The space was dark, and she couldn’t see, but she could feel the anger roiling off of Victor in violent waves.
“You left me. Do you know how long it took me to finally track you down?” he asked, spittle spraying her face.
A tear slipped down her cheek. She really thought she had run far enough that he would never find her.
She should have known better.
“Do you?” he shouted when she didn’t answer.
The sting of his hand slapping her cheek made her cry out.
Grasping a handful of her hair, he pulled her down to the ground roughly. “You shouldn’t have run,” he ground out in her ear.
She tried to remove his fist from her hair, but he wouldn’t relent. Her scalp stung from the pull.
“You thought you could leave me?” he snapped close to her face; she could feel his breath on her skin. The next slap should have been expected, but it still took Jocelyn by surprise and she cried out.
“Shut up!” he screamed as he took his anger out on her and she could do nothing but put her arms up in defense.
Noise from upstairs stopped Victor’s assault and he covered her mouth with his hand.
“Do not say a word or I will slice your throat right now.” To emphasize his statement, he pressed something to her neck.
She froze as the cold metal met her skin.
She had no doubt that he would fulfill his promise.
Silent tears flowed down her cheeks. What had she done?
*
The men leftthe fighting club and called for their carriage to take them home to Leyson. It was one of Gunn’s larger carriages, but with the size of the men, they were forced to squeeze together. But it was better than arriving separately and missing out on all the conversation.
At Leyson, they piled out of the carriage and loudly made their way inside.
Outside, the women were in the garden having tea.
Except Joss. She was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Jocelyn?” he asked, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.
“Inside,” Lizzie said. “I believe she’s resting. We didna want to wake her.”
His brows furrowed. “How long has it been since ye’ve seen her?”
The women looked at each other, shrugging, murmuring.
“A half hour,” Gwen said. “Mayhap an hour at the verra most.”
Gunn rushed into the house. He didn’t ken what it was, couldn’t put his finger on it, but something didn’t feel right.
They all followed him inside. He took the stairs two at a time, running down the hall to his room.
Empty.
He pushed open Joss’s door. But he kenned it would be empty as well. She never spent any time in this room anymore.
“She’s not here,” he called out.
