The Patrician's Fortune- A Historical Romance Read Free Page A

glare of the torch blocked out her features but Damon could feel her studying him. He grit his teeth, recalling another time inside a slave pen when prospective buyers had inspected an angry young boy in a similar manner. No use spending coin on defective merchandise. To be inspected in the same manner as cattle only fueled his humiliation.
    “He will do,” she said in that beguiling voice.
    Kaj grunted, obviously displeased. Taking her by the elbow, he escorted her back to the wagon. Damon blinked and shifted in his captors’ hold. He wasn’t finished. The least they could do before they killed him, he thought irritably, was to let him look his fill. All it earned him was a growled curse and a backhanded slap across the face.
    Kaj returned, untied a pouch from his belt and tossed it to the officer who caught the jangling parcel with one hand. Damon narrowed his gaze, watched the soldier open the leather bag and visually count the amount. With a self-satisfied smirk, he nodded to the soldiers.
    Pio and the old man pushed Damon toward the rear of the wagon where the pirate waited by the door. Kaj handed Pio a length of cloth. Damon growled as the apprentice tied a huge knot in it, shoved it in his mouth and tied it.
    Why were they gagging him? He wasn’t going to be conscious much longer, though gods knew he needed to be. This turn in events was happening too fast for the jumble in his brain. He did not like being at a disadvantage.
    Damon teetered as the old soldier and Pio urged him up the two steps to the wagon’s rear door. Impatient, Kaj reached down and, with the effort it might take to swat a fly, caught him by the back of the neck and dragged him inside. Damon released a muffled grunt when the cretin dropped him face down on the hard wooden floor, muttering in Greek about foolish decisions and risky business while binding Damon’s ankles with more rope.  Kaj folded Damon’s tall frame into the cramped interior of the wagon. A wave of nausea assailed him as the vehicle swayed violently with the huge man’s exit. Then the door slammed shut, leaving him in complete darkness.
    The wagon lurched forward, the creaking wheels obliterating the sound of his muffled groan. He would feel every rut and rock between here and—wherever they were taking him.
    Chewing on the gag, Damon cringed at the rawness in his throat. He’d gone from crucifixion to being claimed by a goddess in less than an hour.
    Perhaps his luck was changing.
     

Chapter Two
     
    “Y ou are going to twist that finger off.”
    Julia’s gaze dropped to her hands. The miniature lion’s head on the gold ring gracing her right forefinger was twisted completely around facing her palm, the skin red from the repeated friction. She fell into the childhood habit whenever her nerves were on edge—and they’d been on the brink for months. Righting the band, she clasped her hands together, settling them in her lap. “You should pay attention to the driving, Kaj, and not to what my hands are doing.”
    The wagon lurched sharply to the left as the mules strayed out of the ruts worn into the paving stones of the road. Kaj shrugged one shoulder at the sharp look she sent him and urged the animals back on track. “It’s not too late to end this,” he replied gruffly. “Just slip the wretch into the Tiber and none will be the wiser.”
    She looked at him aghast. “There will be no murder!”
    Kaj snorted. “Just deception and lies. Your father would be appalled by your plans.”
    “Yes, but Father isn’t here, is he?” she answered tightly.
    Kaj tensed on the seat beside her. More friend than servant, he had no answer for her, just as she had no answer for Octavian Manulus deserting his family.
    Had it only been six months since her father had kissed her on the cheek, promising to return within the week? It was only a short trip to verify the government’s corn shipments, he had assured her, and he would be back in time for the celebration of her