Lord Sinister (Secrets & Scandals Book 3) Read Free Page A

been freed, the other still held in a grip of steel.  She felt around her inside coat pocket and carefully removed the small purse, leaving the two boarding passes behind.  “Here, this is all I have.”  She tossed it down to his scuffed, muddy boots.
    Vinnie snatched up the purse, opened it, and frowned.  He lifted his head and pierced her with a dubious glare.  “This ain’t what that fancy man gave you earlier.”
    She gasped.  “You’ve been following me?”
    The boy pocketed the pitifully low sum of her last wages from the factory and nodded.  He held out his hand and wiggled his grimy fingers. “That’s right.  Now give ‘em over.”
    Snapping her mouth shut, she shook her head.  She would not hand over her and Alex’s chance to leave this place and have a better life.  Forty-five guineas a year.  She shook her head again.  “I will not.”
    Vinnie sighed and nodded to the man behind her.
    A sharp pain erupted within her skull, so intense, it filled her stomach with nausea.  Sounds muffled as she crashed to her knees.  The world spun.  Then a thick cocoon of coal-black nothingness swallowed her up.
    ****
    “Mama, can you hear me?”
    Alex sounded frightened.  Amelia struggled to open her eyes.  Why was she having so much trouble moving?
    “Mama?”
    A dull ache beat in the back of her head.  She cracked open her eyes.  The dark, fuzzy form hovering over her materialized into her son.  “Alex.”
    Relief filled his light gray eyes and he smiled.  “Thank God you’re all right.”
    The incident with the two ruffians rushed into her mind and she lifted her hand to check her pockets.  Realizing her coat was gone, she spoke to her son.  “My coat, where is my coat?”
    Alex brought her the threadbare piece of wool folded on top of the small trunk holding the sum of their possessions.  She murmured a thank you while searching every pocket for two scraps of paper—the two tickets aboard a ship leaving the next day for England.  The only two things in the whole world that would secure their future.
    And they were gone.
    Bitter frustration rose up her throat and spilled into her mouth.  She squeezed her eyes closed.  Now what?  After accepting the governess position that Englishman, Mr. Giles, had offered her last week, she quit her job at the factory then told her landlord she would be moving.  The man had been grateful since they were behind on the rent.  It saved him from throwing her out, he’d confessed.  Then today, after a final meeting with Mr. Giles to receive the boarding tickets, she had walked to the cemetery…and was robbed mere feet from the steps to her apartment.
    “Mama, are you all right?”
    Amelia opened her eyes and focused on her son.  So very handsome.  She loved him more than anything on earth.  Even though he looked exactly like his father.
    That last thought brought a pain to her heart, but she forced a smile anyway.  “Yes, dearest, I am well.  I was just thinking.”
    “Thinking about how we are getting to England without a boarding pass?” he asked.
    Amelia swallowed hard.  Sometimes her son’s intelligence and maturity frightened her.  “That’s right,” she answered calmly, hoping he’d not discern the fear growing heavy in her breast.  Then a thought occurred.  “Alex, how did I get up here?  And how did you know about the tickets?”
    Fury sprang into his eyes.  “Mrs. McNealy was walking home when she saw what happened.  She ran for help but the scoundrels had already left by the time Mr. McNealy, Tom and Patrick arrived.  They carried you up here.”
    She nodded, thinking she’d go and thank their neighbors as soon as her head stopped throbbing.
    A knock sounded and Alex turned to answer the door.  He returned with their landlord, and a tight ball of dread rose up to stick in Amelia’s throat.  “Mr. Wilks.”  She tried to sit up.  “Can I get you something?  Tea?”
    “No, no,” he answered quickly, waving