Page 76 of Her Wicked Highwayman
“It’s time you stopped this little charade, boy. Remove the mask. I want to see every minute of agony on your features. And hers.”
Rafe blew out a breath as he slowly stepped back from Diana and raised his hands to his face. He slid the mask off and let it drop to the floor at his feet.
Diana’s lips parted and her eyes filled with tears, but no words came out.
“Such a cruel trick to play on her,” Caddington said with a purr in his voice. “To seduce her as two different men and not tell her the truth. Perhaps you have a bit of sadism in you after all.” The harsh sound of Caddington’s laugh grated on Rafe’s ears.
“I’m sorry,” Rafe whispered. Diana’s face went from confusion to terror.
“No!” She understood the terrible truth now. She would lose both Tyburn and Rafe tonight. She turned away from him and faced Caddington. “You cannot do this. His brother will come looking for him. Rafe Lennox cannot go missing. If you kill him?—”
“Let us speak plainly, Miss Fox. His brother does not care and will not come. Why should he? Rafe got their father killed, isn’t that right?” He leaned to look past Diana, giving Rafe a knowing leer. “From all accounts, Lord Lennox has always blamed him for it. No, Rafe’s mysterious disappearance will only be of a temporary concern, and then he will be forgotten.”
“But he won’t be forgotten,” Diana insisted. “Iwon’t forget him.”
Caddington’s face darkened. “You seem to forget that the law is on my side, not yours. I have his signed confession upstairs, and Phelps witnessed you robbing my coach himself. You are both guilty of robbery with violence, which is punishable by death. I am the magistrate here, and while it is my duty to hold you until you can be delivered to the Crown Court for trial, well... accidents do happen, don’t they? And if you breathe a word of this to anyone, Miss Fox, I will see you hanged myself.”
Diana’s lips parted as if she wanted to speak, but no words came out. Rafe felt invisible walls closing in on him and he dared not move, dared not speak himself.
“But I prefer not to send Rafe to the hangman. No, I far more desire to have him here with me. Of course... my toys often get broken. And when that happens, a body will be found, a body with a mask, and Lord Lennox will then hear that his reckless brother met his end while robbing coaches. The book of Rafe Lennox’s short and pathetic life will be shut forever.”
Diana’s face filled with rage. He had to stop her from doing something to anger Caddington, or she’d get herself killed as well.
“Diana, you made me a promise,” Rafe said. She stared at him as if he’d gone mad.
“You want me to abandon you?” The fury in her words cut his heart. God, how he loved this woman.
“I want you to take care of my daughter.Ourdaughter. She cannot lose both of us this night. Isla needs you.” He knew he’d gotten through to her at last. The fight in her eyes died like flames slowly dwindling into darkness.
“Isla...” She said the child’s name in a broken breath.
Rafe reached for her hand through the bars. “She needs a mother.”
“You aren’t fighting fair, Rafe.” Diana’s fingertips trembled in his hold.
“I’m a scoundrel. We never play fair.” He then turned to Caddington. “I want your word that she goes free and that she will be unharmed. Then you will get what you want.”
“And what is it you think I want that I do not have already?” Caddington asked, his eyes glinting with hateful desire.
“You have me here, yes, but you do not have my submission,” Rafe said. “If I let you do what you will... if I agree...”
There was triumph in Caddington’s face as his fingers caressed his whip.
“Prove it. Bare your back and face the wall.”
Rafe reluctantly let go of Diana and unbuttoned his waistcoat, then pulled his shirt off over his head. The pearl necklace Diana had given him was wrapped around his wrist. He’d worn it tonight, needing the strength that little pearl would give him, because it reminded him of Diana’s love for him.
He braced his palms against the rock wall, not looking at anything as Caddington opened the cell door behind him. The slap of leather falling to the floor and the hiss of it slithering across the stones as the whip uncoiled made Rafe grit his teeth.
The whip whistled through the air, and Diana screamed. Her cry hit him harder than the blow of the whip, which set fire to his skin. His face went hot with pain as three more blows cut across his bare back. Caddington paused, breathing hard as he came toward Rafe and grabbed him by the shoulder, forcing him to turn. Whatever he saw on Rafe’s face seemed to please him.
“Yes... I believe you. You will give me what I want. Your beautiful pain. You and I will have fun together, won’t we?”
Rafe’s head swarmed like it was full of angry bees, stinging him with memories of the past. His father had known what sort of man Caddington was and what he would want. That was why he’d tried to send Rafe home. He had tried to protect his son and had been killed for it.
“Yes,” Caddington groaned in the light. “You see it now. You were always to be mine. Breaking you will give me the greatest pleasure.”
Caddington stepped back to the edge of the cell door. “Phelps, dispose of the girl. Break her neck and make it look like a riding accident.”
