Page 90 of A Duke for Stealing
“Take her,” Everett snapped, handing Rose off to Ophelia as if she were a precious child, and he stalked toward Maxwell.
“Rose, darling, are you alright?” Ophelia asked.
Rose couldn’t answer, her focus pulled toward Everett as she watched him drag Maxwell to his feet by the collar of his shirt.
“You dare touch my wife?” He whispered, his tone venomous.
“You do not understand,” Maxwell stammered, trying to fight Everett’s powerful grip. “It was her! She pursued me!”
“Liar!” Everett roared and punched Maxwell again.
Rose and Ophelia both gasped as Maxwell’s head snapped back by the force of Everett’s hit. His head lolled and his eyes rolled as he tried to bring his head back up; a trickle of blood poured from his nose.
“You do nottouchmywife,”Everett seethed, then kicked at the man’s knees.
Maxwell let out a cry of agony as he fell, still shaking his head.
“You do notlieabout my wife!” Everett roared, then punched Maxwell in the face again.
This time, the man just let out an agonizing whimper as his left eye immediately began to swell and turn purple.
“Say it,” Everett demanded, cocking his fist back for another hit, “Say you understand!”
Sure that the next blow would surely kill the man, Rose flew from Ophelia’s side and wrapped her body around Everett’s back. She might despise as much as she loved him, but she could not bear the thought of him spending the rest of his days in a cell for murder.
“Don’t,” she begged, “Everett, do not. He is not worth it!”
Everett’s rigid stature softened against her, and he began to let out several panting breaths, as if he’d just held his breath for too long. Slowly, he lowered his fist, and with a push, he released Maxwell with the other, sending him sprawling backward onto the floor.
This time, as Everett wrapped his body around her, she did not try to push him away. Instead, she returned the embrace, wrapping her own arms tightly around his waist and holding herself to him. She did not tell him to stop pretending. She couldn’t. His actions were glaringly truthful.
He cradled her head to his chest, a gentle hand resting over her bruised jaw as he stared threateningly down at Maxwell.
“You spread the word that these rumors of my wife are false,” Everett commanded, looking down at the badly bruised and bleeding man at his feet. “Then you will leave London.”
Maxwell glared at Everett and Rose as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
“Or what? You will beat me again? I can have you arrested for this!”
“Not if you do not get the chance,” Everett snarled.
“Do not forget who I am and who my friends are, Maxwell Stonehurst. You know who we are, what we have done. And what we can do,” Everett warned.
As if recalling some sort of dark memory, Maxwell’s narrowed eyes widened, and he scrambled to his feet.
“I always wanted to explore Russia anyway,” Maxwell murmured, fixing his jacket. “I have heard the prospects are much more well-suited to my tastes.”
“I do not care where you go,” Everett remarked, staring daggers into Maxwell. “Remember. My friends and I have eyeseverywherein this city. We will know if you return.”
“Do not worry,” Maxwell muttered as he took one last disgusted look at Rose. “I won’t.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“That bastard,” Everett muttered, watching Maxwell as he got into the hallway.
He didn’t take more than two steps out before Hugo and Dominic appeared on either of Maxwell’s sides.
“What do you think you are doing?” Maxwell demanded.
