Page 108

Oh, you will not escape. Not today!

Edwin knew if the bastard managed to swing himself over the railing, he would no doubt escape. Now enraged, he lunged at the man just as he had thrown one leg over the railing.

He fisted his hand in the man’s shirt and yanked him off the railing, dropping him unceremoniously on the floor. He did not even give him a second to breathe before he pinned him down with his knees and began to pummel him. The man tried to fightback, but Edwin might as well have been numb, for his rage eclipsed all sense.

“You… filthy… thing! How… dare… you… step… your… filthy… feet… in… my… wife’s… bedchamber?”

With every word he spoke, Edwin landed a blow on the intruder’s hooded face. By the time he was done, the intruder had gone limp under him, no longer struggling.

Edwin yanked the hood from the man’s face.

The intruder looked exactly as he had pictured him—filthy, with missing chunks of flesh and several scars that he had probably sustained from attacking other people.

Edwin felt a rush of satisfaction as he stared at his bloodied face. However, he did not recognize him as the same man who had attacked him at the masquerade ball.

There is more than one of you? Great!

He pulled the man up with the collar of his shirt and glared at him. “Now, you will tell?—”

“Edwin, watch out!” Ava screamed as she bolted onto the balcony, her eyes wide in terror.

At that moment, Edwin spotted a gleaming object coming down straight for him, held tightly in the intruder’s right hand.

It was a knife.

He darted to the right just in time to hear a loud crack. The intruder screamed in pain and then lost consciousness.

Edwin looked down to see broken pieces of a vase on the floor. His wife had just smashed a vase on the intruder’s head.

He released his grip on the intruder, who then crumpled to the floor with a loud thud, and ran to his wife’s side.

Ava’s eyes were fixed on the intruder, her lips pressed tightly together.

“Are you hurt in any way?” Edwin asked, peering closely at her.

She shook her head. “I am not.”

He heaved a sigh of relief. “You saved my life,” he said.

Ava’s eyes softened as they finally rose and landed on her husband. “I watched him take a knife out of his pocket. He wanted to stab you when you were not aware of it,” she said in a low voice.

“Thank you.”

The intruder stirred nearby. Edwin glanced back and saw him slowly open his eyes as he regained consciousness.

“Now, you must return to the bedroom while I question the bastard,” he urged.

Ava shook her head. “I am staying here. I must ensure that he does not attack you again.”

Edwin felt a rush of love for his wife. He cupped her cheek in his hand tenderly and smiled. “I assure you, I can take care of myself.”

“I would rather be here,” she insisted.

He shrugged. “Fine.”

With that, he returned to the intruder.

“I beg you, don’t…” the intruder whimpered as he struggled to sit up.