“Let go of my brother’s throat now, if you please,” Victor said, nudging the barrel of his pistol to Adrian’s temple.
Adrian gritted his teeth, but he forced his fingers to uncurl from the man’s throat and dropped his hand to his side.
“Step back,” Victor commanded calmly.
Adrian’s hands curled into fists by his sides, but he obeyed.
He spared a quick glance toward Bridget, whose wide eyes were glistening with tears as they flicked between him and the two brothers.
“You do not deserve her,” Adrian stated, turning his gaze back to Warren. “You never treated her with respect. Never treated her like a wife.”
“Well, that is none of your business, is it?” Warren asked, massaging his throat. “Even if I had truly died, you would have found out for yourself how boring and silly she is. Such a quiet, begging thing; always looking for praise after doing the simplest of acts. It is natural that she would jump at the first man who showed her a speck of affection.”
“Watch your mouth,” Adrian snarled.
“Or what?” Victor asked, keeping his pistol aimed at Adrian as he stepped behind him. “You seem to still believe that you are going to be the hero here, but I promise you no such triumph will be gained by you today. It is an annoyance that you are here, and as your dearly departed brother now knows, we rid ourselves of annoyances.”
Pain and rage swirled together in Adrian’s chest.
“So it is true,” he rasped, looking from Victor to Warren. “You did kill him. My investigation would have proved successful if not for your little disappearing act.”
From the corner of his eye, Adrian watched as Damien, who had inched closer to Bridget, slowly lowered his hands to her bindings.
“Evander was… an interesting man,” Warren answered, turning his back to Bridget as he looked Adrian over. “Many thought he was quite untouchable, you know. The golden boy of society who had a destiny far greater than ours. The problem with golden boys, though? They do not like to get their hands dirty. Even when they have been wronged.”
“Is that why you killed him?” Adrian asked, pushing past his heartache to keep Warren and Victor distracted. “You wronged him, and he tried to force you to make amends?”
Warren shrugged carelessly as he dabbed a kerchief to his bleeding lips.
“Evander got what he deserved. And so will you.”
Adrian ignored the threat as Damien quietly began to move toward Victor’s back.
“You blackmailing my wife seemed to work out well for you,” Adrian said. “I see she has brought you jewels worth thousands.”
“And thousands of pounds she stole from your study,” Victor added. “Or did you not know that?”
“I do not care,” Adrian quickly replied. “She can have whatever she wants of me, for I know she deserves it all.”
Victor and Warren chortled, but Adrian pressed on. “So if this worked out so well, then why did you try to force her to marry Victor? I assume he is in as much debt as you are if he is willing to go through all of this. What would it have accomplished?”
“Victor was going to make her disappear after their wedding,” Warren answered. “And create a ransom for her guardians. They are garishly wealthy and would have paid anything just to avoid society’s condemnation. Once we had the funds, we would have dumped her body and fled the country as two wealthy men.”
Bridget flew from her chair before Adrian could reply, striking Warren hard across the face.
“You monster!” she screamed after pulling the gag from her mouth. Warren growled as he lunged for her, but Adrian was there first, wrapping his body around hers as Damien pounced on Victor.
A shot rang through the air, sending a hail of ceiling plaster raining down on them. Trusting that Damien would handle Victor, Adrian put Bridget behind him and lunged at Warren. All of his rage was unleashed as his fists sailed into the man’s face.
“Get off me!” Warren roared.
Bridget screamed in warning as Warren raised something in his hand, but Adrian did not have time to see what it was beforesomething heavy slammed into the side of his face. Stunned, Adrian stumbled back as the sound of racing footsteps echoed on the dilapidated stairs.
Adrian’s world spun as he touched the ache in his face, but as he pulled his fingers back, he found no blood. He had been stunned, no doubt by a club or something of the sort.
“Damien?” Adrian roared, whirling around. To his relief, he found his friend standing over an unconscious Victor, his gun now safely in Damien’s hands.
“I got him,” Damien answered with panting breaths. “Go. Get Warren.”
