His Reluctant Marchioness (Lustful Lords, Book 5)

A notorious woman must rely on the devil himself for help. Too bad she learned long ago never to trust anyone…

Frank Lucifer is having one hell of a week. His gambling hell is short staffed after firing his floor manager, and his half-brother has offered him a title—one he doesn't need or want. Then the woman he’s obsessed with dismisses him from her bed, and the problem is he doesn’t know who the hell she is. 

Mistress Lash has her hands full. Her apprentice is missing under sinister circumstances, and Scotland Yard refuses to lift a finger. A liaison with Frank Lucifer—however attractive she finds him—is something she no longer has time for. Besides, someone should take the arrogant rake down a peg or two.

She sets out to find her apprentice on her own, but everywhere she turns, up pops Lucifer. He’s following her, and she’s growing suspicious about why that is. When he suggests they join forces, she reluctantly agrees. After all, one should keep their friends close and their enemies closer… she's just not sure which he is. Yet. 

Working together to find her missing apprentice, she worries about her ability to protect both her heart and her own secrets from the perceptive man. And as events play out, she must decide if Lucifer is the villain she is searching for… or just the devil who haunts her scorching hot dreams? 

May 1843

Amy Amelia VanBolton bounced on her toes as she waited for her mother to get her coat. Excitement bubbled up, nearly spilling over as she imagined all the grand adventures she would have in London. She would meet 1ords and 1adies, take tea, and stroll along Rotten Row. And the balls! She would dance and dance until her feet fell off. After what seemed like an eternity, they stepped out on to the deck of the SS Great Western for an evening stroll with her father. The ship’s tall masts stretched up as though reaching for the stars as the sails billowed in the frosty night air. Most passengers had retired for the night, so it was peaceful but for the chugging of the steam engines pushing them ever closer to their destination. They walked toward the stern of the ship where they had agreed to meet. 

“Have you thought about where you’d like to go first in London?” her mother asked as they walked. 

Amy smiled, her exhilaration nearly boiling over. “I think I’d like to attend a Vauxhall Masquerade.”

Her mother gasped and laughed. “Try again, my dear. You are just sixteen. There will be no masquerades or balls in your future for a few more years. Besides, I’m quite certain those types of entertainments are no longer held there. But perhaps we could arrange a more sedate daytime visit.” 

Amy sighed. “Very well, I suppose a daytime visit will have to suffice. But no balls, mother? Not even one?”

Her mother smiled indulgently. “Perhaps one ball.”

Amy squealed. “It will have to be the most elegant of all the balls!” 

Her mother chuckled. Ahead, they heard male voices. “That must be your father and Richard.”

As they moved closer, the heated tones carried to them. Her mother drew up short and then stepped in front of Amy as though shielding her. They paused and listened for a moment. 

“I’ve told you, Richard, I shall not be involved with that type of establishment.” Her father’s voice sounded angry.

“We stand to make so much more money by adding such entertainments to our clubs. And I tell you, the men would spend even more time and money in our establishments if we offered them.” Richard pressed.

“We make plenty of money. I have no need of more.” 

Richard snorted. “You may have plenty, but I do not. I have debts that must be paid. I need to create more income since you refuse to loan me further funds.” 

“I’ll not fund your disastrous habits. We’ve been friends for years. I cannot watch you throw everything we’ve worked for away. You must stop your gambling.” Her father urged.

“What I need is more money, Ted. They’ve threatened to hurt me!” Richard yelled. Silence hung heavy for a few heartbeats, and then Richard groaned. “Why can’t you understand? I have none of what you have. You stole Alicia from me at university. Everything you touch turns to gold, and you have a beautiful daughter to marry off to your advantage. I have nothing but this business and my disastrous habits.”

Her father growled. “Alicia was never yours. She didn’t even know you existed. Everything I touch turns to gold because I work hard and make smart choices. There’s no magic to it. And as for my daughter, she will be afforded the same choices I had and shall marry for love. She is not a bargaining chip.”  

Amy cringed into her mother’s back, their skirts meshed together, as they listened to the argument. Her mother turned around and took her by the shoulders. “Amy, I want you to go to our cabin and lock the door. Do not let anyone in until your father and I return. Do you understand me?”

Amy stared at her mother as the voices grew louder and angrier. Her blood thrummed through her body, making it sound as if her heart beat in her ears. The words faded, but the furious tone of the conversation permeated everything.

Her mother shook her lightly. “Do you understand what I am telling you?” 

Jerked back to the moment, she nodded. Then her mother spun and rushed around the corner to where the men were arguing. Amy huddled there, terrified to see what was happening but terrified that if she did as her mother bade, she’d never see her parents again. 

“Ted, Richard! Stop this at once!” she heard her mother shout over the two men’s arguing voices.

