The Viscount's Addiction by Scottie Barrett Read Free Book Online Page B

It had never occurred to Jessie to ask the question before. Having lived with Lord Blackwood’s vile relations, it had not seemed farfetched for one of their own to be a murderer.
    “Aye, I saw him. A sour old man. Probably wouldn’t recognize him if I were to see him again. I’ve had enough cranky old men to last a lifetime.” She glanced nervously over her shoulder.
    “So it wasn’t Lord Blackwood?” She realized she wasn’t truly surprised to hear of his innocence. There had been a glimmer of something honest and real that had shone through his rough exterior. She must stop this. Turning the man into a tortured romantic hero would only make her predicament worse.

    Lucy stepped closer to the horse. She smelled of sweat and perfume with an odd candy-like scent. “Is he home, then?”
    “Who?”
    Lucy put her hand under Titus’s nose and let the animal nuzzle her palm. “Your husband, Lord Blackwood.”
    Lucy was the only person she’d told about the marriage. Lucy knew of her stepfather’s cruel coercion, of the forced alliance. It had been a shared confidence between women held captive by brutal men.
    “I thought if he were out of prison he could help you. Sarah, Peg and me ran off to London one day when Retscliff drunk himself into a stupor. Truth be told, Sarah helped him along. She put a few drops of a sleeping draught in his ale.” Her painted lips curled into a mischievous grin. “Anyways, we went straight away to the magistrates and told them what we knew. The constable had never questioned us before. Just took Retscliff’s slimy word. Got to put my ‘x’ on an official document,” she said proudly.
    It was a daring and magnificent thing Lucy and her friends had done. Jessie wished that Lucy would use that brave spirit to free herself. She forced a smile. “Well done,” she said. “Lord Blackwood has been released.” But Jessie was no safer. And it wasn’t the threat of arrest that worried her. It was the power the man already seemed to have over her emotions.
    Lucy bustled off with the bread and returned in moments with the emptied containers. She took Jessie’s hand in hers and turned it palm side up. She pressed her rouged lips against her skin, then, hearing the rattle of Retscliff’s keys through the shabby walls of the inn, she hurried up the rope ladder and pulled herself over the railing of the sagging upstairs landing.
    “You there! What the devil are you about?” Retscliff hollered as he slammed out of the kitchen. His lanky legs covered the distance between them in a hurry. “Don’t you distract my girls. They are lazy enough as it is.”
    Stupidly, she could not keep silent. Her body quaking with indignation, she did not even take the precaution of backing up Titus before shouting. “You bastard, you can’t own people.”
    “I’ll prove you wrong. I’ll own you, missy. If I catch you here one more time you’ll be working for me.” Waving a pistol, Retscliff stopped directly in her path. He was a frightening obstacle, a coward with a loaded gun.

    Jessie reined the horse around and kicked him into a full gallop. The four-foot fence that bordered the adjacent woods would not be a challenge for Titus. The eager gelding picked up his pace, seeming all too delighted with the prospect of jumping. Not having had time to tie the baskets onto the saddle, Jessie hooked her arm through the handles of the unwieldy containers as she raced toward the fence. Titus’s front legs went up and over. Despite the danger, Jessie laughed with exhilaration as they flew through the fresh evening air.
    A loud crack echoed off the building behind her, and a sudden sharp pain made her tilt. Frantic, she clutched at the saddle and righted herself. Fortunately, the shot had not troubled her steady, sure-footed mount. Jessie rode through the thicket of trees and out of sight of the tavern and its hateful owner. She prayed Lucy would not bear the brunt of his fury.
    Heading out of the darkness of