Chapter 25

Siena was doing all within her power to stay calm.

She knew that Levi would find her and would rescue her. He had proven time and again he would go beyond any impossibility to protect her, which left her no doubt that he would find her. She just had to stay safe until he did. As safe as possible in this barren, dark, damp room, trapped alone with her captor.

"Why are you doing this?" Siena implored, the rope that bound her to a rickety wooden chair biting into her wrists when she twisted from side to side. "I thought that you were his friend."

"So did he."

"But why?—"

"He doesna deserve my friendship."

"How can you say that?"

McGregor grimaced. "He took everything from me. He might not have realized it, but he ruined my life."

"Everything? What do you mean?" Siena said, confused even in her panic. "He was your officer in the army. He told me that your family was gone, that you had no one to return to. He gave you a job, a home, a?—"

"He did. And I appreciated that, yes. But then, just when I found the one person who could mean something to me, could become my family, he took him away from me."

"Who?"

"His brother."

"What do you mean?" Siena asked, needing to know despite her predicament.

McGregor looked away, his face twisting uncomfortably. "Never mind. It doesn't matter."

"You became Levi's valet when he lived with his brother at the entailed estate, did you not?"

"I did."

"Did the former duke mean something to you?" Siena asked, noting the grief that filled McGregor's eyes when she mentioned Levi's brother. "I can understand the loss of a friend, yes, but?—"

"He was more than a friend."

"Oh." She paused for a moment as the realization dawned on her, as shocking as it was. "I am sorry for your loss, McGregor, but it wasn't Levi's fault. He loved his brother. He tried to save him."

"Then how did he walk away from the fire?" McGregor burst out. "It's not right. It should have been Levi who died."

The way he made his accusation tugged at something in Siena's mind, and she narrowed her eyes at him through the dark, dusty air. "What do you mean that it should have been Levi?" she questioned, peering up at him. "Did you have something to do with the fire?"

He shifted his gaze away from her, looking from one side to the other. "No."

"You did," she said, leaning forward in the chair as best she could, her entire body on edge. "How could you do such a thing?"

"He wasn't supposed to be in there," McGregor choked out, his back plastered against the wall behind him as he doubled over. "It was only supposed to be Lord Levi."

"Why would you try to kill your lover's brother?" she asked, even as her heart began to pound faster with the extra shock that the man who had captured her was capable of killing another.

"Because he knew too much of my past," McGregor said, his face twisting almost evilly. "He provided me a job as a valet, but the duke would never have continued with me had he known some of the things I did."

"You did them in war," Siena said, even though she had no idea why she was trying to console the man who had tried to kill Levi. She supposed some habits were hard to erase. "Be that as it may," she continued, summoning her courage, "Levi didn't kill his brother. You did."

"I did not!" McGregor roared. "The duke was only there because Lord Levi had asked to speak with him. About me. And then he arrived late to their meeting. It was his fault entirely."

"Or so you have convinced yourself," Siena said softly. "I can understand that is probably how you have been able to live with what you did."

"He escaped death, but instead he locked himself away in that estate, refusing to spend any time in the world, hiding because of what? A few scars? His brother would never have been so vain."

"I believe his scars are a reminder of what happened," Siena said quietly, knowing it was not his appearance which hid Levi away, but rather the constant reminder of how they had occurred.

McGregor only growled, and Siena took this as the opportunity to ask what she really needed to know.

"Why take me? What difference does that make? Is this one of those ‘if I can't have love, then no one can' type of situations?"

"Somewhat," McGregor grumbled. "But there is more to it. Do you not recognize where you are?"

Siena looked around her, peering into the darkness. She had been dragged here with a burlap bag over her head, so she had been unable to see anything, although she suspected from the length of time it had taken them to journey here that they were in London. After McGregor had hauled her onto a horse for a few minutes, they had met a waiting carriage. The drive had been silent and uncomfortable despite the elegance she could feel of the carriage below her.

Saltwater and fish had filled the air as they had walked from the carriage into this building, along with an unmistakable rot that signified the Thames. When they had stepped into the building, a musty smell hinted at its age and abandonment.

He had removed the bag once they were within, but there was nothing to see but worn, wooden walls and scarred flooring. The place was empty. Even the windows were so grimy that she couldn't see out of them to what she was sure was the river beyond as she could hear both the water as well as the clopping of hooves on the other side.

"Why would you bring me all the way to London?" she demanded. "Why not just take care of this at the estate?"

"Because I struck a deal," he said with a sigh, as though it troubled him to have done so.

"My father," she said with a breath, realizing the truth, her heart sinking as any belief she had in her family fled completely.

"I first shared your presence with him and then when I learned of his plight on his first visit to Greystone, I was better prepared for his return. I followed him and told him that I would deliver you to him for a price."

Ire began to simmer in Siena's belly that her father would stoop to such lowness, although at least it was more likely that her life was not at risk if he had arranged this.

"What am I worth to you, then?" she asked.

"The duke's life."

So much for the panic having dissipated.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she demanded, but he was already backing away, shaking his head.

"I have said too much."

"You have said nothing at all. Do you really think that Levi is going to exchange himself for me?"

"Absolutely. Your father will not have to worry about you seeking an annulment – for your husband will be gone." He paused. "Not that I care if you survive this or not, but your father would prefer you do."

Well, that was something, at least.

