Page 70 of A Whisper of Desire
He gave a snakelike smile and she couldn’t help it. She lashed out, catching his chin with her fist. The pain was worth it when she saw his head snap back, and Angelo teetered backward.
He let out a string of obscenities, and she braced for his attack. It did not come. He merely said, “Your husband will have to pay for that. I wonder if he’s ever sucked a man’s cock before.”
“You’re disgusting.”
He merely laughed and turned to leave the room. “I shall lock the door so you do not wander off with any more of my property.”
As he stepped through the door, a gun went off and Angelo crumpled to the ground. Marisa saw blood seeping onto the wooden floor.
She stood frozen to the spot, thinking that Maitland had arrived to save her, but after another minute of staring at the blood seeping out in an ever-increasing circle, no one came.
Suddenly, she kicked herself into action and made for the door and escape. As she drew near she realized Angelo was still alive. While every nerve in her being wanted to simply step over him and leave him to bleed to death, she couldn’t do it.
The trousers made things easier because she could kneel, avoiding the blood. She pulled off her cravat and pushed down on his stomach wound. “Keep still.”
He tried to speak, his breath a gargle in his throat. “Fleur…”
“Don’t talk. I have to fetch help. Keep your hand on this if you can.”
He gripped her hand where it lay on his wound. She leaned closer to him. “Fleur de Lily…” A hacking gurgle filled the corridor. She watched as his eyes grew round with fear and then an arm was around her neck and a cloth was being pushed into her face.
She struggled, almost succeeding in twisting out of his grasp when her limbs weakened and would not obey her commands to fight back. The stench permeating from the cloth saw her head swim with dizziness. The pungent substance made her panic, she couldn’t breathe, and blackness tinged her vision.
The last thing she remembered was seeing the light leave Angelo’s eyes just before everything went dark.
Chapter 17
“Just get in the carriage, Arend. We can’t interrogate him in his own club. Angelo has too many men around to force information from him.” Maitland was just as frustrated as Arend, but they had pushed Angelo as far as they could tonight, given that Angelo was surrounded by his henchmen.
“Fuck. He knows!” Arend punched the side of the carriage. “He bloody knows who this woman is. He all but admitted it to us.”
Hadley squeezed Arend’s shoulder, and without a word entered the carriage. Maitland remained outside, standing silently, waiting for Arend to calm down.
Arend cursed again. “We are going to have to write to Grayson.”
“You can’t be serious. You know what Angelo wants from him. He wants his pride and his soul.”
Maitland couldn’t believe Arend expected his friend to comply with that degrading demand.
“Don’t be ridiculous. However, if he comes to London we could perhaps draw Angelo into a trap.”
“I doubt it, Angelo’s anything but stupid.”
“Hey, I say, chaps, there’s a young lad asleep in here. And it’s not Marisa.” Hadley called through the carriage window.
Blood froze in his veins. She’d bloody gone for the boys. “Is Marisa in the carriage?” His stomach twisted. He already knew the answer Hadley would give him.
“No. I thought it was her asleep on the squab, but it’s not.”
“Stay with the lad. Arend, come with me,” Maitland said, and headed back into the club.
“What’s going on?” Arend asked, as they entered the club. For some reason there were no men guarding the door. Maitland’s pulse sped up.
“Marisa has it in her head to save the young lad she stowed in my carriage, along with his elder brother. I assume she’s here looking for Clarence.” Maitland indicated right. “Let’s split up. If you find her, I give you permission to put her over your shoulder and drag her out of here.”
Ten minutes passed and he’d searched all the ground floor thoroughly. He couldn’t find any sign of her or Clarence, and fear had a painful grip on his innards.
He made his way toward the stairs where Arend had gone, only to find Arend coming down; his face was dark as thunder and he was pulling Clarence along by his ear.
