“Just so that you know, I’m going to break your nose.”
“W-w-what?”Eugene squeaked attempting to scramble up from the pile he’d splatted into on the floor.
“You can stand up and take it like a man or you can attempt to scurry away, but know I’ll make it hurt worse if you do.”
This was the sort of choice he’d never been given and he thought it more than fair, but Eugene didn’t seem to appreciate his offer, spluttering and coughing as he backed toward the door.“This is my house.You can’t?—”
Quick as a flash, he grabbed Eugene by the cravat, hauling him close once again.“How dare you lecture me on behavior.”
A rage he’d been holding back for years seemed to build inside him.
“I have every right!”Eugene fired back.Wyatt thought his jaw might have hardened.His eyes certainly did.
There was a part of him that wondered if mercy was in order.His father hit without consideration and Wyatt never wanted to be that man.
But Eugene was just as likely to come back at them if Wyatt didn’t instill the fear of his fists into the Priscilla’s tormentor, and Eugene was a grown man.He should face the consequences of his actions, and Wyatt had some ladies to protect.
This had been exactly why he’d trained.Why he’d chased criminals through the night.Perhaps he was always supposed to be ready to save this one woman, this one time.
And with that thought, he raised his fist, energy coursing through him, his muscles exactly certain of how to move to inflict some damage.He let his fist fly, planting it directly into Eugene’s face.
Blood spurted everywhere as satisfaction washed through him.Eugene’s strangled cry of pain echoed out into the hall.
Eugene’s hands flew up to his face, covering the now-crooked, spewing mess.“Good thing for you, the doctor is already here,” he said, as he pushed Eugene away again.Did he wish to hit him again?
Yes.Several times.
But his years of control stopped him.He was here to exact a specific punishment for a particular crime.Not give out a bloody beating.
Still.
He’d make sure that he and Eugene had no misunderstandings between them.
The other man staggered back, moving around the desk as Wyatt followed.“If you touch Priscilla or her mother again, I’ll give you ten of those.And if you get the police involved, I will see you imprisoned for you what you did to them.”
Then he walked back out the door.It was time to take Priscilla home.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
Pricilla curledinto Wyatt’s side as Ralph gingerly held her mother, attempting to absorb every bump of the carriage as they made their way across town.
Wyatt’s heat seeped into her side as she rested her cheek on his shoulder.
“Close your eyes,” he murmured.“Rest.”
She shook her head as she looked across the dim carriage at her mother.It wasn’t time for her to relax.Not yet.
First, she’d see her mother settled and comfortable.
She swallowed down a lump.
The doctor had assured her with rest and time the countess would make a full recovery.But the fear still beat within her chest.She pressed closer to Wyatt, the fear still thrumming through her chest.
His arm slipped about her shoulders, drawing her tighter into his side.“I’ve got a beautiful room for your mother, south facing.Large.The four-post bed will be the perfect place for her to recover.”
Her eyes did flutter closed then.“And Eugene?What if he tries to come after us?”
“Eugene is now my problem,” he whispered.“One I am more than capable of handling, so you needn’t worry about him again, Priscilla.I won’t allow him anywhere near you or your mother.That I promise.”
