Page 60 of Denying the Duke (Lords and Ladies in Love 3)

He took another drink and turned his angry eyes on her. “Then your husband, noble man that he is, was sent to America to drag me back.”

She breathed out the words. “The trip you said you took with Alex.”

“Ha. Pretty and smart. I just might take you with me.”

Patience tried very hard to tamp down the anger at Alex treating her so shamefully. He had never once told her this man existed, or that he would try to kidnap her. Here she was, followed around like a recalcitrant child, while all that time he’d known she was in danger.

She was not a stupid woman. Had she known, she could have protected herself, as well, and she certainly would not have walked off alone with Polly.

Her mind in a whirl, she knew Alex would bring whatever money Loverly wanted, but she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that Loverly had no intention of letting her go.

Kidnappers rarely did.

…

Alex crushed the paper in his hand and tossed it into the cold fireplace. “He wants ten thousand pounds now. I’m to meet him at the West India dock tonight.” His stomach roiled at the thought of Loverly having Patience in his control. Would he molest her?

Cam let out with a low whistle.

“What’s the plan?” Hawk had a way of always zeroing in on the important points. It helped to anchor him, kept him from thinking about his wife in the hands of that traitor.

Alex jumped up from his seat and paced. “If I give him the money, he has no way to disappear unless he takes Patience with him.”

“Agreed,” Cam said.

He looked around the circle of his three friends who had become such an important part of his new life. Even though they’d spent the past few years apart, he felt he could trust them, and count on them like no one else in his life. “The one thing we can be assured of is it will be foggy at the dock. We might be able to use that for some cover.”

“How long will it take you to get the ten thousand pounds?” Templeton, always the practical one, chimed in.

“I can have it in hand before five this afternoon. He wants to meet me at ten tonight.” Alex pinched the bridge of his nose. This was precisely why he’d kept Patience under wraps since they’d returned to London. He should not have allowed footmen to accompany her. He should have done it himself. Even though she’d been mad at him. Her safety should have come first. Problems caused by what she perceived as his bullying could have been dealt with later.

Realizing Polly had fled once she’d handed over the paper, he rang for Monroe to fetch the girl. She might know something that would help them. He had no problem with handing over the money for his wife, but since there was no guarantee the man would, in fact, let her go, it would be best if they could rescue her before the meet up at the West India docks.

“Yes, Your Grace.” The poor girl did not look any better than when she’d handed over the note. Her eyes were swollen and red and she clutched a handkerchief that she twisted in her hands.

“Take a seat, Polly. I just want to ask you a few questions.”

She burst into tears, and it took all his fortitude not to grab the woman by the shoulders and shake her. Taking a calming breath, he said, “Polly, please try to compose yourself. You might have information that could help us rescue your lady.”

Polly gulped a few times and nodded. “Yes, Your Grace.” She turned tear-filled eyes toward him. “I told her w

e should not fool the footmen and wander about without them.”

That explained how Loverly had gotten to her. “How did you get back here?”

“I was so upset when that awful man took Her Grace that I even forgot we had our own carriage with us, so I waved down a hackney that Monroe paid for once I arrived. I’m sorry he had to pay for a carriage for me.”

Once more Alex felt the need to shake her. What did he care about paying for a hackney when his wife’s life was in danger? “That is not an issue, Polly. Do you have any idea where the carriage and my footmen are?”

She wiped her nose with the now soggy handkerchief. “Yes. We left them outside of a store on Bond Street, and then we went out the side door so they wouldn’t follow us.”

Clever wife. So clever her life was now threatened. Once he got his hands on her, he didn’t know if he would kiss her to death or throttle her. Probably both.

Despite the wall he’d built around himself from the horrors he’d seen, and the things he’d been responsible for in the line of duty, he realized Patience had managed to chip away at it.

All those feelings he’d thought were long gone had not left at all. They’d been buried deep inside him, and it had only taken a matter of weeks before he’d fallen as madly in love with Patience as he had when he’d walked away from her four years ago.

And now he could lose her once more. Could he survive it again?