Brave girl. I’ll get you out of this quagmire.
With one smooth movement, she slammed an elbow into the thug’s gut, taking them both by surprise. Her other elbow plunged into the man’s belly in a near-perfect rhythm. A grunt tore from his throat, and his arms went slack.
She bolted away, taking shelter behind Gavin. For reasons he wouldn’t allow himself to fathom, her choice of sanctuary pleased him beyond all reason.
His hostage gone, panic flooded Jack’s face. Clutching his belly, he stared down the barrel of the revolver. “Ye don’t have to do that, guv’nor. Ye don’t—”
“Get the hell out of my sight. If I see you again, I will kill you.”
The thug offered a curt nod and made his escape. Fleeing like a wounded animal, he paused only long enough to glance over his shoulder, as if to reassure himself Gavin did not plan to put a bullet in his back.
Sophie stepped into his line of sight. As she peered up at him, her chest rose and fell with anxious breaths. “Whoever was in that carriage may return,” she said. “It’s not safe…to stay here.”
Her voice trembled. She had courage, but she wasn’t immune to fear. Blast it, he wanted to offer comfort. But the need to determine what danger they still faced overruled the impulse. Still, he reached for her, drawing a fingertip over the curve of her face, allowing himself that one liberty. Surprisingly, she did not pull away, even as he took her hand and drew her closer. “Did he hurt you?”
“No,” she said, little more than a whisper.
“You’re sure?” he pressed.
“Quite so.”
Her flaxen hair had fallen loose from her carefully pinned coiffure, curling over her shoulders. He resisted the temptation to run his fingers through the soft waves, to test the silk against his touch. He dragged in a breath.
“I trust you were not acquainted with those men.”
She shook her head. “I’ve no idea who they were.”
“Did you recognize the coach?”
She shook her head again. “Broughams are far from a rarity in the city.”
“That particular coach bore an unusual insignia. Did you recognize it?”
Her brow furrowed as she pondered the question. “No. It has no meaning to me.”
He studied her in the moonlight. Pressing her palm to her cheek, she ran her fingertips over her flesh with a gingerly touch.
“He’s injured you,” Gavin said. “Tell me the truth.”
“It’s a bit tender, but no need for concern.”
Hellfire and damnation, the brute had harmed her, though she seemed loath to admit it. Her bottom lip quivered despite what appeared her best effort to remain stoic. She winced as her fingers brushed the underside of her jaw. Perhaps he should have pumped a bullet into the bastard after all.
“I will summon my personal physician,” he said, feeling oddly helpless in the face of her distress.
“That won’t be necessary. It’s nothing a little powder won’t conceal.”
He bit back a particularly coarse epithet that came to mind. He’d let the bloke off much too easy. “The bloody coward, preying on a woman.”
To his surprise, a wan smile curved her lips. “But not a helpless woman. I suspect I got the better of him. I aimed for his solar plexus.”
Cheeky thing.
“One can only wonder that he didn’t take his leave sooner.” Gavin forced a casualness to his tone he did not feel. “I suspect you would have found a way past the lummox sooner or later, even without my intervention.”
“In this case, sooner was definitely preferable to later.” She tugged her cloak around her body. “Now that our excitement is over, I shall be on my way. I will hire a hansom to take me home.”
“I’m not letting you go anywhere tonight without an escort.”
