Free How the Scoundrel Seduces by Sabrina Jeffries Page A

I’ve changed my mind. It suits you.”
    She looked suddenly defensive. “You mean, it suits you to mock me.”
    The uncertainty in her voice gave him a twinge of guilt. “I’m not mocking you, I swear. Truth is, you remindme of a Russian princess I knew in Paris.” He managed a teasing tone. “She dressed to maim, too.”
    She wouldn’t look at him. “One of your many conquests, I take it?”
    “Hell and thunder,” he said irritably, “it’s not as if I go about seducing every fetching female I see. And princesses don’t generally consort with men like me anyway.” Although the Russian chit had flirted outrageously with him, something he didn’t see any point in mentioning.
    Her hands worried the reticule attached to one of her slender wrists. “About that . . . er . . . kiss of ours, you will keep it . . . I mean, if my cousin were to hear of it, let alone Papa—”
    “I’m not going to tell anyone, if that’s what worries you.”
    Her gaze shot to his. “And you won’t . . . attempt another one.”
    “I can’t promise any such thing.” What was wrong with him? Hadn’t he just been telling himself that he shouldn’t repeat it? “However, since we’re unlikely to be alone again, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
    The relief on her face spiked his temper higher, and it was all he could do not to grab her and kiss her again, just to provoke her.
    “Well, then.” She donned the ladylike reserve she seemed to put on and off like a cloak. “I’ll see you in a few days at Rotten Row.”
    Then she was gone, leaving him with his blood in high riot and his hands clenched at his sides.
    God, he really hoped that his jaunt to Liverpool turned up clear evidence that she was her father’s heir. Because if he had to deal with her for weeks on end, he might end up strangling her.
    Or doing something far more dangerous.
    No, what was he thinking? It was to his advantage to have her be part Gypsy, and he dared not jeopardize the investigation by being an arse. He needed this chance to locate Milosh. He would just have to keep his distance, and communicate with her as little as necessary.
    That shouldn’t be too hard; she was soon going to be gadding about with her American cousin. Though that thought oddly didn’t sit well with him, either.
    The door opened and he tensed, thinking she’d returned. But it was only Dom, with a pile of papers in his hands.
    “I caught Hucker outside, watching the place,” Dom said grimly as he set the pile on the desk.
    That instantly put Tristan on alert. “Bloody hell. George must really be desperate to find some way to ruin us, if he can spare Hucker for days at a time.”
    “Either that or George can’t afford to pay the man his salary, so Hucker’s hoping that if he can find something on us, George will give him money for it. My spies in Ashcroft tell me that our brother falls deeper into debt every year.”
    “Which only makes him more dangerous,” Tristan pointed out. “A cornered animal will attack with particular savagery.”
    “True. That’s why I made sure to run Hucker off forgood. I told him that if I saw him around here again, I would charge him with breaking and entering, and get my close friend the chief magistrate to lock him up.”
    Tristan tensed. “Do you think he believed you?”
    “Hucker’s a coward at heart. He won’t risk his neck on the off chance that George will save it for him.”
    “I hope you’re right. Because our brother is determined to see me in shackles, one way or another, and he’ll do whatever is necessary to make that happen.”
    But Tristan wouldn’t be the only one to suffer for it. Dom would almost certainly lose the business if Tristan was dragged to gaol over some trumped-up charge. So it wasn’t just for himself that Tristan wanted George brought down; it was for Dom, too.
    Dom had never once chastised Tristan for the chaos set in motion by the theft of Blue Blazes, but that didn’t alter Tristan’s