Worth Any Price (Bow Street Runners #3)(89)

Sayer sat up and regarded him with clear anxiety. "It looks like you've strained some muscles. And your hand looks like it's been pushed through a sieve."

But he was alive. It was too miraculous to believe. Nick had gotten a reprieve he didn't deserve, and by all that was holy, he was going to take advantage of it. As he thought of Lottie, he was seized with dark longing.

"Sayer," he managed to say hoarsely, "I've just decided something."

"Oh?"

"From now on, you'll have to find your own f**king way around Fleet Ditch."

Sayer grinned suddenly, seeming to understand the reasons behind his vehemence. "I suppose you think you're too good for this place, now that you're a viscount. I knew it was just a matter of time before you started putting on airs."

Lord Radnor was clearly astonished to see Lottie at her family's home. His hard, black gaze moved from her face to Ellie's, comparing the two of them, cataloging the differences. When he looked back at Lottie, his face was taut with a mixture of hatred and longing.

"You have no right to interfere," he said.

"My sister is an innocent young girl who has done nothing to you," Lottie flared. "She doesn't deserve to suffer because of my actions. Leave her alone!"

"I've invested twelve years of my life in you," Radnor said between clenched teeth, taking a step forward. "And I will be repaid for those years one way or another."

Lottie glanced incredulously at her parents. "You can't truly mean to give her to him! How can you have slipped so far beyond decency? My husband said that he would take care of you and assume your debts-"

"Ellie will have a better life this way," her father mumbled. "Lord Radnor will provide well for her-"

"You don't mind the fact that he intends to make her his mistress?" Lottie glared at them all, while Ellie cowered behind her and sobbed against her back. "Well, I won't have it! I'm leaving now, and taking Ellie with me-and if anyone dares to lay a finger on us, he will answer to Lord Sydney."

The mention of Nick seemed to infuriate Lord Radnor. "How dare you? You have cheated, betrayed, and insulted me beyond all bearing, and now you mean to deprive me of the one recompense I ask for."

"You don't want Ellie," Lottie said, staring at him steadily. "You want to strike back at me. To punish me for marrying someone else."

"Yes," Radnor exploded fiercely, seeming to lose all self-control. "Yes, I want to punish you. I raised you up from the mud, and you have brought yourself low again. You have corrupted yourself, and in doing so, you have deprived me of the only thing I have ever desired." He came to her in a few aggressive strides. "Every night I lie abed imagining you with that swine," he shouted into her face. "How could you choose that loathsome animal over me? The filthiest, most debauched man on-"

Lottie drew back her hand and struck him hard, her palm smacking the side of his face with numbing force. "You aren't fit to speak his name!"

Their gazes locked, and Lottie saw the last remnants of sanity disappear from Radnor's eyes. He reached out for her, his hands closing around her like a hawk's talons, and he jerked her off her feet until she fell against him. Behind her, Ellie gave a fearful shriek.

Lottie's parents appeared too stunned to move as Lord Radnor dragged her from the house. Caught fast in his grip, Lottie stumbled and tripped down the front steps. Radnor shouted something to his footmen, while she fought and twisted in Radnor's arms, until he cuffed the side of her head, landing a painful blow on her ear. Lottie reared and shook her head to clear a shower of brilliant sparks. Her gaze found Daniel, who had been beset by Radnor's footmen. Despite Daniel's size, he was no match for two of them.

"My lady," Daniel cried, and reeled backward as a heavy fist smashed into his face.

Radnor sank his hand into Lottie's hair and tangled his fingers tightly in the pinned-up locks. Locking his other arm around her neck, he forced her to go with him to his carriage.

"See here, Radnor-" came her father's anxious voice. "We've said you can have Ellie. Release Lottie, and we'll-"

"Thisis what I want," Lord Radnor raged, dragging Lottie with his forearm clamped around her throat, making her choke and gag as she was deprived of air. "No more bargains. No substitutes. I will have Charlotte and be damned to all of you!"

Lottie clawed frantically at the crushing vise of his arm, her lungs feeling as if they would burst. She couldn't breathe...she needed air...black and red streaks blurred her vision, and she felt herself go limp in Radnor's punishing embrace.

CHAPTER 15

Lottie did not fully regain her senses until she felt herself being half-dragged, half-carried into Lord Radnor's London home. Her head pounded viciously, and her throat ached as she struggled against his unrelenting grasp. Somewhere beneath her fear and fury, she was aware of a deep relief that Ellie had been spared. Her sister was safe, and now everything had boiled down to the confrontation that Lottie had always known would happen, between her and the man who had dominated most of her life.

Although Lottie was aware of a few exclamations from nearby servants, none of them dared to interfere. They were all fearful of Radnor, and they would not lift a finger to prevent him from doing as he wished. She wondered what his purpose was in bringing her here. His London residence was the first place that would be investigated when it was discovered that she was missing. She would have expected him to take her to a remote place where they could not easily be found.