Never Love a Scoundrel

by Darcy Burke

  “Thank you.” Then Ethan turned and ran.

  Jason turned his attention to the woman he loved. “Lydia, I need you to faint.”

  She gazed up at him, her eyes confused, her lips parted. She already looked halfway there.

  “I need to distract Teague,” he said urgently.

  Her eyes widened with understanding, then fluttered closed. She exhaled dramatically, giving a little squeal as she did so, and dropped like a stone. Jason caught her before she hit the street.

  He knelt, cradling her head on his knees, and leaned down. “That was brilliant. I love you.” He felt her flinch. “No, don’t open your eyes. Not yet. Let me deal with Teague first. Then, my love, we will get on with the rest of our lives.”

  She cracked open one eye briefly enough to glare at him. “I told you Ethan wasn’t a criminal.”

  LYDIA CLOSED her eye again and feigned unconsciousness. She hoped Ethan was able to get away.

  “Where did he go?” someone demanded; Lydia thought it was Teague. She’d only met him the one time after her house had been robbed, but she recognized his voice.

  “He got away,” Jason explained. “I had to see to Lydia.” He brushed his hand over her forehead.

  He loved her. The knowledge filled her with warmth and joy.

  She figured it was all right to awaken, and so she allowed her eyes to gently open. “What happened?” she asked weakly.

  “You fainted,” Jason said, his hand still stroking her hairline.

  She sat up quickly. “Gin Jimmy!” she cried, hoping to put the focus on him instead of Ethan.

  “I’m afraid he ran, but you’re all right.” Jason helped her to stand. He slid one arm around her back and held her close.

  “Yes. Thank goodness for Ethan. If he hadn’t gone after Gin Jimmy, I might be dead!” Lydia used all of her years and experience as an accomplished storyteller to sound as convincing as possible.

  Teague frowned. “He’s still wanted for murder.” He flicked his gaze to Jason’s. “Even you can’t deny that he killed Wolverton—the knife he dropped on your terrace is his, it’s engraved with the letters EJ.”

  Lydia felt Jason tense and cast him a sidelong glance. He clenched his jaw. “I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation.”

  “Doubtful.” Teague turned to his companion. “Let’s go.” They took off in the direction both Ethan and Gin Jimmy had taken. Lydia prayed that Ethan would somehow evade them, but he was hurt.

  She turned in Jason’s embrace. “Will Ethan be all right? Jimmy stabbed him.”

  “I know.” Jason stroked her shoulder with his fingertips in a circular motion. “But if anyone can emerge from this and come out on top, I have to believe it’s Ethan.”

  She looked up at him. “Your opinion of him has changed.”

  “Yes.” He frowned with regret. “That doesn’t alter the past, however, and he was a criminal—regardless of what you want to believe. He may not have killed Wolverton, or stolen from you, or even had anything to do with Lady Aldridge’s death, but I’m afraid there are plenty of other crimes he may yet be accused of.”

  She shivered. She couldn’t reconcile the criminal with the man she’d taught to waltz or the man who’d flirted with Audrey. “We’ll stand by him.”

  “‘We’?” Jason asked.

  “Of course, we’re to be married, are we not?”

  He pulled her tight against his chest and held her. “Yes, though I was afraid I was about to lose you. Are you sure you’re all right?”

  “Yes. He didn’t hurt me. He was actually quite friendly at first.” She pulled back, and they started to walk back toward Lockwood House. “Why was he wearing your livery?”

  “He killed Kerr and took his clothes.” Jason’s arm was still draped around her back, and as he spoke, his hold had tightened. She could feel his muscles coiling with anger.

  She laid her hand against his chest in an effort to soothe the tension in his frame. “But why?”

  “To get inside Lockwood House so he could kill Wolverton.”

  Lydia realized that was the second time he’d mentioned Wolverton dying. She shook her head, trying to take it all in. “Why?”

  “He was the one in charge of the gang who robbed your house.”

  Lydia stopped and gaped at him. “Never say so!”

  “I’m afraid it’s true. Ethan directed Bow Street to his house, where they found your necklace, among other things.” He guided her forward once more.

  She thought of the pleasant visit she’d shared with Wolverton not even a week ago, and she stopped short again. “He called on me last Saturday. He commented on my necklace, and he asked the most peculiar questions about our staff—how many maids we had and so forth.”

