Leo rushed to the side alley of the building. The Duchess's carriage was there, the driver and servant incapacitated by two thugs. And two more were dragging Prim further into the dark maze of the docks.
“Prim!” Leo shouted.
For a moment, the whole world paused. The four thugs looked at him, stunned, but Leo's focus was all on Prim. He saw the filthy hands of those animals on her precious skin, and what rose inside him couldn't even be described as anger. It was uncontrollable rage that surged through his veins like wildfire spreading.
“Let her go!” his voice was low, rumbling, threatening.
He would give these animals just one opportunity to let this go, and then he wouldn't be responsible if they didn't heed his warning. And it just so seemed that these thugs thought that they were a match for Leo. They saw his expensive clothes and mistook him for a civilized man, perhaps a little too soft.
Leo spared one moment to glance at Prim. Their eye met in the alley, and he saw relief in hers, the dread of the abuse, dissipating in his presence. He just nodded at her and then turned his attention to the men standing between him and his wife.
“Very well,” Leo said and dropped his coat.
He didn’t wait. He launched himself at the nearest man, the one holding Prim’s arm, and punched him hard. A crack, a grunt, and the grip on Prim’s arm went slack. Leo didn’t wait for him to fall. He spun and drove his elbow into the gut of the second man who lunged at him. The man folded in half, Leo raised his knee, and threw the man on his back, clearly unconscious.
Leo turned his attention to the men who kept his driver and his servant captive. Those two managed to find two brain cells to rub together, and they realized that the real threat was this strange man standing in the alley. They disappeared.
Behind him, Leo felt a movement. He turned just in time to see the first man that he had attacked with something shining in his hand. A knife. Leo raised his arm in defense, and the knife cut his flesh.
That was not enough to stop him. His other arm was raised, he put all the strength of his body from his toes to his hand and he punched the man with all his might. The thread that kept the thug’s consciousness together was cut short, and the man fell into a heap in that dark alley.
Leo looked around, heaving from the exertion, still on high alert for any threat. When he realized there was none, he turned his attention to Prim. She was standing pinned on the spot with an incredulous look on her face as if she didn't believe what she had just witnessed. Her body was in shock, and Leo saw her trembling.
“I'm here. I'm here. I got you,” he took her in his arms.
At first, she was stiff and rigid. Leo felt a sting in his heart. Did she hate him so much that his touch was not comforting anymore? But after a few seconds, her body responded, melting into his, abandoning its weight in his arms, trusting him.
“I am here, don't worry. I'm here. It's safe,” Leo kept repeating.
His hand caressed her back in slow, tentative circles. For a while, he just held her there, his hand on his back, his cheek in her hair, inhaling her scent and allowing her to realize that she was indeed safe. Then she pushed her a little and looked down her body with frenzied urgency.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
Prim had trouble focusing, looking around in the alley at the men at their feet, still shaking.
“Look at me, Prim. I'm here. Did they hurt you?”
He tried very hard to be gentle in this moment, but if he saw one little hesitation, if she even winced in pain, these men unconscious at his feet would remain very much unconscious for the rest of their wretched lives.
“I am…” her voice was small and timid, and yet firm.
His Prim was not a flimsy flower to break this easily.
“Please tell me if you are hurt,” Leo begged her.
“I am not hurt.”
“Let's go back home,” Leo said and lifted her in his arms.
He made his way to the carriage, and he made sure that his men were not hurt either. Luckily, they were both shocked, but they had minor injuries. The servant was hit on the head when he tried to stop them from taking Prim. The driver was safe but was held at gunpoint.
He gave the order to go back to the estate as fast as they could, and the crew managed to find a quick way out of the craziness of the docks. They were soon on their way to the estate, silence reigning in the cabin of the carriage. Prim was so shocked that she just clung to him and didn't say a word. Such was her exhaustion that not long after, she fell asleep in his arms.
She was still asleep when Leo saw the towers of his house. Very softly, he picked her up, and he went through the entrance. He ordered a bath to be drawn, and he made his way to her chambers. The moment he left her on the covers of her bed, Prim opened her eyes and sat up.
“We are back home. You are safe.”
She nodded, still shaking her hands tight in fists.
