Lady Alexandra's Lover (Sex and the Season #3) - Helen Hardt Page 0,75

much money with her, but how would she get back? She hadn’t really thought this out. Evan was right. She was impulsive. All she knew was that she had to rescue Sophie.

After all, this was her fault.

She found a spot on the side of the building where she was out of sight of the moonlight. She sat and waited.

* * *

Sophie was blindfolded and gagged again. They had placed her in a rickety old coach and they were now driving who knew where. Her heart thudded as fear barreled through her. If these people were part of a group against the publication and distribution of obscene literature, what did they plan to do with her?

Kidnapping her wouldn’t gain them anything. Perhaps they were just eliminating people who were associated with what they called obscene literature.

She gulped, refusing to let the fear overtake her. She would protect Ally at all costs. After all, she owed her.

The horses stopped, and Sophie was forced from the carriage. Her hands were bound, and she was still blindfolded and gagged. She was pulled and pushed forward into what she assumed was a dwelling.

* * *

Ally’s ears perked up at the low voices. She stole toward the front of the building, taking care to stay out of the light. A broken-down coach stopped, and two people—no, three people—emerged, one woman blindfolded and gagged.

Sophie!

Ally resisted the urge to cry out her sister’s name. A woman unlocked the door, and the two forced Sophie in.

Now what? Ally’s feet were glued to the ground. She had no idea what to do. What had she been thinking, coming here? Evan was right. She would just be in the way. Her eyes misted with tears.

Ally, don’t cry like a ninny. This is all your fault!

She readied to knock on the door and demand that they let Sophie go, to tell them that she was Alexandra. She again resisted her impulses. That would just give them two hostages instead of one. They would not let either of them go, and Evan would have to save them both. She could not do that to Evan, and she might end up putting Sophie in even more danger. She bit her lip. What to do?

She stood, hidden, until a large dark figure approached the dwelling. She cowered, fear coursing through her, until—Evan! He was all in black, his hair pulled back, a black hat upon his head. Had he truly come alone? Without even a horse and coach?

Against the side of the building, she felt the vibrations when he knocked on the door.

The door opened and Evan was ushered in. If words were exchanged, Ally could not hear them.

* * *

“All right, I’ve come alone, as you asked.” And Evan had. At the last minute, he’d decided not to ask servants to accompany him. The fewer people who knew about this dratted situation, the better. He would trade himself for Sophie and then deal with the aftermath. If he died, what would it matter? The woman he loved had betrayed him. What was there to live for anyway? “Where is Lady Alexandra?”

“Mr. Ryland, bring her in,” the lady who had answered the door said. “Evan Xavier is here.”

A man pushed a bound and gagged Sophie before him. He pushed her at the woman and then frisked Evan.

Evan shoved Ryland away and moved quickly toward Sophie. “My God, are you all right?”

She nodded.

“For God’s sake, take that gag off of her!”

“In good time,” the man called Ryland said. “It is not every day that I meet a pornographer.”

Evan clenched his hands into fists, and raw anger surged into him. “How dare you? I am no more a pornographer than you are a prize citizen of London. Release her. Whatever argument you may have with me, she has nothing to do with it.”

“You must really think me a fool, Xavier. She is one of your prized writers of that little gem you call The Ruby.”

“Let her go,” Evan said through clenched teeth.

“Why should we?” Ryland stood his ground. “She’s as guilty as you are.”

“So that’s your modus operandi. You kidnap everyone associated with what you feel is obscene literature. What do you expect that to prove?”

“We took her to draw you out as the publisher,” Ryland said. “We’re going to get rid of both of you tonight.”

“Oh my God, you are insane.” Evan stepped back a bit. He hadn’t come unarmed, as bid. As he had hoped, they hadn’t checked his stockings. A sharp blade sat snugly