Hart by Victoria Vale

Author:Victoria Vale [Vale, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-03-12T18:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

Edinburg, Scotland

4 months later…

“Hold on, butterfly, we’re almost there,” Adam murmured to the limp body resting in his arms.

As rain battered him from overhead, he tried not to think about how—even soaking wet—the woman in his arms weighed far less than she ought. About how, despite having just given birth, her frame had lost so much of the womanly softness it should have held. He could feel the protrusion of her ribs through her gown and coat, and the reminder of the things she had endured had him clenching his teeth to bite back howls and bellows of rage.

He wanted to storm to his father’s study—his now, he supposed—and retrieve the duo of pistols that rested in a cedar box inside the safe. He wanted to arm himself, run out to the stables, mount the first horse he got his hands on, and return to London. It would not matter if he had to ride all night, or if he caught his death along the way in this ghastly weather.

It wouldn’t matter, because once he reached his destination, he would then draw one of the pistols and use it to end Bertram Fairchild’s life. He had imagined it so many times since discovering Olivia. Cocking back the hammer, pulling the trigger to produce the flash of light, filling the air with the scent of gunpowder and blood. Watching the lying scoundrel fall to his knees with a bullet between his eyes, mouth open in shock, eyes glassy and unfocused.

But, as the door swung open to reveal the butler and the pale, drawn face of Niall behind him, Adam forced himself to focus on the task at hand. He had spent months journeying to England by ship, only to arrive in London and discover that Olivia had yet to be found. Her cousin had given up, seeming to have resigned himself to this notion that she’d run off on her own, perhaps with a lover. Adam had thrashed the man—partly for being so nonchalant about his sister’s disappearance, but mostly for being such a piss-poor guardian that Olivia had been given the chance to go missing.

If he had been here …

That thought had spurred him into action, and he’d gone about town, interviewing her friends and acquaintances—all of whom indicated Mr. Bertram Fairchild person as the only one she’d shown much of an interest in. So, he’d gone to Fairchild House, where the young man had assured Adam he had seen neither hide nor hair of Olivia in months.

Bertram had looked like just the sort of man Adam hated—weak chin, limpid eyes, and an entitled arrogance that he had not earned. Yet, he’d seemed sincere, and unlikely to be the sort of man his sister would run off with. She had more sense than that.

Didn’t she?

He’d continued his search, leaving London and seeking out inns along the road—places she might have stopped to sleep on her way to God-knew-where. Finally, he’d come across an innkeeper who recalled seeing her in the company of a gentleman old enough to be her father.

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