Read Online 50 Ways to Ruin a Rake by Jade Lee - Free Book Online Page B

fox’s speed as he ducked and twisted all over the field.
    It was after ten more agonizing minutes of this that Mellie finally began to relax. It’s not that she was enjoying the fight like so many of the crowd. Far from it. But she understood finally what Trevor had been trying to tell her. It was boys fighting in the school yard. Bloody and violent, to be sure. Especially since they were grown men. But no one was likely to die or even end up needing a surgeon. The two were well matched. At least that’s what she saw with her very limited experience. Which is when things went horribly awry.
    Trevor stepped in a hole.
    It was Ronnie’s doing, she was sure of it. He probably thought himself clever, but Melinda thought him a beast for it. After all, he knew this field. Had played here as a boy. He’d no doubt arranged for other pugilist matches on this very location. He likely knew every hole, every rock, every cow pie in a quarter mile and must have maneuvered Trevor to step in exactly that spot.
    Trevor cried out in surprise and pain, crumpling quickly—in part from being off balance, in part because he was ducking to avoid Ronnie’s fist. Thank God he was wearing boots, otherwise his leg might have snapped in two. As it was, he was perched precariously, one leg ankle deep in mud while the crowd roared in bloodlust.
    Trevor held off Ronnie as best he could, blocking blows aimed at his head. He needed enough space to regain his footing. He found it a moment later, lucky that Ronnie was a big man who tired quickly. Her cousin couldn’t keep up his rain of blows for long, especially with his lungs working like great bellows. Ronnie paused, pulling back his arm for another blow, but obviously slow from exhaustion.
    Trevor took that moment to wrench his leg free, but when he stepped down on it he continued to fall. Damnation, his leg had given out! He must be hurt in earnest.
    Mellie saw the realization hit both men at once. Trevor grimaced in dismay, doing his best to roll with the fall. Ronnie, on the other hand, saw his moment of triumph. His lips pulled back in an ugly grin, and she knew what he intended to do.
    Trevor was down. Ronnie was going to finish the fight. But he hadn’t reckoned on Melinda. She’d been an unwilling participant in this whole disgusting display. Well, if her cousin wanted a Cheltenham tragedy, she would bloody well give him one.
    She surged forward, having no need to fake the desperation in her voice. “Stop it! Ronnie, stop it now!” And when he didn’t hear her, she said the words she’d never thought she’d utter in her entire life. “My love!”
    That got his attention. His fist was raised, but he looked to her, his eyes alight with excitement. “Mellie!”
    She flung herself forward. Dropping to her knees, she slid in the mud, coming to a stop just where she’d intended—right beside Trevor’s head. Ronnie reached for her, but she pushed him away as she wrapped herself around the fallen lord.
    â€œStay away, you brute!” she practically spit at her cousin. Then she used her cloak to dab at the blood on Trevor’s face. “My love, my love, are you alive? Oh God, someone fetch a doctor! Please, someone!”
    Her words were ten times more dramatic than were needed, but she’d learned that the best way to deliver a message to her cousin was in the most theatrical tone possible. So she cradled Trevor in her arms and crooned like any heroine in the most lurid gothic romance.
    Trevor’s face was indeed a battered mess, but not so unrecognizable that she didn’t see the gleam of appreciation in his eyes or the mischievous smile that pulled at his swollen lip.
    â€œAre you an angel?” he asked. “Have I died?”
    The man was lying in the mud, his ankle nearly snapped in half. His face oozed from a myriad of cuts, and yet he still had the wherewithal to give the crowd a good show. It