Zach seethed. No one would hurt Sophie while he lived. He tried to get away, but the man who had him was bigger and stronger than he was.
“Take him into the bedroom, Harry, and see what the boss wants to do with them,” Jake said. “I’ll take care of this one.” He pointed to Brighton on the floor.
Zach looked quickly at the earl. He was breathing, and no blood was coming from his head, thank God. He
was simply unconscious. Zach could do nothing for him now. His focus was Sophie, and unfortunately, Brighton would be no help.
The other man forced Zach into the bedroom.
And he gasped, terror flooding through him.
There lay Sophie, naked, each limb tied to a bedpost. A man dressed in black hovered over her at the foot of the bed. He was tall with a shock of grey-white hair.
Sophie turned her head at the commotion.
The man holding Zach placed his hand over Zach’s mouth before he could yell to Sophie.
The grey-haired man turned.
Graves.
“Newland. How in the hell did you find me?”
The man called Harry unclamped his hand from Zach’s mouth, still holding him while Zach struggled.
“Sophie, love, are you all right?”
“Don’t speak to him!” Graves warned.
Poor Sophie. His love. Bound naked. Zach would see that damned butler dead for this.
“What in the hell are you doing, Graves? You’ve been a loyal servant to Brighton for how many years now? And you abduct his stepdaughter? What the hell were you thinking? You need to let her go. Now!”
“I don’t need to do anything you say, Newland.”
“Did you think really think we wouldn’t find you? You sick bastard. And then implicating that innocent man, Bertram. He’s been rotting in a cell for six weeks, constantly proclaiming his innocence.”
“He’s a stupid kid. A pawn in my game.”
“Your game is over. We have people coming right behind us.”
Graves laughed. “No, you don’t, or they would be here by now.”
Zach swallowed. Caught in a lie. “What do you want with Sophie, Graves?”
“Plain and simple. I want her. She is the woman of my dreams. I have been worshiping her since I first laid eyes on her, waiting for the right time to claim her.”
Feral anger rose within Zach. No one would take his woman. “She will never be yours. She’s mine.”
“She’s not yours, Newland. But you took her anyway, didn’t you? Forced yourself upon her virgin flesh!” Graves’s eyes glowed with evil. “Since you’re here, I’ll prove to you who she belongs to. Harry, hold him. He will watch.”
Sophie screamed. “Help me, Zach! Please!”
“You will not make another sound, my dear,” he said to Sophie, “or I shall have to punish you.”
Zach fought against Harry’s strong hold. “If you so much as touch one hair on her head—”
“You’ll do what?” Graves’s eyes glittered with malice. “You’re in no situation to make any threats, Newland. The woman is mine. And you shall be witness to my claiming.”