Reckless Rules (Brambridge Novel 4) (30 page)

Maisie? As in Rosie and Maisie?
What had happened?

“I don’t see what’s wrong.” Victoria kept her eyes closed and continued to breathe shallowly as she recognized Pedro’s voice. “A woman’s a woman, a girl’s a girl. And the fact that she’s Lady Colchester will make them bid even higher for her. Who wouldn’t want to have this beautiful woman as a slave, Cryne?

Cryne? As in that odious toad? Slave…Victoria itched to open her eyes.

“Hur hur. I must admit when you were undressing her, I did take a look. Magnificent curves. When I think of the trouble that she’s caused me with Rosa Fanthorpe, I rather think I might bid for her myself.”

Victoria clamped down against her tongue as revulsion filled her body. Only a day earlier she had imagined Cryne’s hands all over her and almost vomited. Now she knew that he had seen her naked.

“Yes, but with what money cry-baby, Cryne? The only reason you are in this with me is to get back all the money you lost to your dear old papa.”

“I wasn’t to know he would cheat at blackjack against his only son.” A finger caressed her cheek. “So soft.”

“Get your hands off the goods, Cryne. My father made that mistake years ago. That’s the only reason why we know each other now. Being cousins is as far as I want to claim relationship with you.”

“It’s not my fault my aunt was a trollop.”

“Careful what you say about aunts. According to dear old pater, Lady Colchester is also my aunt. Won’t he be surprised when he finds that she’s disappeared?”

“I don’t understand this attachment your father has to Lady Colchester.”

“Neither do I. I think it has something to do with his brother and to do with his main business.”

“The housebreaking?”

“It’s not just common housebreaking, dear cuz. He obtains things to order.”

“Hmm, not without a bit of opportunistic theft and murder on the way as far as I can tell. Although I heard he did draw the line at what you did to that girl.”

“She was in the house and she wasn’t meant to be. I just gave her what she deserved.”

“Just like your father did to my aunt.”

There was a short silence into which Victoria held her breath. “Yes,” Pedro finally said. “Now shut up and help me get her ready. She’s too pale. I must have given her too much opium. Slap some of that pink stuff on her.”

“You do it. You’re the performer.”

“I have to do everything. Get the girl…”

“You forget, Peter, that I know the people that will pay the money. That’s what I bring to this bargain.”

“We’ll do two things tonight. Sell Lady Muck here and this blasted list of people that the brute keeps chasing me for. Why he didn’t give up in the first place when I first slipped my chains is unbelievable. The look on his big face as I flipped out of the door! He had barely lumbered to his feet and I was halfway down the street.”

“Yes, yes, I’ve heard it all before, Peter. You performing as the wonderful Pedro yet again.”      

“Just make sure the right people turn up today. I want to get rid of both of them.”

The two voices faded away as they left the room, still arguing. Tentatively, Victoria opened her eyes and peered out through a small gap between her eyelashes. She was in a dark room that smelled faintly of cabbage. It tickled a small memory but failed to hook any larger remembrance. She put her feet out in front of her and tried to stand, promptly toppling over onto her front and crashing her chin on the floor.

She lay still, wary that Mr. Cryne and Pedro might come back. If only she could warn Bill that Pedro meant to sell on the secrets. If only they had talked to each other earlier about their respective investigations instead of her walking away both times.

There were no shouts, nor running feet. Gingerly Victoria tried to pull her hands apart. They were tightly bound together with a coarse rope. The same must have been true of her legs, which had caused her to fall over.

As her eyes became used to the gloom, she managed to start to pick out different objects. She had fallen slightly under the lip of a large mahogany table surrounded by ornate balloon back chairs. An empty fire grate in the corner provided scant comfort, its surround inlaid with a scallop design in the center.

She had been in this room before. Right at the start when she had first heard about the women being abducted. She should have listened when Mrs. Prident had said that she thought Mr. Robertson
had
been involved. It was becoming all too clear that she was lying in the room where she had first met him in Hoxton at his establishment for paupers.

But the man had been investigated thoroughly. How on earth had something like this been missed?