“Go back to the cabin, Alicia. You should not see this.” Her father’s voice came low and urgent.

Amy peeked around the corner just as Richard punched her father in the face. “Stay, Alicia. You should see who the better man is. The one able to defend you and protect you.” He punched her father in the stomach. “The one you should have chosen all those years ago.” 

“I love Ted. I’ve always loved him. But had I never met him, I would not have chosen you, Richard.” Her mother’s crisp voice cut through the sounds of fighting. Amy knew that tone. She only heard it when she was in deep trouble with her mother. 

Richard roared, and then suddenly she heard a yell and then a scream. “Richard! What have you done?”

Amy peeked around the corner, no longer able to control the need to see. To her horror, she saw her father flail back over the rail, his shirt soaked in blood, and her mother grabbing his coat to save him. As she watched, Richard stepped up behind them. He reached out and pushed her father again, causing him to fall over the rail. 

“Ted!” her mother cried out as her father splashed into the water. Fury mottled her mother’s face as she faced Richard. “You unscrupulous bastard!” Then she turned to storm away but made no progress as Richard grabbed her arm. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded.

“To tell the captain to stop the ship.” She tried to wrench away from the enraged man.

“The hell you are. You will say nothing if you want you and your brat to live.” 

Alicia gasped. “Stop this, Richard. This needs to end now.”

“You will marry me, Alicia. You will marry me and give me all the money I am due. The clubs were my idea, not his! And you belong to me now.”

“Never!” she cried and leaned back to pull away again. 

Richard hauled her against him and tried to kiss her. Her mother must have bit his lip because he drew back, a trickle of blood dripping down his chin. Before her mother could sweep past him, he hauled his arm back and slapped her. “Bitch!”

Amelia whimpered as she watched, unable to do anything to help her mother. Then Richard drew a knife from somewhere on his person and stabbed her mother in the stomach. As she cried out, he pulled the knife from her body. “It could have been different, Alicia.” And then he pushed her mother over the rail as well.  

Amy gasped, but stifled her cry. Or so she thought, until Richard turned and caught her looking around the corner. “Amy, come here this instant.”

Without further hesitation, Amy spun and ran to her cabin. She heard the thunder of feet behind her, but she raced as though the devil himself was behind her, and in truth, he was. Richard had always been kind to her, overly solicitous of late even. But she’d never feared him until this moment. As she slammed the door of her cabin shut, she slid the bolt home and then found a chair to place underneath the handle. Then she turned and huddled in the far corner of the room to wait. And hope. 

Perhaps she had been mistaken about what she’d seen? Maybe someone from the crew had noticed her parents falling over? In the end, she knew neither of those things was true and that she was utterly alone now. Richard had killed both her parents and then pushed them overboard. 

She was on her own. There was no one to save her. No one to comfort her. 

She sat there for hours, shivering as tears streamed down her face. Every so often, the door handle would rattle, though he never said a word. 

As the night dragged on, her swollen eyes drooped. She thought if she hid in the cabin until they docked that she could slip away in the hubbub of everyone disembarking. Whatever she did, she had to escape her father’s partner 

                                                              ***

Morning broke gray and cold, which matched the bleakness that had taken hold of her during the night. She could hear people moving about in the hallway and knew she had a limited opportunity to slip away unnoticed. Pulling her cloak tightly around her, she pulled the hood up to cover her hair and edged the door open to peek into the hall. She couldn’t see Richard anywhere, so she dashed out and fell in behind a family headed to the deck. 

“Come along, children. We must stay together.” The mother spoke over her shoulder as they all marched ahead. Out on the deck, passengers and crew were scurrying everywhere. In the throng, she spotted Richard and ducked behind some trunks that were waiting to be off-loaded. She noticed another small group heading toward the gangplank and decided it was now or never. She dashed over and tried to keep her head down as she blended in with the group. She was almost to the dock when she heard a voice shout out behind her. “Captain! There she is!”

Not waiting to hear what story Richard had concocted for the captain of the ship, Amy dashed into the masses on the dock and made her way as far from the SS Great Western as she could manage. She ran until a stitch in her side forced her to slow down. But still, she pressed on, determined to put as much distance as she could manage between herself and Richard. After what seemed like an hour of walking, she finally thought it might be safe to stop. She pressed up against a wall and caught her breath. She’d left everything when she fled, but at least she was alive. Well, not everything. She pressed the metal lump that hung between her breasts into her skin. She at least had the small pictures of her parents nestled in each half of the gold locket her father had given her for her tenth birthday. Her stomach rumbled loudly, reminding her she would need to do something about food soon. 

With a sigh, she pressed on, walking through the London streets she had so looked forward to seeing. But that was before. Before her world had been shattered by one man. Now, all she wanted was to go back to the time when her parents were alive, and she wasn’t alone and hunted by a man who wished to kill her. Or worse.