The Duke's Magnificent Obsession (The Hellion Club Book 6) by Chasity Bowlin

Author:Chasity Bowlin [Bowlin, Chasity]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2022-08-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

The smell assaulted him first. Urine, unwashed bodies, sickness and general uncleanliness—it filled the air and made the bile rise in his throat. The sounds were painfully familiar as well. Distant wailing, profanities spewed in rapid-fire speech by pacing, manic inmates and the annoyed, warning shouts of the guards for them to shut their mouths. In all the years since he’d been freed from this place, if anyone ever truly was freed from it, nothing had changed.

“I need to speak to the administrator of this facility,” he said to the guard as he entered.

“Who are you to demand a meeting, then?”

“I am the Duke of Hargrieve,” Barrett said. “And you will inform him that I am here or I will have your job before the next hour strikes!”

The guard sneered, but walked away to speak to someone. One of the other employees looked in his direction for a moment, narrowed his eyes, and then headed off down the corridor, presumably to inquire if he could see the man in charge of the hellish nightmare.

A few moments later, that same man returned and beckoned for him to follow. It felt impossibly strange to walk willingly into the depths of that building. The further he traveled along those corridors, the more the hair on his nape rose as he felt the outside world slipping away. It would be so easy to get lost in there forever, to have a locked door take him away once more from everything he held dear. Minerva’s face suddenly appeared in his mind. She was dearer to him than anything, even though he barely knew her, even though she was entirely forbidden to him.

They emerged from one corridor lined with dirty cells into another that was swept clean and well lit. Toward the end of that corridor was a series of offices. He recognized them. That was where he’d been brought to Highcliff when he’d finally been discharged as a patient of the Bethlem Hospital.

Entering the last office, he faced a man who was not unknown to him. It was the very same man who’d held him prisoner there, who’d allowed Charlotte and his uncle to lock him away without cause.

“Ah… it’s you. You’re certainly taller than you were when last we met,” the man chuckled.

“And far less easily intimidated… I am a duke, after all. And wealthy enough despite my tattered reputation to have you removed from your post.”

The man frowned then. “Speak your peace, Hargrieve. This is a place for working men.”

“John Graves. I want him discharged into my custody,” Barrett said.

“I’m afraid I cannot do that… the boy’s mother has entrusted me with his care—”

“The boy’s mother is a scheming bitch,” Barrett replied. “You will release him to me or I will have you removed from your post. Not only that, but I will see to it that you are never again employed in any capacity that will allow you to earn more than a pittance. The boy. Now.”

“You cannot just make these demands!”

“I can.

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