Guarding Danger: Sinclair and Raven Series
Page 28
-Amazon reviewer
Will her secret bring her ruin or love?
Desperate and penniless, Miss Olivia Langley is out of options. To ensure her family's survival she and her sister decide to take a drastic step - they don masks and take to the road as highwaymen. Disaster strikes when, inside the first carriage they rob, they find the one man Olivia had hoped never to see again. Five years ago Lord William Ryder had broken Livvy's heart. Now he has returned and she has a bad feeling that if anyone can succeed at unmasking her deepest secrets, it will be him.
Can a rake reform?
Will knew his return would be greeted with both joy and resentment, but after five years of hard living he was ready to come home and take his place in society. He had never forgotten Olivia no matter how hard he'd tried, and whilst he hadn't imagined she would welcome him with open arms, the hostility and anger she displays are at odds with the woman he once knew. Will is horrified to find she's living a dangerous lie and refuses his help. But now that he’s back, Will is determined to do whatever it takes to protect her, and finally claim her for his own.
ONE CLICK FOR LADY IN DISGUISE!
“Definitely worth the read. I absolutely love her story telling. It's never too much.”
-Goodreads reviewer
Turn the page for an excerpt of Lady In Disguise!
Lady In Disguise
Excerpt
“Stand and deliver!”
Hands still braced on the seat, Will shook his head again; surely he hadn’t heard those words correctly.
“Those within the carriage step down at once or I will blow a hole in the side!”
In the past few years, Will had been shot, stabbed, held hostage and forced to leap from a burning ship, and now he had arrived, to what he believed the safety of his homeland, and within hours he was being robbed. If rage weren’t nipping at his heels, he’d laugh.
“I will give you a five-count!”
“I’m coming!” he bellowed, reaching for the door. Pushing it open with enough force that it banged loudly against the carriage, Will stepped down. Cooler now that dusk had settled, he could smell the trees and earth of his homeland.
“No risks, Luke,” he cautioned his driver quietly as he looked at the riders before him. “Well?” he then questioned the two masked men, waiting for one of them to speak; curiously, both seemed almost unnaturally still. “Are you robbing me, or did you want to take tea?” His drawled words had the required effect, as one of them spoke.
“Throw your money over here, or I will shoot you!”
“You had better make that shot count, because you can be assured if you miss, you won’t get a second one,” Will stated calmly, looking at the two riders. Both wore black hats pulled low to cover their eyes and scarves hid the lower half of their faces. Pistols were pointed at him and his driver. They looked menacing, yet not overly big, he thought, eyeing the slender thigh of the one closest to him.
“The penalty for robbing a peer is death I believe,” he added, reaching into his pocket and removing a money pouch.
“The penalty for starvation is the same, my lord!”
With the coin pouch now in his hand, Will looked at the man. His words were muffled, yet he could hear the desperation.
“You’ll end up with your neck stretched by the hangman’s noose if you don’t rethink your choice of career, young man.”
“Spoken like a cosseted nobleman, Lord Ryder. Now throw me that purse and we shall be on our way.”
Will paused, holding the highwayman’s gaze, and then slowly threw the purse in the air, the coins making a chinking sound as they resettled in his palm.
“It appears you have me at a disadvantage, sir. You know who I am, yet I am at a loss to remember you. Of course, that could be because you have your face covered and a pistol pointed at my head.”
Will watched the horse lift its head as the man’s hand tightened on the reins. Interesting. It was dark, and the moonlight was weak, but the highwayman had recognized him immediately, if that reaction was any indication. He’d seen the worst life could offer, yet it saddened him that someone who had crossed his path would need to steal to survive.
“This is not a social call, Lord Ryder. Just hand over the pouch and we shall leave you to continue your journey.”
“And if I say no, will you kill me where I stand?”
“We don’t want to kill you!”
“Then turn your horse around and leave,” Will said, his voice now low and menacing. The gun wavered and then steadied as the man transferred the reins into the same hand as the gun, the empty one he now held out to Will.
“Throw me that pouch.”
“No.” He watched the two highwaymen look at each other after he spoke. A suspicion formed in his head as the leader raised a shoulder in a gesture that looked far too feminine for a man.
“I will shoot your driver.”
Will had not survived the last few years to be shot just miles from his home, and he realized that a young, desperate man aiming a gun at his head was a situation that could get out of hand quickly.
“Here.” He threw the bag at the leader, who caught it easily.
“Now go, before I decide that you two need to be taught a bloody good lesson in manners,” Will added, scowling at them.
They turned their horses and began to leave.
“I’ll stop them!”
“No, Luke!”
Too late, Will watched his driver’s knife sail through the air and lodge itself in the shoulder of the lead highwayman. The scream that filled the air told him his original guess had been incorrect. They weren’t youths; in fact, they were women. He took a step towards her as she lurched sideways in the saddle, but she saved herself by gripping the horse’s mane, and soon they were gone from his sight.
“Christ, I just stabbed a woman, Will.”
ONE CLICK FOR LADY IN DISGUISE!
Other books by Wendy
HISTORICAL ROMANCE
Regency Rakes Series
Duchess By Chance
Rescued By A Viscount
Tempting Miss Allender
The Langley Sisters Series
Lady In Disguise
Lady In Demand
Lady In Distress
The Lady Plays Her Ace
The Lady Seals Her Fate
The Lady’s Dangerous Love
The Lady’s Forbidden Love
The Raven & Sinclair Series
Sensing Danger
Seeing Danger
Touched By Danger
Scent Of Danger
Vision Of Danger
Tempting Danger
Seductive Danger
Guarding Danger
The Lords Of Night Street Series
Lord Gallant
Lord Valiant
Lord Valorous
Lord Noble
Stand-Alone Titles
The Reluctant Countess
Christmas Wishes
Mistletoe And The Marquess
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
The Lake Howling Series
A Promise Of Home
The Texan Meets His Match
How Sweet It Is
It Only Took You
Don’t Look Back
A Long Way Home
Then Came You
Ryker Falls Series
Somebody To Love
From This Moment
Love Me Tender
Only Just Begun
About the Author
Wendy Vella is a bestselling author of historical and contemporary romances
such as the Langley Sisters and Sinclair and Raven series, with over a million copies of her books sold worldwide.
Born and raised in a rural area in the North Island of New Zealand, she shares her life with one adorable husband, two delightful adult children and their partners, four delicious grandchildren, and too many cantankerous farm animals.
Sign up for Wendy’s newsletter
wendy
vella.com/subscribe
Join Wendy’s reader group
WendyVellas-ReadingBellas
Like Wendy Vella on Facebook:
facebook.com/wendyvella
Follow Wendy Vella on Instagram:
instagram.com/wendy.vella_author
Visit Wendy’s website for her current booklist:
www.wendyvella.com/books
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or use of this work in any part is forbidden without the express written permission of the author.
Guardian Of Danger is published by Wendy Vella
Copyright © 2020 Wendy Vella