Page 55 of The Big Bad Duke (The Shadows #9)

G ideon’s shot rang out first. The guard crumpled, and his falling body, along with the gunshot, alerted the entire house.

Shouts erupted from every direction as guards converged on the study. Gideon slammed the hidden door shut from the inside just as boots thundered overhead and fists began pounding on the walls.

“We’re trapped,” Leila whispered, clutching the incriminating documents to her chest.

That’s when all hell broke loose outside their hiding place.

Screams, shouts, and the sound of crashing furniture echoed throughout the building like a symphony of chaos.

Gideon and Leila exchanged a look before bursting out of the room.

The Shadows, dressed in their characteristic dark clothing, moved like wraiths through the building. Guards fell silently, one by one, as Gideon’s people demonstrated why they had been the scourge of the unscrupulous for decades.

Leila watched in awe as Gideon swiftly became the formidable commander, leading his men to round everyone up on the first floor, tying them together.

“Where’s he? Where’s Townsend?” Gideon barked.

Then the front door opened, and the man Leila had known as the Cardinal was marched in, a barrel of a pistol aimed at his head.

“I got him,” St. John said through his mask, flanked by two other men as they led the Cardinal upstairs. “We need a quiet place to chat.”

Payne, Gideon, and Leila concluded the procession, entering one by one in that order. They watched as the Cardinal plopped into a seat, and two men in dark clothes tied him to a chair.

Even while tied up and completely harmless, he exuded an aura of power that inspired cold, paralyzing fear in Leila.

“I don’t know what’s going on here,” he protested quietly, his voice sending gooseflesh crawling over her skin.

Then he looked toward them. “Payne!” he said with a friendly lilt, then added with a bit of surprise, “Wolverstone?” When his gaze landed on Leila, he faltered slightly.

“Le—” The name died on his lips as something undefinable flickered across his features.

He returned his gaze to Gideon. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“To dying,” Gideon replied simply, driving his fist into the Cardinal’s face with all the force he could muster. “That’s for all the ways you mistreated Leila.”

The blow sent the man crashing backward over his chair, blood streaming from his nose as he hit the floor hard.

Leila couldn’t help but feel immense satisfaction at that.

St. John hauled him upright, securing his restraints once more.

“Now then,” St. John said pleasantly, pulling up another chair to sit facing their captive. “Let’s have a conversation about your recent activities, shall we?”

“What activities, St. John? Are you out of your mind?”

“We know who you are,” Payne said gruffly. “I know you were behind my abduction.”

The Cardinal let out an easy laugh. “Is this a jest? I thought once out of Oxford, these kinds of pranks went out of style.”

“No need to play coy, Townsend,” Gideon said. “We’ve discovered the documents linking you to the Brotherhood. More importantly, this woman here identifies you as their leader, the Cardinal.”

The Cardinal looked at her with an empty gaze and frowned, as if not recognizing her.

“I have not seen this woman in my entire life. Besides, Payne, I wasn’t in London when you were abducted.

I didn’t even want to come back. I thought we had established that.

I only wanted to help. And I did help. I helped you raise your estates from the ashes, did I not? ”

“You used them to elevate your dirty business.”

“You are mad,” the Cardinal spat.

They continued asking questions, pressing for answers, but all he did was deflect and deny.

This man whom Leila had called the Cardinal was rather convincing. She understood how he had managed to fool everyone for so long. He looked completely baffled, and for a moment, even Leila was convinced they had the wrong man. Perhaps he had an identical twin?

But that wasn’t it. The man before her, who pretended innocence, had recognized her just moments ago.

Yet he maintained his denial throughout the interrogation, pleading to be let go.

After a few minutes of fruitless questioning, Leila couldn’t take it anymore. “Where’s Emir?” she asked sharply.

He looked at her with a forlorn gaze. “I have no idea who Emir is. You’ve got the wrong man.”

Frustrated, Leila stormed out of the room.

Gideon followed closely behind.

“We’re wasting our time here,” Leila said.

“Perhaps he needs a little more persuasion.” Leila understood he meant something more insidious than that, but she didn’t care.

“Then you can do that. I will be looking for my brother in the meantime.”

She strode toward the stairs, determined to turn the cellar upside down in her search for her little brother. Gideon fell into step with her.

“What are you doing?” she asked, glancing at his determined profile.

“Helping you look for your brother.”

“What about questioning the Cardinal? Persuading him to tell you everything?”

He shrugged. “I have absolute faith in St. John. Besides, perhaps he will be more open with his cousin without us in the room.”

“I thought your priority was to end the Brotherhood and uncover the truth about their ugly organization.”

He nodded slowly. “It is, but right now, my priority is to help you find your brother.”

Leila squeezed his hand, her heart swelling with gratitude.

