Runaway (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 4)

Rather than cry, as she had always believed she would do if she ever saw her brother again, Molly was furious. She lifted her brows when Oscar glared at Jasper and threw another stone at him rather than answer her.

Jasper cursed and ducked.

“Don’t you dare do that again,” Molly snarled.

To her disbelief, Oscar threw another and another and another before he spun on his heel and ran off.

“Damn you, Oscar Egerton,” Molly yelled after him. “You can bloody well suffer because I am not coming after you this time!”

To her dismay, Molly heard footsteps behind her. She whirled around only to stare in horror at the sight of Denzel walking quickly toward her. Immediately, Molly began to back away but the only route she could take would drive her straight back to Rigley Row.

“In here,” Jasper urged, waving to the alley which led to small yards at the rear of the houses. “Do you want to go after Oscar?”

“No,” Molly spat. She couldn’t even comprehend why she didn’t want to, but she just didn’t. “He will reappear at some point, I am sure of it.”

“He really doesn’t want me touching you,” Jasper mused.

“I don’t care. Let’s go.” Molly led the way into the alley and increased her stride until she was half-running toward the narrow track at the back of the houses with Jasper close behind.

When he glanced over his shoulder, Jasper was unsurprised to find Denzel following closely, his gaze pinned on Molly.

“Molly. You can’t run from me. I know where to find you. I demand you stop this and come home at once. Your aunt is worried about you,” Denzel called.

Jasper waited until they had left the alley before he made Molly stop.

“Come on,” Molly protested. She yanked on his hand, but Jasper refused to budge. “Ignore him.”

“Who is he?”

“Ha

s she not told you?” Denzel smirked. He stopped several feet away but made sure he was close enough to be heard by anybody nearby.

“I have already told you,” Molly argued. “He is my aunt’s lover.”

“We are engaged to be married,” Denzel corrected.

“God help you,” Molly muttered.

Jasper lifted his brows at her. He had no idea what to think right now. “Do you know where Oscar is staying?”

“No. I have been trying to find them both. I thought she had gone to him.” Denzel nodded dismissively at Molly.

Jasper inwardly hated the way this man dismissively referred to Molly as ‘she’. There had been an instinctive sneer in the man’s eyes that warned Jasper that Denzel wasn’t doing this for any kind of affection or concern for Molly. Denzel wanted to return Molly to her aunt for an entirely different reason, and it was selfish.

But then Molly has already said they treated her and Oscar like servants.

Now that he had met Denzel, Jasper didn’t doubt it.

“You know where Oscar is staying all right,” Molly snapped. “Don’t deny it. You turn up and just a few weeks later women start being snatched off the streets, then Oscar disappears in a way that is totally uncharacteristic of him. Now, you claim to be engaged to my aunt. If that isn’t enough, you happen to appear in London, in exactly the same area as Oscar has been seen, and you think you can claim this is all coincidence? God, please don’t expect me to believe you are here because you give a damn. You are spiteful, mercenary and I don’t doubt you are a kidnapper.”

“Think what you like,” Denzel shrugged dismissively. “I am not doing this for you. I am doing this because your aunt is worried sick about you and that brother of yours.”

“What’s wrong? Does she not have anybody to cook her meals for her, or clean her stupid house?” Molly snorted.

“Why does Oscar run away from you?” Jasper asked Denzel.

“How should I know what goes through his head? He is young and foolish. He probably believes something she put into his head. I don’t doubt they are together, she is just pretending they aren’t. Don’t let her fool you. She cannot be trusted,” Denzel murmured. “She is a liar.”