Free Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard by Vanessa Kelly Page A

cannot answer any more questions tonight.”
    Her voice quavered, which she made no attempt to hide. In fact, she hoped she looked as frazzled as she felt.
    His gaze was dark with suspicion, but finally he relented. “Very well.” He brushed aside the window drape with one finger and studied the sky. “We should be reaching the outskirts of London by dawn’s break, in about an hour. We can talk later.”
    Swallowing a sigh of relief, Vivien gave him a grateful smile as she settled back in her seat, closing her eyes and willing herself into a doze.
    She’d managed to put him off for now but she’d have to be on her guard. The situation was much more appalling than St. George even suspected, and only she could fix it. Because it wasn’t a Russian prince who’d been the catalyst for her abduction. No. The culprit was much, much closer to home.

Chapter Seven
    The carriage turned into Upper Wimpole Street just as faint tendrils of light cut through the smoky darkness of the city. Aden stretched his cramped limbs, more than ready to see this night to a close. He’d been awake for over thirty hours and even he had his limits. But Lady Vivien’s situation threatened to deny him much-needed rest. His brain restlessly searched for patterns and explanations that made sense, but there were none. The fact that the lady was withholding information only added to the mystery.
    He didn’t like mysteries. In his line of work, he’d grown used to them. But the best thing about any mystery was solving it, and the one he currently found himself embroiled in seemed far from reaching its conclusion.
    As light filtered into the carriage, he studied the heart of the conundrum, curled up on the opposite seat. Once she’d fallen asleep, she’d fallen hard, barely stirring when he’d eased her down onto the bench and covered her with the blanket. Even when he’d smoothed her pale golden hair away from her face she hadn’t moved. Her vulnerability touched him, as did the trust she obviously felt in his presence. Knowing now the strength of her character, he recognized that Lady Vivien would never have allowed herself to fall asleep if she didn’t think he could see to her safety.
    Too bad she didn’t trust him enough to tell him the truth about what she knew. She clearly had suspicions as to the culprit behind her abduction, and equally clearly had no intention of sharing them. That probably meant what Aden had suspected all along. Namely, that her brother Lord Blake was involved. The reason was yet obscured, but Dominic would get to the bottom of it.
    Cases involving families or friends always ended badly. Whenever emotions clouded judgment, as they were bound to do, mistakes were made. Aden hated those cases, and he had every intention of handing the whole damn thing over to Dominic. That included Lady Vivien, too.
    The carriage jerked to a halt in front of Dominic’s town house. Even then, Lady Vivien did not stir, although she drew in a shuddering breath and curled her hand up under her chin. She looked so young and innocent, her smooth cheeks flushed from sleep, her mouth soft and vulnerable. Something twisted in Aden’s chest and he had to resist the impulse to go down on his knees beside her and kiss her awake.
    His hand clenched into a fist with the effort to resist the demented impulse. Yes, it was definitely time to hand Lady Vivien over into Dominic’s safekeeping.
    Reaching for her shoulder, he gently shook her. “My lady, it’s time to wake up.”
    Another one of those shuddering breaths and her eyelids fluttered open. She gazed at him with drowsy, sapphire-colored eyes and gave him a sleepy smile. For a second, a very long second, that smile robbed him of breath.
    He shook it off. “We’ve arrived at Sir Dominic’s town house, Lady Vivien.” Deliberately, he looked out the window, thankful to break the unnerving connection between them.
    She yawned and pushed herself upright. The blanket slid down to her waist,