Page 4 of Stolen By the Heartless Duke

“Yes.”

He studied her for a long moment, amusement glinting in his eyes above the cloth. Then he sighed theatrically. “Unfortunately, my lady, explanations are dreadfully inconvenient.”

Behind him, Colin tried to pull free from the men restraining him. “Do not involve them,” he snapped. “This is between you and me.”

“Oh?” The leader sounded entertained. “Then perhaps you should have thought of that sooner.”

The man looked at Jane and took a slow step closer. “Tell me, Lady Jane, does your brother often meddle in matters that do not concern him?”

Jane frowned. “What?”

“Sometimes people must pay for what they do,” the man said.

Jane’s stomach tightened.What on earth did that mean?

“Please let him go…” her mother whimpered from behind her. “Let us all go. This is all so terribly wrong?—”

Another shot exploded into the ceiling, cutting her mother off. Guests screamed again, and Jane pulled her mother close, still covering her body with her own. Dust drifted down from above as the masked man slowly lowered his pistol.

“Listen carefully,” he announced to everyone in the ballroom. “If anyone follows us, they die.”

Silence ensued. No one moved. No one even seemed to breathe.

Jane looked desperately at Colin as the men dragged him toward the doors. His eyes found hers across the room. Apologetic. Terrified.

“Jane,” he called roughly.

She took a step forward instinctively.

A gun clicked.

She froze.

“Careful,” one of the masked men warned her.

Her mother broke then, trying to run after Colin despite everything. “You cannot take him!”

Jane caught her around the waist. “Mama, no!”

“They will kill him!”

“It’ll be all right.” Jane’s throat burned with unshed tears. “Please stay by my side. If you don’t, they will shootyou.”

“I do not care!” Her mother’s wail filled every corner of her soul.

Jane cared, though. Dear God, she cared. She could not lose both of them tonight. The masked men dragged Colin across the ballroom toward the entrance. Guests scrambled backward to clear a path, terrified of drawing attention to themselves.

At the doorway, Colin twisted once more, looking frantically through the chaos. When their eyes met, there was something awful in his expression.

It wasn’t fear. It was guilt. And suddenly Jane felt cold all over.

The masked men disappeared through the ballroom doors with Colin between them. Then they were gone. Only the echo ofboots and distant shouting remained as they vanished into the night.

For several seconds, nobody moved. The ballroom looked unreal now. Overturned chairs, shattered glass glittering across the floor, and guests pale with shock. Somewhere nearby, a woman began crying hysterically.

Then everything dissolved into chaos. People rushed toward the exits all at once.

“Oh, God.”