Page 28 of Enchanted by the Lyon (The Lyon’s Den Connected World #93)

L ucius waited in the front parlor for Asher and Patience to join him for their afternoon ride.

He was puzzled that Cassandra wasn’t already in attendance since they had agreed to meet here and he had to admit he was slightly disappointed that he couldn’t take advantage of the time alone together as they waited for their friends.

He would never get enough of Cassandra’s sweet kisses.

“Hades, you best hurry. We’re late.”

The sound of Patience’s voice and the nickname she had for her husband brought a smile to Lucius’s mouth.

Hades and Persephone … who would have thought that their whole relationship would have started with these names for one another.

Lucius was as happy for Asher as he was for Saxton and Wickes.

The four friends had come a long way from their days of being bachelors and the most eligible lords of the ton .

Lucius was looking forward to the day he would ask Cassandra to become his wife.

Patience came into the room all smiles but her happiness quickly faded. “Cassie isn’t with you?” she asked coming to stand beside him.

“She was to meet me here,” Lucius explained.

“It’s not like her to be late,” Patience declared and came over to Asher when he stood in the doorway. “Something’s wrong.”

Asher leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Nothing is wrong, my love. You’re overreacting.”

She swatted his arm. “I am not overreacting. If Cassie was supposed to meet Lord Blackthorn here, then she would be standing with us right now. If anything, she would have arrived early.”

Lucius scowled. “I’m certain she’ll be here shortly. We were all very late getting home this morning. Maybe she slept in.”

Patience frowned. “And miss an opportunity to be with you, my lord? That would be highly uncharacteristic of my friend. I’m telling you, something in me says Cassandra is in trouble. Call it a woman’s intuition.”

Asher took hold of his wife’s hand and pulled her close before turning to stare at Lucius. “Didn’t you hire a bodyguard to watch over her?”

Lucius nodded. “Yes, and he’s highly recommended by Mrs. Dove-Lyon.

I’m not worried. Risley is reliable.” He went to the window and pulled back the drapery.

There was still no sign of Cassandra and her horse, nor her guard.

Only his horse and his friends’ horses tied to the hitching post tacked up and waiting for their riders.

“Maybe we should ride over to check on her just to be safe.”

“Perhaps that’s a wise decision,” Asher said agreeing. “With everything you told me about Barlow and Forbes, Patience, you need to stay here.”

She began pulling on her riding gloves. “No,” she said heading out to the foyer. “I should be perfectly safe with both of you standing guard over me. Let’s stop wasting time and go find our friend.”

Lucius was the first out the door and already mounted by the time Asher and Patience emerged from the house. He didn’t want to wait. “I’ll meet you there,” he shouted before nudging his heels into his horse’s sides.

“Be careful,” Asher called out as he, too, quickly went to his horse so they could follow close behind.

Putting his horse into a gallop, he rounded the corner to Cassandra’s street.

He saw there was far too much activity in front of her house for the situation inside to be good.

He pulled sharply on the reins and dismounted before his horse came to a full stop in front of her townhouse.

A lad came to take his horse and Lucius bounded up the walkway to the open door.

He almost skidded on his heels as he took in the scene in the foyer.

A small pool of blood was on the marble floor and a part of him choked on the thought of Cassandra being injured.

A woman crying in the front parlor made him rush inside hoping to see his lady but instead he found a maid, Higgins—who was holding a bloody cloth to his head, several law officers, and Constable Jones who looked up from the notes he was taking.

“Where’s Cassandra?” Lucius asked Higgins who appeared worried and frightened not his normal, put-together decorum.

“I heard a noise earlier and went to investigate and woke up on the foyer floor with a wounded head. Mrs. Vaughn has been taken, Lord Blackthorn, or so we are assuming since she wasn’t anywhere inside the house this morning,” Higgins answered obediently.

“Taken? How the devil was she abducted when she has Risley guarding her?” he bellowed, running his hand across the nape of his neck.

Constable Jones stepped forward to peer directly at him. “Mrs. Vaughn’s bodyguard is currently in his room with a nasty head injury. He hasn’t come to, so I have been unable to question him.”

“Someone should send for a doctor,” Lucius said with clenched teeth.

“I took the initiative to send a note for Dr. Thornberry. He should arrive shortly,” Higgins proclaimed while the maid continued to sob uncontrollably. “Do calm yourself, Fanny. You certainly won’t do our mistress any good working yourself into a fit.”

Fanny continued crying while covering her face in her hands.

“I find it interesting that one of your lovers has now gone missing, including the others who were nearly abducted recently,” the constable said to Lucius in a flat tone. “Very interesting.”

“First of all, Mrs. Vaughn is not my mistress. And secondly, you can’t honestly believe I had anything to do with this?

” Lucius snapped in anger. “Perhaps instead of looking to me who is clearly being framed for crimes I didn’t commit, you should be investigating Forbes, Viscount Hollingsworth, along with Barlow Vaughn. ”

Higgins nodded. “The viscount did recently have an altercation with Mrs. Vaughn at her old townhouse on the other side of the city.”

Lucius began to pace. There was no reason, at this point, not to tell the constable of the investigation he began months ago.

“You can contact my private investigator, Thomas Smythe. He can confirm that I hired him to look into Mr. Vaughn swindling Cassandra out of the inheritance after her husband’s death. ”

Constable Jones nodded and put the name on the paper he was scribbling on. “I’ll look into it. In the meantime, you need to come down to the station with me so I can interrogate you further. You’re still my prime suspect.” He nodded to two of the officers in the room who stepped forward.

“You can’t be serious,” Lucius protested. “I need to help find Cassandra.”

“You can help her by either confessing or revealing all the information you have about her past. That might help me with my investigation until I can interview her guard, who was probably the last person to see her,” Constable Jones proclaimed. “Take him away.”

Lucius began to put up a fight as the two officers took him by the arms and began leading him out of Cassandra’s house. They were pulling him down the walkway when Asher and Patience arrived. They dismounted and came running toward them.

“What the devil is going on here?” Asher bellowed, pulling Patience close to his side.

Lucius struggled to no avail but shouted orders at the couple. “Have Patience see if she can help revive Risley, and for the love of God, have my attorney meet me at the station.”

Lucius was thrown into a wagon with bars. A lock clicked into place, and he began to worry whether or not Cassandra was alive and uninjured.