She blinked at him. “Dallying? Dallying, mind you?” She turned to march up the last few steps. “As if I would ever, in a million years, dally with you.” She wouldn’t. Really, she wouldn’t!
His low chuckle behind her put the lie to her words. “Never say never, my lady. A vow like that is sure to come back to bite you in the arse. Which would be a shame, given that you have such a fine one.”
Oh, Lord, he was staring at her bottom.
Wait, how dare he stare at her bottom?
The second they moved into a long hallway, she turned to give him a firm setdown. Then she froze at the sight of his smug expression. He was deliberately trying to provoke her, the sly devil, just as when he threatened to shoot her.
This time she wouldn’t let him succeed. She cast him a pitying smile. “And here I’d heard that you were so witty and charming toward the fair sex, Mr. Bonnaud. How disappointing to discover you have only the coarsest notion of how to compliment a lady.”
To her enormous satisfaction, that wiped the smugness right off his face. “The operative word is ‘lady.’” He bore down on her, an edge in his voice. “And since you seem to be a lady in name only, given your penchant for sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong—”
“Lady Zoe?” Mr. Manton appeared at the top of the stairs. He glanced from her to Mr. Bonnaud, who instantly went rigid.
She couldn’t resist a smile of triumph. It was rather satisfying to watch him caught off guard for once.
Turning to his half brother, she offered her hand. “Mr. Manton. How good to see you again.”
Sparing a veiled glance for Mr. Bonnaud, he shook her hand. “Under much better circumstances than last time, fortunately.”
All too aware of Mr. Bonnaud’s hard gaze on her, she smiled brightly. “I was delighted to hear that you and your fellow investigators routed the true villains eventually.” There, that sounded perfectly cordial and ladylike and all the things Mr. Bonnaud said she wasn’t. “I was also pleased to learn that they were given the justice they deserved.”
“Indeed they were. We much appreciate your discretion in that matter, too, I assure you.”
Her pulse pounded. “So you remember your promise.”
“Of course. What’s more, I’m pleased to honor it.” He gestured toward a nearby open doorway. “Why don’t we discuss the matter in my study?”
“Thank you.” As he led her in the room, she felt his brother fall into step behind her, no doubt staring at her “fine” arse again.
Let him stare. Now that she knew he only did it to provoke her, she refused to let it bother her. It’s not as if he meant anything by it. He did, after all, have a string of beauties trailing after him throughout London, and she wasn’t widely acclaimed a beauty herself.
Oh, men flirted with her often enough, but that was to be expected. She was rich, after all, and her inheritance was substantial. She would much rather they flirted with her because they found her interesting, but barring that, she wouldn’t mind being admired for her more feminine attributes.
Unfortunately, English gentlemen weren’t generally attracted to olive-skinned women with foreign-looking features, no matter how much Mama had always praised her “exotic” appearance. And her aunt, Mama’s sister, despaired of her clothing choices, claiming that they had a bit too much dash for good society.
Zoe sighed. Even if by some chance Mr. Bonnaud didn’t mind any of that and actually found her attractive, it didn’t matter. He hardly seemed the marrying sort. And she had too much at stake to be interested in the other sort—scoundrels and rakes and rogues. No matter how handsome and daring they were.
“So,” Mr. Manton said as he gestured to a chair and took his own seat behind the desk, “what do you want from me and my fellow investigators?”
Having circled around to lean against the wall nearest the desk, Mr. Bonnaud leveled her with his disapproving stare. But at least he wasn’t smirking at her anymore.
She looked at Mr. Manton, and the enormity of what she was about to reveal hit her. For half a second, she reconsidered her decision. If the Duke’s Men ever let slip even a tenth of what she was about to tell them, her future would be over and her family’s estate, Windborough, would be lost forever.
“My lady?” Mr. Manton prodded. “Why are you here?”
Then again, it might be lost forever if she didn’t involve them. Truly, she had no choice.
She gripped her reticule in her hands and fought for calm. “I need you to find my real parents.”
© JESSI BLAKELY FOR TAMARA LACKEY PHOTOGRAPHY
SABRINA JEFFRIES is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Royal Brotherhood trilogy, the School for Heiresses series, and the Hellions of Halstead Hall series. Her first hardcover release, the stunning holiday novel ’Twas the Night After Christmas, was named one of Library Journal’s Best Romances of 2012. Her all-new series, The Duke’s Men, begins with What the Duke Desires and When the Rogue Returns.
Sabrina Jeffries also headlined the novella collection The School for Heiresses and contributed to the holiday anthology Snowy Night with a Stranger. There are more than six million copies of her books in print worldwide.
She lives in North Carolina with her husband and son.
FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR: authors.simonandschuster.com/Sabrina-Jeffries
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ALSO BY SABRINA JEFFRIES
By Love Unveiled
’Twas the Night After Christmas
THE DUKE’S MEN SERIES
What the Duke Desires
THE HELLIONS OF HALSTEAD HALL SERIES
A Lady Never Surrenders
To Wed a Wild Lord
How to Woo a Reluctant Lady
A Hellion in Her Bed
The Truth About Lord Stoneville
THE SCHOOL FOR HEIRESSES SERIES
Wed Him Before You Bed Him
Don’t Bargain with the Devil
Snowy Night with a Stranger
(with Jane Feather & Julia London)
Let Sleeping Rogues Lie
Beware a Scot’s Revenge
The School for Heiresses
(with Julia London, Liz Carlyle & Renee Bernard)
Only a Duke Will Do
Never Seduce a Scoundrel
THE ROYAL BROTHERHOOD SERIES
One Night with a Prince
To Pleasure a Prince
The first installment in Meredith Duran’s Rules for the Reckless series.
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The next searing installment in Meredith Duran’s hot regency romance series on sale March 25th.
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Pocket Books
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Deborah Gonzales
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First Pocket Books paperback edition February 2014
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Cover illustration by Alan Ayers
ISBN 978-1-4516-9348-5
ISBN 978-1-4516-9352-2 (ebook)
CONTENTS
The Duke’s Men Series Family Tree
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Author’s Note
‘How The Scoundrel Seduces’ Excerpt
About Sabrina Jeffries