Chapter 23

"What happened?"

William stared in to Violet"s panicked eyes, sadness flowing through her as she spoke while he helped her to climb off the bed. It seemed like everything was finally hitting her all at once.

"How did you find me?" she continued, pressing him. "I do not understand. How am I here? I do not like this at all…"

She leaned in to him, clearly needing some comfort, which William was more than willing to give her.

He embraced her, hating the way that she was still trembling with anxiety.

This was horrible.

How could anyone do this to her?

He did not think that he would ever understand.

"Are you alright?" he asked her quietly, before answering her questions. "Did they hurt you?"

"I am fine."

William was not convinced. Violet looked thoroughly traumatized by whatever she had been through, which was terribly upsetting.

But he could not deal with it here.

He did not want Violet to be stuck here in this dingy disgusting gambling hall. She would likely be much more willing to talk at home.

"William, we cannot be here…" Before William could say anything to explain himself to Violet, Frederick burst through the door, looking as roughed up as he felt. "We must leave before the whole of the London underground hear about this. If they descend on us, then we do not stand a chance…"

William nodded.

The urge to run damn near exploded within him.

He could not protect Violet while stuck here.

"The carriage awaits," he called out, while scooping Violet up in to his arms to carry her. "Let us run now."

Word had traveled fast.

There were gang members already starting to make their way to the gambling hall. They still needed to fight.

Frederick swung his fists where he needed to.

Because William did not have his hands free, he had to kick. But since he had something to fight for, it was easy for him to lash out in a way that kept Violet safe.

There was nothing more important than protecting his wife.

"Quick, come on." Frederick climbed in to the carriage first and he extended his arms out to take Violet. "Let us get out of here…"

William only handed Violet over because he knew he needed to make sure none of the gang members knew where they were headed.

He could not have criminals following him to his house.

So he used up the last scraps of his energy to knock out anyone who might be able to see where they were headed.

Then he jumped in to the carriage and ordered the driver to take them the long way around to Frederick"s home, just in case.

"Do you think we will be followed?" Even Frederick could not keep the nerves from his voice. "Were there any left?"

William could only offer his friend a one-shouldered shrug. "I certainly hope not. Thank you, Frederick, for all your help. I could not have done that without you."

He rested his arm around his wife, grateful to have her back with him.

Frederick nodded with an understanding glimmering in his eyes. He seemed to be able to understand William"s feelings, even if he had not spoken them aloud yet.

Thankfully, there was no more trouble as they approached Frederick"s home. William would not have wanted to drop him off if there was any chance of his friend being hurt.

Frederick did not need to get dragged in to any of this, so he did not want anything bad to happen to him. William"s life was dramatic enough at the moment without it being made worse.

"I will be in touch," Frederick said quietly as he exited the carriage.

"Thank you again, Frederick. I will see you soon."

William watched his friend until he was inside the house, before they finally took off again. It was only then he started to feel the intensity of the atmosphere between himself and Violet. It had been such a busy night that this was the first time he could take stock of everything once more.

"What happened?" Violet asked once more. "I am still confused."

William pulled her a little closer to him, and she nestled in his arms. The warmth of her body made it a lot easier for him to talk, especially when he considered how differently this could have all turned out. Tonight could have been the night where he lost his wife forever…

Now that was something he did not ever want to consider.

"You brother owes a lot of money to some terrible people, Violet. Gang members, and powerful ones at that. Of course, this has come from the gambling, I am sure."

"Oh my," Violet gasped. "The people who took me?"

"Yes, they are members of the gang, which I am sure shows you that this is not over yet. There may be more trouble ahead."

He felt guilty as she seemed to shrink in his arms. He did not want her to worry any longer, but she needed to be aware that there was still a lot to deal with.

"I believe Paul might have used the money he got from Mr. Cook to pay off some of the debts, but it is not enough. They still want more. People like that often do."

"So… the money really has gone?" Violet whispered. "There is no way to pay back Mr. Cook?"

William said nothing.

He did not want her to know that Mr. Cook had already been paid off because William gave him the money. She did not need anything else to be worried over or feel guilty about.

That was something he could share with her later on.

"I am sure this is why Paul has been missing," he continued instead. "Because the moment he knew that there was no way he could stop us from getting married, he knew that everything was about to come crashing down around him."

Violet glowered sadly. "It seems like it was all going to come crashing down around him soon enough anyway."

"Yes, that is true. It probably would have done," William agreed. "But I do not believe that Paul was thinking that far ahead at the time."

"It is hard to imagine he ever thinks."

The carriage rumbled along the cobblestones, taking William far away from the danger that he did not want to face again. But he was not silly enough to believe that everything was over.

Until they finally located Paul, this would continue, probably getting increasingly dangerous over time.

It was not ideal for either of them.

"We are almost home," he suddenly realized as the landscape became familiar. Taking the long way home to avoid anyone following them had thrown him off a little. "Thank goodness."

Violet let out a breath of obvious relief as well. It angered William once more to think about how he had found her. Seeing her tied up with a nasty looking man looming over her was disgusting. Horrifying. Like a nightmare. It truly made his blood run cold to think about.

How he had not stuck around to murder Peaky and all the other men surrounding him, William was not sure. But probably, if anything else happened, he would not be able to control himself quite so much.

Were they ever going to be able to find Paul to straighten this whole mess out? William was just as worried about the gang finding Paul.

After what he saw them willing to do to Violet, there was no telling if Paul would survive.

He might have brought this all on himself, but it was still horrible.

"Here we are."

William jumped up eagerly, needing to get inside the manor, behind closed doors where he was sure that he could keep her safe.

But it seemed like Violet was still in shock.

How hurt was she? Were there injuries he had not seen yet?

William needed to find out because if any of those men had touched her or done anything to her at all, then he would not be responsible for his actions. He did not know if he would be able to control himself at all.

"Come on." He held out his hand to her, and thankfully she took it. "Let me get you inside so I can check you over and make sure that you are alright."

She appeared to be struggling with everything. Ever since the reality of that situation had hit her, she had appeared overwhelmed and stunned. If only Paul could see her right now. To see what he had caused. His gambling had truly taken him down a dark path like no other. It had taken the humanity and soul out of him, leaving him a shell of a man, willing to do whatever it took.

William had never liked gambling because he had seen what it could do to people, but he had never been forced to witness a down fall like this. It made him realize that gambling, even for a little bit of a fun or the way to pass some time, was not wise.

It was clear to William that he would never want to do it again.