Read Online The Veiled Heart (The Velvet Basement Book 1) by Elsa Holland - Free Book Online

auction to the highest-paying savage.
    They’d met in the sex shop, that might be true; and yes, she’d had sex with him in the carriage. However, she was out of her league down here. Whatever she thought this was, coming here alone was a very bad judgment call.
    Up ahead, Lily was marching down the alley, bustle swaying behind her as though she were marching down Piccadilly Street.
    Blast her. Every instinct was to go haul her back into some semblance of humanity because there would be very little of it here.
    Again, she’d come out with no companion, no one to care for her welfare or safety.
    The cabbie who had dropped her off was pulling away, no doubt paid and not returning if he had any sense, despite what he may have agreed to.
    How on earth did she think she was getting home? Hailing a cab in this area would be impossible.
    A quick flick of the collar of his seaman’s coat and he strode after her.
    He didn’t have far to go up the musty lane to where Lily entered The Split Tart.
    Damn it , Lily. What are you thinking?
    The tension climbed through the muscles in his back, along his spine, and across his shoulders twisting them tight. No man with any decent access to funds or self-preservation would frequent this disreputable brothel. Whispers said it catered to men with younger needs and offered a supply service to the continent.
    Worthington moved quickly toward the building, a stand-alone structure with the external paint peeling and etched with grime. Gaslights lit the sign, and the front door was ajar. He pushed it open and stepped inside, tensing for the unexpected.
    No sight of her anywhere.
    The tightening in his shoulders increased.
    She’d already passed through and could be anywhere in this seedy den.
    Lacking gaslights, the inside was lit with candles. Dark smudges ran up the walls above the sconces. Everything about the entrance spoke of a lack of concern for hygiene and human standards.
    Two large men came around the corner and blocked him from moving further into the establishment. The pungent smell of sweat radiated from them in a pervasive wall.
    “Stand aside.” His heart started to beat faster as he tightened his fists at his side.
    “Not so fast, gov’ner. We’re closed for the next hour and then some. Come back later.”
    Later. Instinctively he moved his weight onto his back foot. Not bloody likely. He would not leave Lily in here by herself.
    Years of brawling had all of them tense up at his change in body language.
    “Now, we don’t want no trouble. There’s a pub down the road; wait there and come on back when the girls are all done.”
    “Let me through.”
    He didn’t adjust his stance. His voice was tight, and as bloody aristocratic and commanding as he could muster.
    They were both large and built as though made to fend off the Titans. Taking them on and walking away was falling into fifty/fifty odds. Then one of them stepped back and walked into a small room off the entrance. He’d been assessed as low risk. With effort, he lowered his hands.
    “Listen,” said the titan killer as he stepped forward, placed a slab of a hand on his shoulder. “The girls are all booked, the whole damn lot of them.”
    She must have booked out the whole brothel. His head shook of its own accord. And he agreed. “Crazy woman. And she’s mine.”
    “Not my concern.” The man held up his arms. “But her marching in here alone had us wondering.”
    “Difference of opinion in the cab.” The barefaced lie passed his mouth with ease.
    The man nodded in understanding and grinned. “Follow the corridor, take the steps down. They’re all in the far back room.”
    Finding the room was easy. Prostitutes were heading in, dressed in their shifts, pantaloons, shawls, and corsets. The bare minimum to get down to business quickly and yet generate enough to interest the mind at what was underneath.
    A couple of blondes stopped when they saw him. Thrust out their breasts.
    “Hey, mister, I’d do you