  Jason’s mouth formed a grim line. “It sounds as if he was planning the theft.”

  She shook her head and started walking with Jason again. “How perfectly horrid. But I’m sorry he died. Why did Gin Jimmy kill him?”

  “I’m not completely certain, but he apparently thought Wolverton had turned against him. However, Ethan is the one who was trying to get him captured by Bow Street.” Jason fell silent a moment. “I still don’t understand Ethan’s plan. I wish we’d had more time together. I wish he’d trusted me sooner.”

  Lydia squeezed his arm. “You’ll get your chance. We’ll find a way to prove he’s innocent of these crimes.”

  “These crimes, but what of others?” Jason asked hopelessly. “I just found my half brother. I don’t want to lose him again. Especially when I think of how different his life might have been if only we—my mother and I—had shown him some compassion.”

  They were nearly halfway back to Lockwood House. Lydia paused and wrapped her arms around Jason. “We won’t lose him. I firmly believe that love conquers all, and you love Ethan. And he loves you.”

  “That might be taking things a bit far.” He kissed the top of her head.

  She wanted to argue with him, but she was suddenly bone-tired. “Can we hurry back to Lockwood House?” Plus, she wanted to hear more declarations of love.

  “Of course.” He took her hand, and they walked more purposefully toward their destination.

  “Goodness, your last vice party is going to be remembered as quite a singular event. It will have been your most shocking party yet.”

  “My ‘last’ vice party?”

  She peered at him askance. “I know you don’t really want to give them up, but I don’t want to preside over vice parties as Lady Lockwood.” This was one point on which she refused to concede. He didn’t have to go to balls or pretend to be nice to people, but she wouldn’t become the viscountess of debauchery.

  He was quiet for several strides, and Lydia worried that he was going to argue.

  “All right. No more vice parties.” He sounded sad.

  “You’ll really miss them?”

  “Just the idea of them. After I was ostracized, they were the only place I felt I belonged.”

  She thought for a moment, hating that he was going to lose something that had been a beacon for him during his loneliest years. “Perhaps we could have parties and invite those same people. We’d still have the gaming room—just no lasciviousness.”

  Jason laughed. “Something between your vice-free party and my vice parties?”

  Her lips quirked up as Lockwood House came into view. “Something like that.”

  “All right. Now that I’ve made a concession, it’s time for you to do the same.”

  She slowed her pace. “What’s that?”

  “You’ll let me handle your aunt.” He took her hands and looked into her eyes with love and sincerity. “I won’t allow her to badger you any longer.”

  Warmth flooded her and she smiled up at him. “Thank you, but you needn’t worry about her. I’ve ensured she won’t bother us at all.”

  He shook his head. “I shudder to think of how you managed that.”

  “I’ll explain it later—I’m afraid it’s a rather awful
tale.” She wondered what he would think of his father’s role in Margaret’s past, but imagined he wouldn’t be surprised.

  They arrived at Lockwood House, where Scot and North were standing outside.

  “Is everything all right, my lord?” North asked.

  “Yes, Lady Lydia is safe, as you can see, and Ethan escaped.”

  North’s mouth dipped into a serious frown. “I’m afraid the deaths of Kerr and Wolverton were discovered, my lord. Several of the guests left, and the others have congregated in the billiards room to discuss their theories on what happened.”

  Jason closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. He gazed at Lydia with regret. “I’m sorry. This is going to be a mess. Are you sure you want to marry me? You’ll be plenty notorious, but not in the way you’d probably like.”

  She slid her arm around his waist and hugged him. “It’s the only way I want—with you.”

  Scot elbowed his brother. “We’ll make sure the entry is clear so you can go upstairs undisturbed.”

  “Thoughtful man, your Scot,” Lydia murmured as Jason held her close to his side.

  “Nosy as hell, but yes, very thoughtful.”

  She pulled back and looked up at him. “Actually, I have one more demand. I’d like to keep the fantasy room as it is.”

  He looked adorably confused. “But you just said you wanted vice-free parties.”

  She gave him a sly grin. “Oh, it’s not for parties. It’s for us.”

  His answering smile was so wicked and so full of promise that Lydia wished she could take him up there right this instant. But this was Lockwood House’s final vice party, and she’d let it reach its natural conclusion.