Victoria jerked at her bonds again. It was no use, she really was tied up tight. There was no give to the cords on either her feet or her hands. She was lucky that she had woken up at all; only half digesting the pill that Pedro had forced on her had lowered the effect of whatever was in it.

“I’ll just check on Lady Muck again. There are several hours before the meeting starts. I want to make sure that she is still in a fit state for sale.”

All of Victoria’s muscles turned rigid as the door to the board room opened again to reveal the speaker—Pedro, still dressed in a top hat. Taking in a deep breath, she forced them to relax one by one. She couldn’t let the man know that she was awake. She moaned gently and closed her eyes.

“Here, what are you doing on the floor?” Pedro muttered. “Bloody opium. It never knocks my little chicks out. Makes them think they have got wings. Up you get.”

A pair of hands firmly grasped her under her arms and hauled her up onto a chair.

“If you have bruised yourself in any way I will be very angry with you. Buyers don’t like damaged goods. My father told me that.”

Holding tightly onto the fire that was beginning to burn strongly in her belly, Victoria remained unresponsive as Pedro lifted up her skirts to check her knees and pulled roughly at the lace at her elbows. He grunted in satisfaction.

“You’ll do.” Victoria sensed him take a step back. “You know if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were untouched by a man’s hand. The bidder tonight is going to get a very interesting surprise.” Pedro sniggered. “If only my father knew.” His snigger turned into a full belly laugh. “Just like if he knew I had been impersonating him whilst stealing away all my lovely girls. Oh ho! My lovely chickety chicks.”

Victoria wasn’t sure what was worse. Being tied up in the presence of Pedro, or being left to the mercy of the delusional Pablo.

“Now then. Just you look after this for me, just in case mind.” Victoria felt a hand slip a piece of paper down the front of her dress. She fought hard against the revulsion as the hand grazed roughly at her chest.

“Oh lovely.” Pedro groaned. She tensed as he let his hand lie against her naked skin. “Mustn’t tamper with the goods. Got me into trouble before,” Pedro muttered again before removing his hand from her dress. “Anyway, you’re a little too old for my tastes.”

Victoria heard him leave. She was left propped in the chair. He had said a few hours. A few hours till what? An auction. An auction of herself as a slave to a group of people. Victoria didn’t want to open her eyes again. The blackness was preferable. Where was the beast when she needed it? It had been all too prevalent from her young years when her parents had died right up until that moment when she had let her guard down. Oh God. She only hoped that Chantelle and Carruthers had understood her message.

She had been so naïve. She should have recognized her feelings for Bill as soon as he had kissed her. If only she hadn’t been so proud. Setting him that list had been a moment of pique. Victoria had thought he would recognize that she was giving her all, at least all that she
could
give without giving up her whole self by offering a carte blanche. But he had obviously wanted more. Without the list, they could have been married in days, and Bill would have been none the wiser about her impending fall from grace as Lady Colchester. Even she, with her limited experience, recognized that what they had was something more than a passing attraction. They could have perhaps built something more out of it, returned to Brambridge… She was fantasizing. She wouldn’t trap the man in a lie. She’d promised herself that.

Victoria took in a shuddering breath as a rare tear welled in the corner of one eye. She scrunched her eyes tightly shut, but no waves of blackness appeared.

Damn. She had a lot to blame that man for.

And she still hadn’t worked out what his relationship with Celine was. Or all those other women for that matter. The sad thing was that she thought she might be dangerously
in love
with him. And the fact that he seemed to be embroiled with other women didn’t dim that attraction. It was perverse. She was perverse.

God. Only an hour had gone by. How long had Pedro said? Several hours. She had to make a plan. She couldn’t walk, however, so there was no getting out of the room. She wasn’t meant to be awake, she was meant to be under the influence of opium. Could the rules even help her?

Be patient.

That didn’t help very much. That was like waiting for life to happen. She overused that rule anyway.

If only Pablo
would
turn up and discover his son doing whatever he planned to do. Then at least she might be freed to bargain for her life.

