanced at Reginald, her face flushing.

Gritting his teeth until his jaw ached, Reginald fought to keep his head clear of rage and his mind focused on the situation. To ignore anything that might make him act out of anger. Or jealousy. Still, it was difficult to stop the lurid images of Maddy in bed with the depraved Redmond.

Raising her head, Maddy suddenly straightened. Her whole demeanor shifted from the frightened mother to the icy, hard-as-iron owner of the House of Pleasure. “What do you want with me, Mr. Redmond?”

“Why do you think I would want anything from the woman who betrayed me, Madam Vestry? What use could I possibly have for the bawd who thwarted my plans and helped that red-haired bitch maim me?” In the blink of an eye, he’d aimed the pistol at Maddy’s head once more. “Perhaps all I desire is to kill you and your little by-blow.”

Helpless to do anything, Reginald held his breath.

With the resolute calm of a man on a dueling field, Maddy stared into the pistol’s barrel. “I doubt you wish to do that, Mr. Redmond. At least, not yet. You’ve gone to great lengths to abduct me and keep me hidden, while, I assume, you searched for the child. Now you’ll use her as leverage to make me do what you will.”

“No one could deny your intelligence, my dear.” Redmond lowered the pistol, though he kept a pitiless grip on Pearl’s shoulder. “You are correct. I do have a task for you. If you fail,” he said, a cruel smile spreading over his face, “I’ll put a ball through both their heads, and a dozen witnesses will swear you fired the shots in a jealous rage. You’ll swing for murdering your lover and your daughter.”

Maddy swallowed but otherwise moved not an inch. “And if I accomplish this task?”

“Then the child and Sir Reginald will go free.”

She shifted slightly on her feet. “I assume there are no assurances of that.”

“Of course not.” He grinned evilly at her. “Although I have been known as a man of my word.”

“What happens to me, then, if I succeed in completing your task? Am I also allowed to go free?” Maddy’s calm voice held a trace of suspicion.

Reginald didn’t believe Redmond intended a happy outcome either.

“But of course not, my dear.” The jovial tone carried an undercurrent of triumph. “If you succeed, you will hang for the murders of the Marquess and Marchioness of Dalbury.”