A number of men were tied up on the ground floor while the Shadows searched the rooms for documents, secret doors, prisoners, and anything else that could help them expose the Brotherhood.

“There must be a trapdoor leading to the cellar somewhere around here,” Leila said.

“Yes, there is!” one of the men called. “It’s here.”

Leila rushed to the spot just as two men were lifting it open.

“May I?” she asked, and they let her go first. Gideon followed.

The layout of the downstairs cellar resembled the one where they had been kept prisoners, but instead of cells filled with captives, this space overflowed with various items. One cell contained expensive art, presumably stolen or forged.

Another held crates of gold coins, jewels, and other valuables, while a different cell was filled with silks, tea, and other contraband.

Numerous other items cluttered the rooms.

But there was no Emir.

“What do you want to do with these things?” one of the men in Shadows’ attire asked.

“Take them all. These would make valuable donations to the local orphanage and women’s shelter.”

“All of these?” The man seemed surprised.

“Yes.” Gideon nodded curtly and followed Leila out of the cellar.

“There is no one here.” A man approached Gideon as they resurfaced on the ground floor. “We searched the place from top to bottom. There are no prisoners here.”

“I don’t believe this.” Leila bit her lip, nervously scanning the large hall. “Have you asked these men?” She nodded toward the eight guards tied up in the center, their mouths gagged.

“Yes, and aside from foul words and idle threats, they haven’t shared anything else.”

Leila untied one of the guard’s gags. “Is there a boy, about fifteen, hidden here somewhere? Please, you can help him. You can be the better man.”

“‘ave you tried lookin’,” he paused with a lewd grin, “in yer muff?”

Gideon pulled out his dagger and drove it into the man’s knee. He yelped in agony, and Gideon repeated Leila’s question, less politely.

“I ain’t got no bleedin’ clue ‘bout any lad in ‘ere,” the man screamed through the pain.

Leila was losing hope until she noticed another guard shifting uncomfortably. She moved toward him and saw the hilt of a familiar dagger protruding from his boot—Emir’s dagger.

Leila pulled it out and brought it to the man’s face. “It’s his dagger. What did you do to him?”

She pulled down the rag covering his mouth.

“I ain’t, I swear on me mum! I seen ‘im when ‘e was brought ‘ere. I give ‘im a good search and took ‘is dagger, I did. The master took ‘im upstairs, an’ I ain’t seen ‘im since.”

Her heart sank. “He is here. He still is. He has to be.”

“He brought him upstairs, which means there must be a secret door that was missed or perhaps some sort of enclosed space,” Gideon added. “Come.”

Gideon led her upstairs, and they searched every room in the house again. Frustration mounting, Leila banged on every surface, trying to determine if there was an empty space behind it while also attempting to keep herself from screaming.

“Leila!” Gideon called sharply, and she ran toward him. “I feel something here.”

He ran his hands along what appeared to be a solid wall, but when he pressed against a particular section, it gave slightly. Together, they discovered the hidden mechanism—a small carved rose that, when twisted, revealed a narrow staircase leading up to what must have been the attic.

They climbed the steep, creaking steps in silence, Leila’s heart hammering against her ribs. At the top, they found a small wooden door, unlocked.

Inside was a small room with no windows and no light except for a flickering candle on a makeshift table. A thin mattress lay on the floor, surrounded by scattered books. And on the mattress, hunched over an open volume, sat a solitary boy.

Emir .

“Emir!” Leila yelled and rushed to her brother. He jumped from the mattress and met her halfway, his thin arms wrapping around her.

Tears streamed down Leila’s face as she squeezed him tightly, feeling how much weight he had lost in the last two months and how fragile he seemed.

“I thought—” she began but couldn’t finish the sentence.

“I know,” Emir murmured against her hair. “I thought the same. But you found me. You always find me, Abla .”

“And I always will.”

When they finally let go, Emir looked over her shoulder and tilted his head. “Who is that?”

Leila turned around to see Gideon still standing there, giving them space but watching with gentle eyes. She cleared her throat. “A friend.”

How else could she introduce him? My lover? A man I love but can’t be with? A man who saved me? “The Duke of Wolverstone,” she added.

Emir’s eyes widened in awe before narrowing in suspicion. The lords they had met through the Cardinal didn’t exactly inspire trust.

Gideon stepped forward and extended his hand. “A pleasure to meet you,” he said in his silver-smooth voice. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Have you?” Emir shook his hand but continued to eye him suspiciously.

“Yes,” Leila confirmed. “I told him a lot about you. He helped me save you.”

Emir inclined his head. “In that case, thank you.”

He wrapped his arm around Leila’s and rested his head on her shoulder. He felt cold and much thinner than she remembered. “He told me you died,” Emir whispered, not to avoid being overheard, but because of the deep emotion in his voice. “But I knew he was lying. I knew you would find me.”