"What is there to survive?" she forced herself to choke out.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tinder box. When the flame arose, his eyes glinted with it, the grin crossing his face so malicious that it caused Siena's entire body to shake. She realized then that there was more to McGregor's malice than she would have thought.

"It was you," she breathed. "The fire in the stables."

"It was," he said with a flourish. "Not my finest work, but then, the exterior of the building was not as flammable as I would have liked."

"Y-you are cruel," she stammered out. She had heard of evil within people of course, but never had she actually seen it.

He shrugged, unaffected by her words. "Call me what you want. We all get our joy from different places."

"Did the former duke know about this joy you found?" Siena asked. "What did he think of it?"

"He knew nothing of it," McGregor scoffed. "How could he?" He began pacing back and forth, his agitation growing. "Enough of all these questions. Your father should be here by now."

"I actually doubt it."

"Of course he will!" McGregor burst out. "That was the plan! Then I will receive my money and my vengeance."

"He will not return me to the household until he knows that my marriage is annulled or…" or she was widowed. But she couldn't say that aloud, for she didn't want to put the idea into the air. "I suppose you are my jailkeeper for now."

"I am no such thing," McGregor said haughtily, just as she hoped he would. "Stay here. I will go find him myself."

Siena raised a brow, wishing she could see the reaction when he realized that the viscount would not appear and sully himself until he knew that this had all been taken care of.

"Don't. Move," the valet commanded, pointing a finger at her, before he backed out of the door and shut it behind him. Siena listened to see how he might lock it, but from the scrapes and grunts she heard, it seemed as though he had, instead, pushed a piece of furniture against it, preventing her from opening the door.

Left alone, Siena crumpled to the ground, all of the strength that had been keeping her upright flooding away from her as she no longer felt the need to keep up the fa?ade of fearlessness. For the truth was, she was terrified. Terrified that Levi wouldn't find her in time. Terrified that McGregor would succeed in killing him. Terrified that her father would find a way to interfere and ensure that her marriage was annulled.

It was a marriage that she hadn't even realized she had wanted.

But one that she would now fight with all her might to keep.

Levi thunderedthrough the front door and through Lord Sterling's townhouse, practically pushing aside servants or men of business who stood in his path.

"Where is she?" he bellowed as he slammed open the viscount's study door.

Lord Sterling jumped, which momentarily satisfied Levi, before his expression turned into a sneer, as though he had seen off-putting food.

"What are you doing here?"

"I've come for my wife."

"Lost her already, have you?" the viscount bit out. "Did she finally see your entire face? Or does the rest of you match that scar and one look sent her running?"

Levi allowed the words to flow over him, imagining them sliding down his back, just as Siena had said they should.

"If you have allowed anything to happen to her—" he growled out, but the viscount held up a hand to stop him.

"Then you will do what? Others might be scared of the Duke of Death, but I assure you that I am not. Besides, what I do with my daughter should not concern you."

"She is my wife now," Levi said, even the thought of it causing a warm glow to wash over him. "If you commit any crime against her, then you are committing one against me."

As he finished, a woman stepped into the doorway of the room. She looked like Siena, only older, colder, and far less joyful.

When she saw Levi, she stopped and visibly shivered, her lips puckering in disgust.

"Do we have a visitor, my lord?" she asked her husband, but he waved her away.

"No one worth concerning yourself with," he said, but Levi stepped forward and smiled.

"I would be your son-in-law," he said, enjoying the look of horror that crossed Siena's mother's face. "The Duke of Dunmore."

"Son-in-law?" she exclaimed. "How?—"

"Siena has done something stupid, but I am fixing it," Lord Sterling muttered. "Do not concern yourself."

"Where. Is. She." Levi's patience had run thin, and he was ready to show this man what it meant to cross him, consequences be damned.

"She's not here," the viscount said with a sigh. "But I have an idea of where she is. I will take you to her."

Levi narrowed his eyes, immediately suspicious. "What is your plan here?"

"I have no plan," the viscount said, shrugging his shoulders. "She came with me willingly. In fact, when I returned for her, she practically begged me to take her with me. Said that she had made a huge mistake, that she could not imagine herself tied to such a man for the rest of her life. I promised her that I would have the marriage annulled, and she could be free to live the life she wished."

"With Lord Mulberry?"

"Why yes, as it happens, Siena did come to her senses and agree to marry him. Once she is done with you, of course."

"Oh, thank heaven," Lady Sterling said, placing a hand over her heart. "I have barely been able to show my face in society ever since that debacle."

"You both disgust me," Levi bit out, understanding now why his scars had never bothered Siena.

It was because she had grown up with true beasts who had nothing on his scars.

"You are lying. And I am going to prove it."

He pushed past the viscount, ignoring his shocked outcry and his wife's call for the servants. Instead, Levi stalked through the house, pushing open every door, questioning every servant. "Siena!" he called out. "Siena, where are you?"

"There is no one here," the viscount said smugly, filling the doorway behind him. "I will, however, tell you that she is in a building near the Thames. It should not take you long to find her, if you ride as fast as you did here."

Lord Sterling held out a small piece of paper, which Levi snatched from him to read the address upon it.

He knew that this was far too easy, that this was most certainly a trap of some sort. He wasn't stupid. The viscount would probably be happy to see him dead so that Siena was no longer tied to a marriage with him.

But he would have to take the chance.

For he would do anything to save his bride.