Even though he looked to be in his mid-thirties, he was already going bald. He’d compensated the lack of hair on his scalp by growing bushy brown sideburns that angled down to his square jaw. A scar knotted the flesh near his left eye. Gold winked in one earlobe. He carried no weapon—but he didn’t need to, Kendra thought. He was the weapon.
“Ye murdering bastard.” His eyes were mud brown and expressionless as he fixed his gaze on Alec. “Ye killed me Cordi, ye son of a whore. I’m gonna mill yer glaze.” Slowly, he began to roll up his sleeves, revealing muscular forearms dusted with hair and marked with tattoos.
Kendra didn’t understand the words, but she recognized his intent. Fight Club. She knew with a chill that froze the marrow in her bones that he was going to beat Alec to death in this makeshift boxing ring, right before her eyes. She surged forward in a panic, but Tom caught her arm.
“Wait. Stop! You can’t do this,” she shouted.
Bear yanked his eyes away from Alec to look at her. “Who’s the bitch?”
“’Is ’arlot.” Tom pointed his pistol at Alec.
Bear’s eyes narrowed into malevolent slits. “Is that right? Ye’ll be mine after I trounce this popinjay. Spoils of war. Right, lads?”
A wild cheer went up around the ring.
“But I’m no cheeseparing fellow,” he told the men, lifting his muscular arms as he circled, like a gladiator revving up the crowd. “I’ll share the lightskirt.”
Another cheer, even louder, seemed to shake the ground.
Alec stared at the giant with icy disdain. “She’s the Duke of Aldridge’s ward. Let her go and you may yet save your worthless neck.”
“’E’s tellin’ a clanker,” Ned protested. “They’d snuck away ter the park together. No Lady would do that!”
Alec kept his eyes trained on the giant. “I’ll willingly fight you, but only if she’s safe.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Kendra said through her teeth.
“Goddamn it, Kendra—”
“No. I’m not fucking leaving you, Alec,” she shot back, equally angry. She’d never be able to live with herself if she left. Of course, she probably wouldn’t live if she stayed. An impossible choice, which was really no choice at all.
“Ho, she ain’t no Lady!” Bear’s raucous laughter was immediately mirrored by the other men in the circle, coupled with a few wolf whistles.
Kendra clenched her hands together to keep them from trembling as she pinned her gaze on Bear. “No, I’m not a Lady. I’m the person who will find the man responsible for Lady Dover’s death. That’s what this is about, isn’t it?”
The laughter died instantly. Kendra found herself transfixed by the giant’s shark-like gaze.
“I know who killed me Cordi. That nobby bastard did the deed. But because he’s gentry”—he spat on the ground when he said the word—“he’ll never pay. Right, lads?” Once again, he turned to the crowd, which answered him with a chorus of nays and curses. “When has one of our betters ever paid, eh?” He swiveled back to Kendra. “But I’m gonna make him pay.”
The mob’s chorus changed to ayes, loud and vicious. She could see the bloodlust transforming their faces into harsh angles and planes.
“You’ll be making the wrong man pay!” Kendra had to shout to be heard over the noise of the crowd. “The real murderer will go free! Do you want justice? Then let me do my fucking job!”
Bear regarded her like she was strange object that had fallen from the sky. “Yer job? Next ye’ll be tellin’ me that yer a Bow Street Runner.”
That statement brought more gales of laughter from the onlookers.
Alec caught Kendra’s eye, and she recognized in his gaze the kind of fury born of gut-churning fear. “Kendra—” he began, but she deliberately turned away, ignoring him.
“How did you know Lady Dover?” she asked of Bear. I just need to keep him talking. As long as he was talking, he wasn’t pounding Alec into dust.
For the first time, the cold eyes warmed with real grief. “She was the most beautiful lass in the world. Better’n Cheapside. Better’n that bleeding Lord she got herself leg-shackled to. Cordi was a queen, she was. She deserved better than being gutted.”
“Yes, she did,” Kendra agreed. “She deserves justice. I promise to get that for her. For you.” Again, Kendra held her breath, willing Bear to take her offer. It was a long shot.
She knew it hadn’t worked when his eyes narrowed, his expression hardening.
“I’ll be gettin’ justice for meself. And for Cordi. ’Cause the sodding magistrates won’t be doin’ it. Not when it involves the likes of him.” He looked over at Alec and brought his fists up in a boxer’s stance. “C’mon, dandy. ’Tis time to pay the piper fer what ye did!”
Alec’s face revealed nothing as the crowd roared and whistled. Then he shrugged out of his coat and untied his cravat. He handed them to Kendra. For a long moment, he looked at her. Then he leaned close, brushing his lips against hers.
“When you get the chance, run,” he whispered.
“Alec—”
But he was already moving away.
Kendra stared helplessly from the sidelines as both men began to circle each other. Alec was tall and athletic, but he was dwarfed next to the mountainous Bear. She made an instinctive movement forward, but was checked by Tom, who stood on her right. Ned was on her left. Snake, she noticed, had clamored to the top of a stack of crates for a better view. He was only ten, but he eagerly joined the spectators, offering his own colorful curses and invectives.
It was as though the men had shed their humanity, and only their most primitive selves remained. She’d seen such things happen before—mob mentality.
Bear was the first to throw a punch. It looked like it could’ve put a crater in a cinder block. Kendra didn’t want to imagine what it would do to Alec’s face. Thankfully, the Marquis dodged the blow, dancing nimbly to the side before countering with his own lightning-fast jab. Although that connected squarely with Bear’s stomach, the giant only grunted before swinging out again. Alec easily evaded.
“If that’s the best you can do, no wonder Cordelia left you for an old man,” Alec taunted, his green eyes fixed on his opponent. “Maybe it wasn’t riches she was after, but a better performance.”
Kendra stared at Alec in disbelief. What the hell was he doing? Then, with sickening clarity, she understood. He wanted everyone’s attention on him. He wanted to whip them into a frenzy so she would be able to escape.
He was going to sacrifice his life for hers.
Bear roared and lunged. But instead of punching, he kicked Alec mid-thigh, causing Alec to stumble. Fear rose up and nearly choked Kendra as she watched, transfixed, as Bear swung out his enormous fist. She was certain that it would break Alec’s jaw. But at the very last second, Alec righted himself, dodged the uppercut, and deftly danced backward, unscathed.