His Wicked Embrace novel Chapter 11

With a sly grin, he exited his chambers and called for a footman to fill the bath again. He also found one of the upstairs maids, a girl named Eva, to tend to Zehra for now while they searched for a proper maid.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs and entered his study, he skidded to a halt. Someone was sitting at his desk, looking over some papers. Avery looked up, and his expression was filled with disappointment, just as he'd expected.

"How the bloody hell did you get in here? MacTavish would've sent for me."

Avery scoffed. "Not likely, brother. If old MacTavish had heard me, I would not be fit for my duties."

Lawrence crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for his little brother, a damned spy of all things, to start lecturing him on morality.

"Well?" Avery asked expectantly, still seated at Lawrence's desk. The position of control had been put in Avery's favor, and Lawrence didn't like it one bit.

"Well, what?" he snapped back. Lord, sometimes Avery behaved just like their father. He was the only Russell child out of the entire brood who took after him. It made Avery their mother's favorite.

"Well, where is she? Your slave?"

"What slave?" Lawrence said. He saw no point in making this easy for him.

"The one you paid seven thousand bloody pounds for! That slave!" Avery's last two words dripped with a quiet outrage that shocked Lawrence. Lawrence was a bit of a bounder, he knew. Arguably the worst-behaved of the siblings now that Lucien had settled down. But surely Avery didn't honestly think he would actually stoop to buying a slave?

"She's not a slave," Lawrence growled. "I saved her. Your damned men arrived late-the blasted auction had already started. I couldn't let any of those men take her away. She would've been..." He refused to complete the sentence.

Avery's anger seemed to ebb. "Wonderful. So you took her to the Bow Street offices after you secured her safety?"

"No, but wait-"

Avery was on his feet and already on top of Lawrence. Avery shoved his brother hard against the wall.

"Where is she?" Avery bellowed.

The ease with which he had been subdued reminded Lawrence just how dangerous an agent of the Crown could be. He wasn't used to seeing this side of his brother, but after a moment of shock he recovered.

"Get your bloody hands off me or so help me-"

"You'll what?" Avery challenged, menace layering every word. Again, Lawrence was struck by this change in his brother's tone. He was like a damned vengeful god.

"Avery, what the devil is the matter with you? You know I'd never hurt a woman or..."

Avery hissed but let go of him and stepped back so he could pace the length of the study.

"I'm sorry, Lawrence. It's just...after what I've been through last night..." Avery's face changed, sorrow carved in his features. "We found bodies floating in the harbor. That was in part what caused our delay. They must have been the ones who died before the ship docked. The tides at the port have been washing them in. I can't close my eyes without imagining those poor women in their final hours..."

Grief and rage mixed in Avery's eyes as he focused again on Lawrence. For the first time, Lawrence allowed himself to feel the depth of the awfulness of what had happened to Zehra. The things she must've seen, things she must have suffered. His stomach turned. It had been worse than he'd even imagined.

"She's not a lost puppy, for God's sake, Lawrence."

"Blast it, brother, stop twisting my words. She speaks English fluently. I could introduce her to Horatia, perhaps even Emily and the other ladies..."

Avery scoffed. "Introduce a common woman from Lord-knows-where in Persia to a duchess? Lawrence, you've lost your mind."

"She's not common, Avery. She's a princess, or some such thing."

Avery shook his head and leaned a hand on the nearest armchair. "You're naïve. Let me hazard a guess-that is what the auctioneer at the White House told you?" Lawrence didn't answer. "They say things like that about all of those women. It makes them more exotic and desirable to the bidders. She's not special, Lawrence, she's just like the other women they brought here. Scared women ripped from their homes, deserving of respect and repatriation. We're doing our best to help them and see them returned."

"She won't be safe there-" Lawrence began, but Avery cut him off.

"You've developed a silly notion of playing the hero for her, but I won't let you ruin your life or hers by letting you get attached. She is not some convenient plaything."

Fury shot through Lawrence, and he reacted without thinking. His fist caught Avery right in the eye, causing him to stumble back, cursing, before he could raise his fists in defense.

"You really want to do this before breakfast?" Avery snapped. "You know how it will end. And then what would Mother say?"

"Mother would say, you had better not!" a feminine voice declared. It came from the doorway of Lawrence's study. Both he and Avery turned to stare in horror at their mother, who was glowering at them. Lady Russell had arrived.