Page 90 of A Relentless Rake

The boy glared at her. “He’s waiting inside for you.” He jerked a thumb toward the door. “Go on.”

“No.” She took another glance into the darkness, and another shiver raced along her spine. “Send him outside to me.”

“Inside,” he repeated in a snarling growl.

“Then I’m leaving.” With her heart hammering against her ribs, she turned around. Dear Lord, this wasn’t at all the plan that Alec and Captain Reed wanted to carry out! But even though she hadn’t drawn out Scepter’s man, they were watching from the shadows and would know which door the lad had brought her to, which door they could charge through and—

The young man grabbed her arm and yanked her backward. He pulled her inside the dark building and slammed the door shut after them.

Before she could scream, he shoved her in the back and propelled her forward. “Go on, bitch!”

She stumbled. Her heel snagged her hem, forced her off-balance, and plunged her forward. She sprawled onto the dirty floor on her hands and knees, yet she still gripped the plans in her fist.

A flash of light lit the room. She blinked rapidly to adjust her eyes as a lantern blazed to life.

She lay less than six inches from a pair of highly polished boots.

“Ah, Miss Everett,” a man’s refined voice called down to her. “How very glad I am to see you again.”

She flinched, fearing a kick in the face, and steeled herself for the blow. Instead, a hand appeared in front of her.

She glanced up the extended arm, to see the face beyond—“You?” she whispered, stunned.

Sir George Pittens smiled icily. “Who else were you expecting?”

“My brother.” She sat back and glanced frantically into the room’s shadowed corners where the lantern light didn’t reach, but she couldn’t find Henry anywhere. “Where is he?”

“How the devil should I know?” he answered with a frowning scowl. “You’re my only problem to deal with tonight.”

Deal with… A chill tickled down her spine.

“I don’t understand,” she said calmly and forced her breath to remain steady despite the rising urge to scream. “I was told to deliver the calculations to save my brother. I’ve brought them.” Growing anger offset her fear. “So where is he?”

“I don’t know anything about your brother or what you were told.” He reached beneath his jacket and withdrew a long dagger. “My instructions are to silence you.”

He grabbed for her.

A scream tore from her throat. She smacked his hand away and scrambled backward across the floor until her back hit the legs of the young man who’d pulled her into this hell. She cast a desperate glance at the door even as her hand slipped beneath her skirt for the knife sheath strapped to her calf.Alec, where are you?

The lad grinned toothlessly, grabbed her arm, and yanked her to her feet.

As she rose, she propelled herself toward him. She raised the knife to her waist and let her weight carry the blade forward, just as Alec had taught her in the alley. It sliced into the lad’s hip with a sickening resistance as the sharp blade pierced his trousers and the flesh beneath.

He howled in pain and threw her aside. Blood blossomed bright red at his thigh, and he stared down at himself as if he couldn’t fathom what had happened.

Olivia ran for the door.

A hand closed around her neck and shoved her forward against the wall. She slammed so hard into the bricks that the air exploded from her lungs, and black spots flashed before her eyes.

Sir George pressed up against her from behind. She struggled as he tried to hold her still, and with every breath, she thanked God that he wasn’t good enough with a blade to strike at a writhing target as she kicked at him and threw hard elbows into his paunchy gut.

She screamed again, a bloodcurdling sound that tore free from deep inside her. If he was going to kill her, she’d fight until her last breath—

With a shatter of wood and glass, the door broke open as Alec hurled himself into the room. Captain Reed followed a second later, ripping open the shutter and smashing through the window.

Alec grabbed Sir George and flung him away from her, then leapt onto the man and tackled him to the floor. His fists landed with dull thuds against Pittens’s jaw. The dagger’s blade flashed as it arched toward Alec’s shoulder. But he rolled away, and the blade missed its mark, striking against the stone floor with a spark. Alec kicked the knife out of Sir George’s hand, and it tumbled across the floor and out of reach.

Alec pounced, every inch the deadly panther Olivia had always seen in him. His left arm pinned Sir George’s above his head. Then he struck his fist into the man’s face over and over until Sir George crumpled into a helpless heap.