Victoria relaxed her features as the door to the board room banged open again. “Change of plan, my lady.” Good grief, it was Cryne this time. “The meeting’s been brought forward. It seems that Pedro’s father is a little agitated. Someone’s dropped a word in his ear about Pedro and the girls. We need you shifted before he turns up.”      

Cryne’s hands were rougher than Pedro’s. He pulled her hands up above her head and pushed her to the floor. Yanking her by the cords on her hands, he pulled her along the polished floorboards of the room like a sack of washing. Victoria could barely keep herself from screaming.

“Here, what are you doing, Cryne? Don’t you know the basics about selling goods?” Pedro had entered whilst Cryne was pulling her along. “If you have damaged her…”

“You know I’ve got a bad back, Peter,” Cryne whined. “I did the same with Maisie.”

“Yes, and look what happened with her.”

“I wasn’t there when she fell down the stairs.”

“I’m not sure I believe you. Mr. Robertson was quite upset to find a dead girl in his hallway.”

“At least he gets a good cut of the takings. I’m sure he gets more than me.”

“What does it matter if he does? There is more than enough to go round.”

Victoria’s head hurt from the verbal sparring. She wanted them to get on with it.

“Look, you take her arms and I’ll take the legs. The meeting’s in the cellar. Robertson has lit some nice candles for the occasion. Our guests have already arrived.”

Victoria was lifted and carried; it was more comfortable than being dragged. They left the boardroom and seemed to take the main route into the front hall, then through a narrow doorway where they banged her against the wall with muffled oaths and finally into a damp, beer-smelling cellar. The heat from the candles that had been placed close to where she was finally sat, warmed her chilled skin. Pedro and Cryne’s hands let her go and their footsteps retreated away across a soft sandy floor.

The murmur of voices around her ground to a halt. Into a short silence, someone swore.

“What’s this, Pedro? Are you fooling with us?”

“Not at all, my lords, lady and gentlemen. I promised you something a little extra this evening and so you shall have it.”

“Snakes alive. That’s Lady Colchester. Won’t she be missed?”

Again, Pedro’s voice interjected smoothly. “She may be, but when the world finds out that she really wasn’t Lady Colchester, but was married to an imposter, then no one will blame her for having run away prematurely. I understand that no one cares for her much. She is known as the proverbial ice queen.” A general murmur of assent greeted his assertion.

“Married to an imposter? How do you know?”

“Because that imposter was my uncle. He killed Lord Colchester with a shotgun and took his place.”

“Never did like the man. Thought he was terribly bad ton,” a lady’s voice said.

“Come on, let’s see the goods then, Moreno. She looks like she’s dead.”

“I must have given her a bit too much opium. I’ll give her a slap. They all wake up and sing like a canary after that.”

“Hmm. I’ve found that too,” a hoarse voice said to muffled laughs.

Victoria knew that she had to wait for Pedro to hit her. At least then she would get the opportunity to open her eyes and see what she was facing. The stinging slap was still a surprise, and her eyes watered greatly as she fluttered them open. The glare from the candles almost caused her to close them again. She rolled her head slightly from side to side, not sure how to act. Dimly, the figures around her came into focus. There were ten in all. They hadn’t even bothered to disguise themselves.

A laugh bubbled up from her stomach. She gasped, eyes bulging, trying to hold it in.

“She’s having a fit, Moreno, do something.”

“Don’t worry,” came Pedro’s smooth voice, “sometimes the opium takes them like this.”

Victoria couldn’t hold it in any longer. Throwing back her head, she opened her mouth and laughed and laughed and laughed.
Be patient,
the eighth rule had said. Her voice crescendoed in a cackle.

CHAPTER 30

Bill buried his hand in Brutus’ fur and scratched gently. The large dog moaned gently and raised a drooping eyelid. He was still heavily sedated from whatever Pedro had fed him.

“’e protected her, you know,” Chantelle said gravely. “’e knew when danger was coming—especially when that man Pablo Moreno turned up. Pablo pulled a knife on the dogs but they did not back down. Especially when Pablo grabbed Victoria.”

Bill nodded. Brutus’ only downfall was his liking for food. Being such a big dog had its disadvantages, and wondering constantly where the next meal was coming from was one of them.