Chapter 25

The first streams of sun light burst through the window, waking Violet up from what had been the best night of sleep in her life.

She patted the pillow beside her, trying to seek out her husband because she craved his warmth, and maybe even his touch as well.

But the bed beside her was empty.

Not just empty but cold as well.

William must have gotten out of bed a while ago, which gave her another bout of heart ache she did not want.

Was he really going to spend the whole day ignoring her again? That was not a cycle she wanted to be stuck in for the rest of her life.

A heaviness overcame Violet as she rose out of the bed and padded around the house. She did not even think about getting dressed as she explored the house for William.

She needed to confront him before it got too awkward once more…

"William?" But confusion flooded her more as she spotted him standing by the front door of the house talking to a young street urchin. "What is happening?"

William did not acknowledge Violet until he had paid the young lad some money and sent him on his way.

"I am paying someone who is on the streets and knows what they are doing to keep an eye out, to let me know if anything is happening that I should be aware of. I need to make sure the street gang causes me no issues."

Violet could hardly catch her breath again.

At least William was always thinking about what was going on outside of the manor, because she found it so easy to focus only on him and to forget about everything else.

"But I already have a little bit of news."

"You do?" Violet was not sure if she wanted to hear it or not.

But she had to.

"Yes, the owner of the gambling hall has decided to bypass us for now, and to go straight to the source of the problem."

"Paul?"

William nodded. "They have located him in the north and are moving now to find him."

Violet stepped back to grip on to the nearest surface she could find. Anything to prevent her from tumbling to the floor.

"What do you think they will do to him?"

Since they had treated her so terribly, she could not help but panic about how they would treat Paul. It was unlikely that he would be able to survive them.

Violet did not want to imagine her brother being killed by those monsters. It made her feel utterly sick to her stomach.

"It does not matter," William did his best to reassure her. "Because I am going to find him first. I will make sure that this is dealt with in the proper way."

"You… you are?"

Violet could not believe what she was hearing.

Paul had done nothing but cause issues for her husband, so why was William offering to help him?

"Because he is family, and we have to care for family even if they make us more frustrated than we ever thought possible."

With that, William turned like he was about to leave Violet behind, which was absolutely unacceptable. She was not going to allow him to leave her here.

"Wait, what do you think you are doing?" she cried out as she grabbed hold of his arm. "You cannot just go like that. I am not going to be left behind, that is not fair. I am coming with you."

William stared at her like she had lost her mind.

That irritated Violet. She could feel a heat rush to her cheeks while she narrowed her eyes at her husband.

"I am quite capable of coming with you, William," she insisted. "I can ride a horse, and I might be of use when it comes to my brother…"

"We do not know what is going to happen when I find your brother. I cannot risk having you there with me."

"Why?" Violet snapped. "Because it might be dangerous? Do you not think it will be more dangerous to leave me here alone? I have already been kidnapped by the gang once. I am sure they are not done with me yet. Especially since they have not gotten what they wanted."

William parted his lips, but it seemed like any argument he had fell apart before he could get it out.

This bolstered Violet and gave her confidence.

"This is my brother, William. I should be there to get hold of him. I do not want to be here just waiting for you, with no idea what is going on. I will be worried that the both of you have been killed."

"You do not need to worry about me being killed," William scoffed, but Violet would not accept that. "It will not happen…"

"You do not know that, William. You do not know what the gang will do. Just let me come with you, so I can help."

William sighed heavily. Violet could already tell that he was going to reject her before he even spoke. But she honestly could not accept that. She had been through far too much to be pushed in to the background like this.

Without warning, the emotions got the better of herself and Violet found herself tearing up. Usually, this was something that she would try and hide from William, but for the first time ever she wanted him to see it.

She needed him to understand just how serious she was about all of this. Coming with him on this mission was the most important thing in the world to her right now. She would not be able to handle him leaving her here. It would drive her crazy.

"William, I cannot," she insisted weakly. "I cannot be left. I will surely go mad if you leave me here. I do not think you understand how important this is to me. I will be scared if I am left behind. I will not be able to relax. The last time you left me alone, the gang knocked me out and kidnapped me. How can we be sure that will not happen again? I know that I will be so much safer by your side."

"I will make sure there is plenty of security here…"

But Violet shook her head at William. "I will only feel safe with you. I only want to be protected by you."

He did not look impressed, but finally, he relented. "If you come with me, Violet, then you must follow all of my orders. That is the only way I can keep you safe."

She nodded eagerly, knowing that she would say whatever she needed to. After what had happened before, there was no way that she would be left behind again. She could not stand it.

"I will not allow you to get hurt in any way, but so I can keep that promise, you must always do as I say."

"Of course, William, I do not want to get hurt either. I will not do anything to get in your way. I just want to assist you. I want to find my brother and make sure this mess all gets sorted out."

He did not smile.

Violet started to wonder if he would ever smile at her again.

In the heat of this moment, it seemed unlikely.

"You might want to dress in something more suitable," he said in a low, gravelly voice instead. "Something better for horse riding."

"Oh, of course." Violet glanced down at her gown, grateful for the chance to get out of it. "I will dress quickly."

"Meet me out at the horse stables. I will get a stead ready."

Gratitude soared through Violet. She knew that William would have much rather under took this journey alone, and she had to admit that he could have quite easily insisted that her place was at home.

Even if she did not like it, she would have had to listen to him.

Thank goodness William was not like that.

He listened to her and heard her out, even if he did not agree.

She was not going to let him down.

As she raced up the stairs, eager to get dressed as fast as she could, to prove herself to William, a determination surged through Violet.

They would find Paul while traveling to the North, and they would make sure that he came back to London to pay for whatever he had done. They would keep him safe, of course, because she did care about him, but Paul still needed to sort this out.

It was not fair for Violet and William to have to pay for his mess. Right now, they were the ones being targeted, simply because Paul could not be found. Violet had been kidnapped and put through hell, because of her brother.

That was not right.