Runaway (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 4)

“I am talking with experience. One man to another. I went through exactly what you are going through now with my Charity. Believe me when I tell you that you can scream and kick and shout to everyone that you are going to leave her far behind when you have to move on as much as you want to, but you won’t leave her when the time comes. Even if you do you will find a way back to her.”

Angus mimicked Jasper by turning around to gaze longingly back at the house they were leaving behind. Jasper swore at him but there was no heat in it. There wasn’t much he could say to defend himself.

“Just don’t deny how you feel too much, Jasper. If she turns you inside out then she will keep your life interesting. There can surely be nothing worse than being married to someone biddable. I wanted someone to challenge me and keep up with the demands of my job. Charity brings that to my life. She brings me a life. Without her, I would be the miserable husk of a man I was before I met her and would have missed out on fun and laughter at every quarter and a happy home life. Don’t turn your back on what Molly brings you, especially the happiness she makes you feel. While Charity and I have had to adjust to married life, as I am sure many people have, we are happy. Sir Hugo, and other men who have all married are happy, even doing the jobs they do. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be either.”

“It’s a difficult life to expect someone to adjust to,” Jasper murmured. “I mean, she is a lot younger than me.”

“And only five years younger than you. Charity is three years young than me and we make it work,” Angus argued.

Jasper squinted suspiciously at him. “Has Molly been speaking to you?”

Angus grinned. “No. Sir Hugo has.”

Jasper’s brows shot skyward. “Sir Hugo has told you to espouse marriage to me?”

“Sir Hugo has informed me to tell you that you would be a bloody fool to ignore the growing connection you have to Miss Molly Egerton. I have to say that on behalf of your friends in the Star Elite, we all think the same. Give her up and you deserve to be miserable.”

“But how do you know we like each other all that well?” Jasper argued.

Angus grinned at him. “Given the way you were all over each other in the yard when you returned earlier, I doubt either of you will have any problems becoming better acquainted.”

“Shit,” Jasper spat. “I hardly know her.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Angus warned wisely. “There is plenty of fun to be had in getting to know her and I don’t just mean physically.”

“It’s foolish to contemplate a future with someone I hardly know,” Jasper growled.

“You have time to get to know each other. You don’t have to rush straight up the aisle, not unless you get too carried away. What we all truly don’t think you should do is return to your job and set her aside when this is all over. Get to know her better and, if your affection for her grows, take it from there.”

“God, she has spoken to you, hasn’t she?” Jasper sighed.

“No. I doubt she is that confident, Jasper.” Angus became solemn. “She will hurt easily, so try not to allow it, eh?”

Jasper quietly contemplated his friend’s words as they completed the journey to Rigley Row. There was little opportunity to say anything more because they arrived at the edge of their destination, or as close as they dared venture to it on horseback.

“Is everything ready?” Jasper asked Sir Hugo, who nodded grimly without taking his eyes off the house they were about to storm.

“Make sure you have plenty of shot,” Sir Hugo whispered. “This is going to be brutal. The magistrate is waiting around the corner with a cart and as many of his men as he can muster. Simon has a team working on the back of the house. We are all going to move at half past exactly.”

Jasper checked his watch and waited. Not as sound could be heard from any of the men who remained hidden in the shadows of Rigley Row. The locals hadn’t any idea their lives were about to be torn apart, and their street changed forever.

It was a little worrying that the lawme

n managed to approach both the front and rear of the property without being challenged in any way. When they did burst through the door the chaos that ensued was sporadically interspersed with gunfire from both the Star Elite and the thugs inside. Women screamed. Children cried. The cacophony within the building was ear-piercing. Men shouted instructions as the unwary within protested against the intrusion. Belligerently, the thugs who inhabited the house objected physically to the men from the Star Elite who tried to drag them out. Fists flew with brutal accuracy as shots were fired about them.

Jasper, embroiled in his own fight, was aware of the knives that flew far too close to his head for comfort. His life could end in the blink of an eye. It was another stark reminder that he shouldn’t take it, or the people in it, for granted.

“The girls,” Sir Hugo grunted before he was slammed roughly back against a wall. He landed several punches onto the back of the man who tackled him seconds before Angus landed a well-placed boot on the side of the man’s head. The thug was swiftly restrained and dragged outside to the waiting gaoler’s cart.

Unfortunately, the scene out on the street was no less chaotic. In support of their criminal comrades, other occupants of Rigley Row teemed out of their houses and had started to charge down the road to help their cohorts. The magistrate’s men were raging a brutal battle to quell their enemy. Captured convicts were promptly chained and dragged still protesting into the darkness where they could be further confined in the cart and taken to gaol. The battle fought in the street was no less bloody than any the men fought against each other. There was no exception made for the lawmen, who faced a lethal, ruthless fury intent on murder.

Jasper, together with Niall and Phillip, charged up the stairs within the house that stood alone. The thug who appeared at the top, weapon drawn, was swiftly cut down. Stepping over him, Jasper and Niall began to kick down doors.

“Here,” Jasper called when he slammed one door open and found a terrified young woman cowering in the far corner of the room.

The low cut and brazen colour of her clothing told Jasper exactly what she was being used for. He cursed bitterly because he suspected he had just found one of the missing women: Marilyn Alton. She began to cry and hideously plead for her life when she saw Jasper.

“Come with us,” Jasper bit out, unwilling to spend any time trying to soothe her fears. He had to leave her scared, if only to ensure she remained biddable to the instructions he needed her to follow to get her out of the building with both their lives intact. “Now.”