Free Silent Revenge by Laura Landon

her close; the lean, powerful hands that had caressed her skin; the rough, callused fingers that had seared her flesh with his touch.
    Then, for the briefest moment, just before he’d pushed her away, she’d glimpsed the reason she would never doubt that he could protect her. She’d felt Northcote’s impenetrable dominance, his unwavering courage. She’d sensed a strength about him that bordered on ruthlessness. A strength that would keep her safe from her stepbrother.
    But it was too late now to think he could help her. She knew he would not.
    Jessica looked at the clock on the mantel and paced from one end of the room to the other, praying Melinda would not be too much longer. It was well before the accepted hour for callers, but time was a precious commodity. Ever since she’d left the earl, some instinct had warned her she could not waste a moment of the time left to her.
    She raised her hand to her forehead and rubbed her temples to ease the pounding. Her eyes still burned from the hours she’d spent staring blankly into the darkness after she’d run from the Earl of Northcote’s town house. Then the tormented hours she’d spent pacing the floors until it was light enough that she could come to ask Melinda for help.
    She leaned her shoulder against the frame beside the window and rubbed her eyes, hoping the dark circles had gone away. Heaven help her, but she was tired. She’d slept very little in the last two days. Eaten even less. She was weary with worry.
    Small, gentle hands touched her shoulders, jolting her to her senses, bringing her back to the present. She turned to see Melinda’s gaze go from mild curiosity to wide-open horror.
    “Jessica?” Melinda gasped. “What has happened to you? Are you all right? Have you been hurt?”
    “No. I haven’t been hurt,” Jessica answered, hoping she’d spoken loud enough for her voice to be heard. She shook her head just in case. “Is His Grace here?”
    Melinda nodded, then pulled the bell rope and asked a servant to have James join them immediately. The frown that covered his face when he walked through the door told Jessica she’d failed at making herself look composed.
    “What has happened, Jessica?” Collingsworth asked after he’d pulled a chair closer to the sofa where Melinda sat next to her. “What’s wrong?”
    Jessica lifted her chin and took a deep breath. “I need your help. Please, Your Grace,” she said, looking at the Duke of Collingsworth. “I…I need to leave London immediately.”
    She felt Melinda’s grip tighten on her fingers. The deep worry lines covering Collingsworth’s forehead deepened. She hated herself for causing them so much distress, but she was desperate. “It’s imperative that I leave London as soon as possible.”
    “Leave? Why?”
    Jessica took a deep breath. It was difficult to put the words into the open. Speaking them would make her nightmare more real. “My stepbrother is alive.”
    James’s shoulders rose as he sucked in a sharp breath, and then he released a long, slow sigh.
    “How do you know?” he asked, his face mirroring the dread she felt deep in the pit of her stomach.
    “One of Ira’s sources told him. Colin has been in India all this time, and he’s on his way back. I must leave before he gets here.”
    “Perhaps you don’t have to leave. Perhaps I can—”
    “No. There’s nothing you can do. I need to leave. Now.”
    “Where do you intend to go?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t care. France, perhaps. Or…the American colonies. It matters little, as long as it’s someplace where he can’t find me.”
    Jessica stared at the shocked look on her friends’ faces. “I’m sorry to put you in the middle of this, but I need you to make the arrangements for me. I’m not sure I can handle them. Especially since time is of the essence.”
    Melinda put a trembling finger to Jessica’s cheek and turned her head back toward her. “Listen to me, Jessica. James is very powerful. I’m