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When the Rogue Returns

Page 29

by Sabrina Jeffries


  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.

  Follow Sabrina Jeffries on Twitter, join her more than 12,400 fans on Facebook, and visit www.sabrinajeffries.com.

  FOR MORE ON THIS AUTHOR: authors.simonandschuster.com/Sabrina-Jeffries

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  SimonandSchuster.com

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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

  In the Prince’s Bed

  The first installment in Meredith Duran’s Rules for the Reckless series.

  CLICK THE JACKET TO DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY TODAY!

  The next searing installment in Meredith Duran’s hot regency romance series on sale March 25th.

  CLICK THE JACKET TO DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY TODAY!

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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

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Pocket B
ooks Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

  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

 

 

 


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