Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82367 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
A warm sitting room.
“Wait here and don’t let them two touch anything.” She turned around and stomped off. Impressive, given how thin she was.
“Wonder if I’m allowed to touch anything,” she muttered conspiratorially to the boys, gesturing them closer to the fire burning in the hearth.
“She wouldn’t like it.”
“Hungry, Jacob. I’s hungry.”
Jacob wrapped an arm around his little brother and put him closer to the heat. “I’ll get us something later. Right now we have to wait.”
She joined the boys by the heat and held her hands out, willing herself not to moan as the warmth penetrated her skin. Movement by the door had all of them turning. Without thinking, she put herself between whoever was coming through the door and the boys. After all, they were her responsibility now.
A slender woman stepped in, her dress of dark muslin fitting her in ways that Rosamunde wished clothing could fit herself. A smile lifted bee-stung lips before the woman hurried across the floor.
“Rosamunde. I didn’t think I would see you again. I’m glad you stopped by.” A frown. “Why did you stop by?”
Keely St. Martin was a stunning woman. Bronzed skin and eyes the color of Keely’s father’s expensive whiskey. Her dark hair had been plaited and hung forward over her left shoulder.
“I was hoping you had room to take on two more.” Rosamunde sidestepped and let Keely see the two boys behind her.
* * * *
Bryn bit back his irritation. He knew that Falcon had the same feelings. They’d been everywhere he could think of and there was no sign of his sister. Having visited all her usual haunts when she was in town, both the good and the bad, he was no closer to finding her than he’d been when they started. At least a few of the places he’d have been furious to find her at, she’d not been.
Falcon’s features became harsher and harsher the deeper into the slums they progressed. The cold slammed into them and sleet had begun to fall.
“Perhaps your mother heard wrong.” Falcon kept his eyes trained on the area around them. “And Keely is safe in the country.”
Anyone could hear the hope in the man’s words and personally, Bryce agreed with his friend. But he would be angry first that he was spending his time searching for her here, in town.
“You know I wish that were the case, but Mama is…”
Falcon nodded. “I know.”
And it was true. He and Falcon had grown up together for most of their lives. Their mothers had both had a hand in raising them. Well, Falcon’s adoptive mother. His birth mother had passed in prison. And they didn’t speak of her.
“Which leaves me with one conclusion.” They continued walking shoulder to shoulder, having given up riding in a carriage a few streets ago. Most people were giving them a wide berth for a variety of reasons.
“Keely is here in town.” They shared a glance and said at the same time, “Somewhere.” Bryn refused to give any credence to the fear someone had picked her up and she was being held against her will.
He loved his sister but she had a stubborn streak the size of the ocean. Much like him, she’d had a stigma placed upon her because she didn’t have the pale white skin of the majority of the women here. He knew, however, how behind closed doors men tended to enjoy the things they disparaged in public.
“We could go in different directions and see if we—”
“Get your hands off me!”
The words that broke into Falcon’s statement would have been enough alone, but the thread of fear lacing the voice kicked him to move faster. Not that he had to check to see if his best friend was with him, as he knew Falcon matched him step for step as they thundered up a side street to where the cry had originated.
Not too far from the Thames, this wasn’t the best area of London. It contained a lot of workhouses and unsavory people frequented this area. Still didn’t mean he would ignore someone who needed help.
He ran up to the two large men who were making good use of their sizes to try to get what they wanted from a young woman.
“Oy!” He needed their attention on him, not the woman.
They glanced at him and their sneers turned to scowls. “Stay out of this. You don’ want any of us.”
Pockmarked faces. One had all his teeth, even if they were stained, while the other missed more than he retained. Bulky without being fat, they were imposing figures. At least he assumed they would be for someone far smaller. Like the female they were scaring.
Without slowing down, he stepped between the men and the woman, grasping one man’s meaty wrist in his hand and applying pressure until he released the woman’s wrist.