I watched her cab fade away into the rain, so full of love that I could burst. I’d made a friend; a real, true female friend. The first of my lifetime. Already my heart swelled to bursting, so full with her.
When I entered the creaking wrought iron gates, a figure at the top of the stairs made bile rise up in my throat. It burned. My stomach tied itself in knots. It was too late to turn and run. He’d seen me. Without Dorian’s umbrella the rain fell hard on my dress, soaking it through, destroyingit.
His eyes were ablaze and yet black as two stones, his hands pocketed, his jeans filthy. He looked worn, exhausted, and yet restless. Like he had been hell-bent on seeking me out ever since I left.
“It’s time for you to come home.” Tom shouted over the incessant thud of the rain.
Chapter Ten
Nicholas
I’d been watching the young man in the grubby denim for a few minutes when Grace appeared, waving away a cab as the rain poured down. I suppressed a stabbing pain as I wondered who was in the cab that she was so sad to say goodbye to; Dorian, no doubt. I could only blame myself for that. I’d set them up, after all. She should have had a good time with him. I wanted that for her; to meet people her own age, to be young.
And I could see by the tangle of her hair and her smeared makeup that she’d done just that. She looked like a young woman who’d gone a little wild at a party.
Or perhaps more. I pictured what Dorian might have done with her in the cab, or perhaps at the venue, to make her look so dishevelled. I wasn’t so happy about that.
When the young man on my doorstep turned and shouted to Grace in the rain, I observed an instant switch in her behaviour. She staggered back a little, her mouth dropping open. He clenched his fists.
I ran, taking the stairs two and three at a time, until I burst my way outside.
The man had her by the hair when I got to him. He was shouting obscenities at her; something about worth, and ownership. He spat cruel words about her appearance, about her dress. I didn’t hesitate long enough to hear it. Grace’s cries were enough to ignite a blind rage within me.
I prized his hand away from her and shoved him, sending him reeling. He was young, only Grace’s age, but he was tough and hardy, with broad shoulders and calloused hands. I noticed how he looked weather-beaten despite his young age; a man who worked outside and used his muscle. A man who could make short work of someone as slight as Grace.
“This is private business,” he shouted, stabbing the air with his finger. “Stay out of it.”
I drew back my fist and landed it against his jaw with a crack. I grit my teeth and took fistfuls of his shirt before he could fall backwards, and kneed him in the gut. His agonised grunt gave way to a slew of curses, before his hands were suddenly around my neck, his fingers grasping for my windpipe. I landed another punch to his ribs, forcing him to let go and stagger back, wheezing. He held his side as if nursing a stab wound, his face contorted in pain. Hunched over, he tripped on the stairs and fell.
I dragged him the rest of the way by the scruff of his shirt. Grace covered her head, screaming.
I lifted him to his feet.
“You get out and you stay out, you filth,” I muttered into his ear.
He shrugged free of me and staggered through the iron gates and into the street. He shouted back at Grace as I pursued him, promising he’d be back, promising she’dnever escape him. It took all of my strength not to drag him back in and finish him, knowing that I could. Knowing that I had all manner of ways of dealing with him and his body.
But he walked away, disappearing into the rain.
Wiping my brow, I turned to see Grace shivering, her beautiful face streaked with tears and mascara. She looked a terrified, pitiful thing, so far from the frazzled party-girl who had walked through the gate.
I wanted to beat the air from the bastard’s lungs just for taking that away from her.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, half-sobbing. “I’m so sorry, sir.”
All the anger and turmoil that rushed through me in that moment was becoming impossible to conceal, though I tried. I couldn’t just leave her like that, standing there, all alone, after that animal had almost torn the hair from her head.
I gathered her up in my arms, holding her quivering body close to mine. We were both soaked through now, and the rain was unrelenting even as I carried her up the stairs and into the house. It was late. I’d waited up for her, worrying about her return, hoping she’d be alright out in the world all alone. She was so sheltered, so unaware...and I was trying to fix that, gently, by breaking her into a society that she so clearly knew nothing about.
I’d wanted to fix this problem for her; to introduce her to the world on her terms. She reminded me too much of my timid, poor Louisa, no matter how much I denied it. I couldn’t shake the feeling that if I could help Grace, I could make amends for the woman I had already lost.
“It’s my fault for leaving you,” I said against her wet head. “Who is he, Grace?”
He seemed to think he owned you, I wanted to say.Like property.
She didn’t respond, and only sobbed in my arms, her shoulders sagging. We entered the quiet house and I took her upstairs, intending to lay her down in her room and run her a bath – but she lifted her head, her arm around my neck.
“The library,” she said. “I want to go to the library.”
