Chapter 28

William could not sleep.

It did not matter how long he spent lying down in the dark with the sheets shrouding him, he could not switch off his brain enough to get some rest.

He had been stuck in this position for so long now, it was starting to become endlessly frustrating, which was why in the early hours of the morning, he decided to slide out of the bed sheets, to go for a walk.

He wanted some fresh air, so decided to use the time wisely by checking in on the horse to make sure that his steed was alright.

It had been a long journey, and there was still a lot more to go.

But as William pushed open the door to the room, as quietly as he could manage, he realized that he was not alone. It seemed like he was not going to be able to check in on the horse right away.

Who is this?

The gentleman was acting strangely, like he did not belong in the inn. He was pacing the hallway like he had no idea which room was his. If any of them were.

Perhaps this was a vagrant who had snuck in for the evening…

But then the man turned, and William"s blood ran cold.

Paul?

He could not believe it.

Paul was here.

He was supposed to be a little further north, but he had obviously tried to sneak away and had ended up here.

Just as William was stunned to find himself face to face with Paul, Paul looked just as shocked.

They both froze for a moment, before William shattered the silence.

"Violet, you need to get up now!"

That snapped Paul in to action, and he took off, much to William"s dismay. Without waiting for his wife, William took off, knowing that this might be the only chance for him to get his hands on Paul.

It was a shame that Paul did not seem to understand that William was his best chance at survival.

"Paul, wait!" he called out, but his words breezed by Paul. It was as if he did not even hear them. "Talk to me…"

But Paul raced outside and headed towards the stables. If William allowed Paul to get on a horse, then he would slip through his fingers and there would be no way he could catch him again.

This was his one and only chance.

William ran faster, pumping hard against the cobbled stones as he stormed towards Paul. All his hard work paid off because William was finally able to grab hold of Paul"s shirt, to throw him up against the wall.

"What do you think you are doing?" William growled angrily.

"I… I am going to leave." Terror dripped off of Paul"s tongue. "I will leave for the continent. I will get out of here."

"Rather than pay your debts?"

Paul shook his head. "I cannot pay them. I do not stand a chance. Escaping is the only thing that I can do."

"Do you know about your sister being kidnapped?"

A lot hinged on this.

William needed to know what Paul had heard, it would help him decide exactly what to do next.

"I… I did hear about it," Paul replied sheepishly, causing William to shove him harder up against the wall. "That is why I ran. I was utterly terrified that they would come after me."

"Because of what you did wrong, Paul. You were quite happy to just leave her behind, not knowing if she would be hurt or not."

"I… I did not think…"

William could not stop himself.

He swung his fist back and slammed it hard in to Paul"s face.

This idiot was never going to learn his lesson, was he?

Paul slipped from his grip and hit the floor.

William gasped as he took a step back. He might not have intended to knock him out for the count, but he had been given no choice in the matter.

Paul"s behavior was absolutely disgusting. He could not believe it.

"What the…?"

But much to William"s surprise, Paul bounced to his feet as if nothing had happened. Before William could even react, Paul started to run, and he tossed himself on a horse to take off.

"Hey!" William cried out as he tried to chase the horse down. "Oi, Paul."

But he had no chance of catching up to Paul. The horse was going to out run him no matter what he did. Paul was used to running away, it was what he did best, so of course he was going to outwit William.

But even that rationale did not help William feel any better about it.

Muttering a string of curse words, William turned back to climb upon his own steed. If he was going to catch up to Paul, then he would do so on horseback.

"William!"

But everything stopped the moment he caught sight of Violet.

She must have heard him yelling for her before, but it took her a couple of moments to get dressed. Well, now it looked like she was ready and raring to go.

"We do not have much time," he yelled as he continued heading for his horse. "Come here. Let us get out of here."

Thankfully, Violet was not one to question him too much. She did nothing to slow him down. She stood on the pathway so he could scoop her up in his arms to get her on the horse to run.

"You found Paul?" she asked as they raced away. "What happened?"

"We are hot on his trail," William replied. "But he got away. He is determined to run and has even suggested that he might leave the country to escape the debts. Things must be really bad for him."

Violet did not say a word, but she shimmied closer to her, wrapping her arms tightly around him so she did not fall. That took him out of the chase for a moment, because all he could focus on was how good it felt to be held by this woman.

Even with the adrenaline coursing through his veins, it was hard for William to focus on what needed to be done. He was starting to become increasingly aware of the sensation of her body pressed up against him.

The feel of her made his heart race, his lungs shrink a little, he felt like he was being swept away in a heady lust unlike anything he had ever experienced before he met Violet.

She really was a wonderful woman. Unexpected in every single way. William did not know what was going to happen to their marriage once all of this was over, he certainly knew that his boundaries had gone flying out the window, so he supposed he would have to wait and see.

He might not have been the "wait and see" type, but at this point, he did not have any choice in the matter. He had to deal with Paul first.

"Where do you think Paul might be?" he called back to Violet. "Is there anywhere special to him that he might want to hide out at?"

Violet was silent for a moment before she responded. "I do not know, if I am truthful with you, William. He spent most of my life abroad, traveling Europe. I am sure he has special places there…"

"So, it makes sense that he might leave the country then." William could pretty much feel Violet nodding behind him. "Then we must find him before he does. We cannot allow him to leave, or he will never be returned. Maybe he has headed to London again, to board a ship."

"So, we should go to the docks?"

"I will follow his trail as much as I can, but I believe that is where we must head." William sighed. "I just hope that the gang does not work that out as well. We might not be able to beat them since it is likely that they have members all over the place. Inside London, just outside hunting for him, and headed up north too."

It was not just a race against time, but a race against the enemy as well.

William truly did not want the gang to capture Paul because he might not be as easy to rescue as Violet was. He also knew that his wife would drown in sadness forever if her brother died. She would not be able to forgive herself for what happened to him, whether it was her fault or not.

William did not want his wife to be stuck, upset for the rest of her life That was not fair. He had married her to rescue her from that, and he was determined to keep all of his promises to her.

However challenging it would be.

If that meant finding Paul before anyone else did, then that was what he would do. For Violet.