An Affair So Right (Rebel Hearts #4)(75)

“So you did kill him.”

“I left him to die, screaming in agony.”

Theodora’s stomach clenched and Mother sobbed. “You’re a monster!” Theodora told him.

“I discovered that to get ahead in life, you have to be willing to get your hands dirty.”

“How did you learn that?”

Small smiled and fell silent, while Theodora desperately fiddled with her bonds behind her back. The rope seemed thin and soft, and not as tight as it could be around her wrists, too. She could move a little, but was it enough to free herself and then her mother? She tossed her head suddenly, determined to buy them as much time as she could to think and come up with a plan for their escape. “What trouble had my father ever been to you? He treated you as part of the family.”

Small shook his head. “If I was a family member, I’d never have had to scrape for a living, would I, Nelson?”

“No, sir. He never treated you right,” Nelson answered. “Manners are important.”

“Indeed, they are.” Small squatted down next to her and reached out to touch her black gown. “If Dalton had shown me the proper respect, you wouldn’t be wearing mourning now. I even asked for your hand, and he refused me.”

“You wanted to marry me?” Theodora stared at him in shock.

He shrugged, and his fingers drifted down her legs. “I could have learned to put up with your bookish nonsense eventually, I suppose.”

She shivered at sensing Small’s sexual interest in her that he’d never revealed before. “I was never going to love anyone after Daniel.”

“Liar, but whoever said love was a requirement of marriage when there is money involved?”

I do.

Theodora’s heart began to clatter. She did believe in love and marriage. At that moment she realized she was already in love, and Quinn could never know she’d fallen for him. She’d given her word that she’d never want to marry him. What a fool she was to have promised that before really knowing him.

“My husband treated you well,” Mama protested, finally speaking up. “He gave you far more liberty than anyone else in our employ ever had.”

“Still a servant to his fame, and a man none of you took seriously.” He inched Theodora’s gown up her legs to reveal her stockings. “He cared more for the beggars on the street than for the people who truly needed his funds. Not that it matters now.”

“How much is for me?” Nelson asked loudly, interrupting Small’s perusal of her garters.

“I’ll explain one last time.” Small sighed and quickly stood, leaving her legs exposed. He hurried to Nelson, who was pushing the piles of coins around with the tip of his stubby fingers. He knocked her empty satchel off the table carelessly, and an emerald rolled into the straw from within, unnoticed.

The payment she’d acquired from Mr. Brown kept their interest for some minutes. Theodora used the moment to twist her arms and fingers, hurriedly trying to free herself. She found the end of the rope and tugged just as Small glanced her way. “You’ll only hurt yourself if you keep struggling,” he warned.

The moment he turned away, she tugged. The ropes became loose around her wrists, but she did nothing about it for the moment. She held herself still, knowing she could be free if only she had a plan for escape that rescued her mother, too. She had to bide her time for the right opportunity. “Let us go.”

That eye returned to the peephole and stared at her.

“Now since I can’t have you running to the authorities, or your new betrothed, about this we’re going to take a short trip together,” he advised in an offhand manner, barely glancing her way as he assessed their stolen fortune. He bit into a coin and then added it to a far pile, the one nearest Nelson.

He knew about Quinn. How long had he been watching them? How much could he know?

She turned to her mother. I’m free, she mouthed, careful to make no sound.

Her mother’s eyes widened in surprise, and then she shook her head violently, warning her without words not to do anything foolish like trying to escape.

Theodora shrugged. She had to act soon. There was no telling what Small would do next, or where he would take them, but she was desperately afraid he could give them to his men outside as some sort of payment.

“Are you hurt?” Theodora asked her mother, after a quick glance at the men to make sure Small and Nelson were still occupied with counting their money.

“No,” her mother said very softly. “Nelson made sure of that.”

Theodora darted a quick glance at the little-known man standing beside Dennis Small. That was an odd thing for an abductor to do. Given Nelson’s consideration for her mother’s comfort, did that mean they had a secret ally in this room who might help them? He’d already distracted Small once from molesting her. Had he done it on purpose? And if so could Mr. Nelson be persuaded to help them escape if given the right encouragement? She would have to be very creative about how she made helping them appealing. Offering more money was unlikely to sway him, given the fortune already in hand.

She swallowed hard and realized she only had one thing she could trade. Herself. “He’s not my betrothed,” she announced loudly.

Small turned. “What was that?”

“I said, Lord Templeton is not my betrothed,” she protested. “He’s only my employer.”