Page 72 of His Scandalous Viscountess
“Hold on there. This ain’t just about money, you know. That fancy bloke has my Sarah. If we don’t do as he says, he’ll hurt her.”
The third man then ripped Julia away from Snarly, tearing some of her hair out when Snarly didn’t let go quickly enough.
Snarly grunted, clearly not happy with letting the extra payment go. “Fine.” Then he reached down and ripped the rubies from her neck. “But I’m taking these, and neither of you will say a thing.”
The other two mumbled acquiescence as the carriage continued down the lane. Feeling trapped and utterly alone, Julia sagged to the floor. Her body ached from the struggle, and with the burst of adrenaline that had allowed her to fight earlier now depleted, exhaustion swept over her. Clearly these three were taking her somewhere, and she doubted much else would occur until such time as they reached their destination.
Then Wolf flitted to the forefront of her thoughts. She pictured the smile he’d offered her as they exited the theater. One that spoke of caring and emotion—love—that she would never know. Not now. Not ever again. Her tears returned, a silent mourning for all that she’d lost in the blink of an eye.
~
Blinding rage thrummed through Wolf. If Cooper’s wife, Emily, had not been present, he might have resorted to venting his fury on the furniture in his study. Instead, he sat calmly, sipping a brandy as the poor woman tried to steady her hands long enough to stitch up his shoulder.
“Wolf, a doctor should be doing this,” she said, for possibly the tenth time in as many minutes.
He stilled. “Absolutely not. I have neither the time nor the inclination to deal with some pompous blowhard telling me I should be in bed resting.”
She bit her lower lip, then sighed. “I do understand that, and I certainly would not expect you to do any such thing when poor Julia is out there somewhere in those men’s clutches. However, alcohol and your housekeeper’s needle and thread are not precisely how a bullet wound should be cared for, I am quite certain.”
“Nevertheless, this is how I am choosing to handle mine. I wish I did not have to sit here and wait for Cooper to return. I am sure that Wallthorpe lies at the heart of this plot, and I should be making haste to his house.”
Wolf tightened his grip on the ball of the armrest as Emily stabbed the needle through his flesh once more.
One of the villains who’d taken Julia had shot at him as they struggled. He’d seen her there, hovering just behind the blackguard when the gun had fired. Lucky for him, the carriage had hit a pothole right at that moment, or he might have been dealing with a whole different level of bullet wound. Possibly the fatal kind.
As it was, the bullet had grazed his left shoulder, causing him to let go of the vehicle and fall to the cobblestones. His luck had held as the trailing carriage had been far enough behind the villains that he had time to roll out of the way before another team of horses trampled him.
Cooper had been working his way to the top of the roof when Wolf was shot and the conveyance took off. Wolf cursed again as he remembered laying there in the street, watching as Julia was driven away. But then he’d seen his friend clinging to the back of the carriage, and he knew as soon as Cooper had ascertained where they were taking her, he would let Wolf know.
Somehow.
So here he sat, with his friend’s wife, who had insisted on sending for a doctor. Failing in that, she had opted to at least treat the wound herself. So, with a splash of brandy both in the wound and in his glass, he waited. And seethed.
He’d seen the fear and anger in Julia’s eyes as she’d fought hard to free herself. And he’d have to live with his failure to protect her yet again when she’d needed him the most. He knew that whatever chance he’d had to make her fall in love with him had been lost when he’d failed to rescue her from the carriage.
What woman would want a man who continually proved unable to safeguard her? And with the knowledge of his bastard state to boot? Doubt assailed him even as a fierce need to be the man Jules needed swept in.
Emily finally finished setting the last of the neat stitches in his arm.
He glanced down, surprised at how tidy her work was. “Thank you.”
“It’s not my best needlework, but then I am not accustomed to my sewing being alive.”
She smiled, but then clenched her teeth together as though biting back her words.
Wolf noticed her restraint as well as the worry that clouded her normally merry hazel eyes. Yet another woman he’d put in jeopardy by his deficiencies. “I know words are not nearly enough, but my apologies for the fact your husband is currently at risk as a result of my actions.”
She snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. I put Cooper in jeopardy to a far greater extent when he courted me. I’m merely worried for your wife. While she is an independent woman, I am not certain this kind of adventure is something she would appreciate.”
Despair threatened his composure. “What woman would?”
Emily laughed. Not a delicate, mincing tinkle, but a full belly laugh. “Oh, I imagine Theo and I would find the whole thing rather exciting, once it was over.”
He eyed Lady Brougham in a new light as he swallowed another gulp of brandy. Regardless, she was right. Julia would not appreciate the experience of being snatched from a London street and hauled off to parts unknown. Before he could respond, the door of the study opened and all the Lustful Lords walked in.
Stone, as usual, led the group. Behind him came Linc and Flint, as well as their newest member, Emily’s brother, Arthur.
Stone didn’t waste time on pleasantries. “Any word from Cooper?”
