“I’d rather die!” Lucy snapped.
She knew that she needed to escape. The bird could die. It could break. But it was not going to stay in the cage as a plaything.
She tried to bolt out the door, but Joshua was bigger and faster. He caught her by the waist and swung her around. Then, he backed her up against the wall.
“Say it, Lucy,” he begged, pressing his forehead against hers. “Tell me that you will come with me to America. That you love me the same way I love you.”
“Never!”
“Ah, if that’s what you want. I may be forced to break you before we leave London.”
Tears streamed down Lucy’s face. She wondered what she had ever done to deserve this fate.
Just when she was about to give up, she heard the sound of a carriage rolling up to their house.
Then, she heard pounding on the front door and aslam.
Joshua did not even flinch.
“Your Duke? Your friend? He is too late,” he whispered.
It did not take long for the bedroom door to groan as someone kicked it. Once. Twice. Three times.
“Lucy! Your butler let me in!” Daniel yelled. “He said he heard a scream from your room! Lucy!”
Joshua closed a hand around Lucy’s throat and squeezed. She gasped for air. Perhaps it was death that would set her free.
Then, the door began to splinter.
Chapter Thirty-One
The bedroom door exploded inward, the sound deafening. Daniel did not just enter; he charged through the debris. His face was red with worry and fury, which he used to rip the door off its hinges.
His coat billowed behind him, making him look like a dark avenging angel.
None of what Lucy saw suggested that this was a polished duke. Daniel was disheveled and bloodied. His eyes were blazing.
What happened to him?
“Get your hands off her, you bastard!” he roared as he lunged at Joshua.
He grabbed the Earl’s shoulders and pried him off her, his eyes narrowed on the hand wrapped around her throat. Lucy gasped for breath as the pressure eased. She could not even scream.
Joshua stumbled back from her, but the sneer remained on his face. She could not help but tremble at the thought of what he was thinking and trying to do for the last few minutes.
“You’re too late, Stonewynn,” he taunted, although he sounded tired. “Besides, this is a family matter and has nothing to do with you. I am preparing my sister for a journey she has agreed to. Meddlers are not welcome.”
“I did not do that!” Lucy wheezed.
“Family? You were treating her like family by almost strangling her to death?” Daniel barked, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. “You are not allowed to use that word anymore, Marsleigh. I’ve spoken to your man, Moses Gordon. He told me that Kenneth discovered some of your unsavory transactions. Most importantly, he revealed your involvement in the fire at Suffolk.”
Lucy’s eyes went wide, and she clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp.
“The fire that killed your family?” she whispered.
But she knew they had heard her. Both men had turned toward her for a brief moment.
“Tell me he’s lying, Joshua,” she begged.
