Page 83 of Tempting Fate
“Institutionalized?”
“He’s… unnatural.” Reginald bared his teeth. “An invert.”
Felicity held a hand to her lips. She’d heard of inverts; they were men who preferred the romantic company of other men… She couldn’t imagine shutting them up in a hellish asylum. “My God. He’s not still there, is he?”
“He’s recovering… for now. It was all quite terrible for him.” Reginal sidled closer to her. “It’s nearly impossible to afford his upkeep now, without his inheritance. He might have to go back.”
Swamped with grief for siblings she’d never met, Felicity rushed to the bookshelf and retrieved the Bible, flipping through the gold-leaf pages to retract the deed. “I can give you Fairhaven. For that matter, I can give you Cresthaven if you want it. You can name your sum, if only…” She searched her mind for a solution. “If you’ll relinquish the guardianship of my siblings to me.”
He laughed as his pistol appeared, wiping a tear of mirth from the corner of his eye. “Why would I settle for a sum, when I can have the entire thing?”
Panic threatened to overwhelm her as her limbs went numb. “I-If that gun goes off in this neighborhood, the bobbies come running. There’s no getting away with this.”
“You think I haven’t considered everything?” he smirked.
She cast desperately about for another threat. “Also… Mercy and Raphael will be here any moment.”
“I already have men lying in wait at the door.” He pulled paperwork from his pocket. “You’re going to marry me, Felicity Goode; whether it’s before or after you die is your decision.”
“You didn’t bring enough men,” came Gabriel’s throaty growl from the doorway.
“I brought plenty, it seems,” Reginald remonstrated, gesturing to the three men who kept the monstrous gangster at bay.
Felicity did her best to draw Reginald’s focus away from Gabriel. He’d already been shot once defending her, she couldn’t allow that again. “You know Chief Inspector Carlton Morley will never let this hold. You don’t understand the dynamics of this family. We’re very close. They’ll know any sort of marriage is a sham. They’ll fight you in court. They’ll find you out and see you hanged for murder.”
“You’re not going to live long enough to hang.” Gabriel’s threat was so feral, she almost believed him.
“Come again?” With a snap of Reginald’s fingers, the garrote tightened once more, cutting off Gabriel’s ability to speak.
To add insult to injury, the man on his right moved to block the doorway. Hauling a hammer-sized fist back, he punched Gabriel hard enough to crack his head to the side.
He barely blinked, merely turned his head back to stare at the man with lips pressed tightly closed.
Reginald resumed his threats. “I will dismantle this undeserving dynasty built by a man who broke his word to us. Starting with you and your twin, and working my way up to the top of Scotland Yard. Then all of this will go to the rightful family…” He swept his arms to encompass the entirety of Cresthaven Place. “Or…” He looked at her out of the sides of his eyes, revealing whites tinged a disgusting shade of yellow.
“Or what?” Felicity couldn’t stop herself from asking, though she was certain she would detest his response.
“Or… You marry me in earnest. And what’s yours becomes mine.”
“It won’t work,” she informed him. “The will stipulates I have to marry above a viscount.”
“There are ways around such stipulations.” Reaching out, he drew a finger across Felicity’s jaw, then traced the edge of her collar down the line of her throat.
In that moment, Gabriel Sauvageau spit a mouthful of blood into the eyes of the man who’d struck him, then snapped his head back to break the nose of the man with the death grip on the garrote.
Reginald swiveled around, but before he leveled his pistol at Gabriel, Felicity seized his cane from his left hand and struck out at the wrist with which he held the weapon.
A few well-placed elbows saw Gabriel freed, and when he dipped to gather the knife from the floor, he turned to her, swiping a drop of red from the corner of his mouth.
“Turn away,mon coeur,” he said, his eyes dark with a strange amalgamation of regret and anticipation as he advanced on Reginald, kicking away the pistol.
Felicity obeyed. She dashed around the desk to Emmaline, who collapsed against her. They clung to each other, staring into the fireplace, not once looking back even as terrible sounds reached them.
Felicity didn’t have to ask why he’d directed her not to look.
He didn’t want her to see all the blood he spilt.
Chapter 16