  “I can see I’m going to need to secure a special license for our wedding. I’m afraid I simply can’t wait for the stupid banns to be read. Please tell me that’s all right.”

  Love for this man poured through her. She cupped his beloved face. “It’s more than all right.”

  Relief mingled with his joy. “Thank God you agreed. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you’d insisted on waiting.” He sobered briefly. “What about your father? Don’t you want him here for the wedding?”

  Her father’s cold letter, including his reference to her as a “replacement” wife for Mr. Jarvis doused any charitable feelings. Furthermore, while Father would be pleased she was finally marrying, she doubted he would care if he attended the ceremony. A letter as cool as his would suffice. “We’ll write to him in the morning.”

  He turned her toward the house and walked her up the steps to the front door. “You say that as if we’ll be together.”

  She stopped and pivoted to look up at him, her arm linked securely through his. “And why not? You never answered me earlier—do you mind if I sleep here tonight?”

  The door swung open as he reached down and swept her into his arms. “I insist.”

  And then he kissed her in full view of anyone—inside or out—who cared to watch. It was, Society would later say, a fitting end to the notorious vice parties at Lockwood House.

  The end

  Thank You!

  Thank you so much for reading Never Love a Scoundrel. I hope you enjoyed it!

  Would you like to know when my next book is available? You can sign up for my new release email list, follow me on Twitter at @darcyburke, or like my Facebook page.

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  Never Love a Scoundrel is book five in the Secrets and Scandals Series. The first four books, in order, are: Her Wicked Ways, His Wicked Heart, To Seduce a Scoundrel, (a novella). Read on for a sneak peek at the final book in the Secrets and Scandals series, Scoundrel Ever After. You can also read excerpts from books three and four in this series, To Seduce a Scoundrel, where Jason Lockwood and his notorious vice parties, as well as Jagger, are first introduced and To Love a Thief, which again features Ethan Jagger as a secondary character.

  Coming in Fall 2013

  The exciting conclusion to the Secrets and Scandals Series

  about bad boy Ethan Jagger . . .

  Once upon a time there was a very bad boy . . .

  Ethan Jagger will do anything to leave his criminal past behind and take his place as a gentleman in Polite Society. Success is within his grasp until his boss discovers his double cross and frames him for murder. As if running from the law and the outlaws weren’t bad enough, he must protect an innocent young lady from the very criminals who want him dead. Worst of all, though, is the dangerous attraction that sparks between them. If he can escape the hangman’s noose and start anew, will she consent to love a scoundrel ever after?

  Who met a very nice girl . . .

  London only thinks of Audrey Cheswick as a wallflower—if they even think of her at all. She’s tried to find satisfaction—if not happiness—as a spinster-in-waiting, though her intrepid spirit yearns for a grand adventure. But when she runs away with England’s most wanted criminal, she learns adventure comes with a price—not just her reputation or her virtue, but her heart.

  Chapter One

  London, September, 1818

  ETHAN JAGGER ran like hell. Every pump of his arm pulsed blood from the knife wound in his bicep and brought a fresh burn of agony. Still, he couldn’t stop. Stopping meant capture. Capture meant the hangman’s noose.

  He didn’t chance a look back. Though he couldn’t yet hear them, he knew the Bow Street Runners were closing in. Wounded as he was, Ethan wasn’t sure he could outpace them. St. Giles was too bloody far away.

  He almost stopped cold. He couldn’t go to St. Giles. Despite his allies, and he had more than a few, everyone in the rookery would know Gin Jimmy was after him. And if they had to choose their loyalty, and they did, they’d award it to the man who could cause them the most harm: Gin Jimmy. Pursued by the law and the outlaw: Ethan was well and truly buggered.

  There was no help for it. He had to get out of London and figure out what to do next. To do that, he’d need to get to one of his hiding spots where he kept his emergency funds. The closest one—and more importantly in the opposite direction of St. Giles—was in Berkley Square, which meant he had to double back.

  But first he had to elude the Runners. He veered left onto a narrow street. And ran straight into a whore.

  She grasped his arms to steady herself. Her hand closed around his wound. He sucked in air and white lights speckled his sight.

  “Ho there!” She drew her hand away. “Wot’s wrong with ye?”

  Lamplight from the wider street up ahead filtered back into the alley, but it was too dark for him to discern much of her features. He could, however, tell she was studying her hand. She had to have felt the blood seeping from the gash Gin Jimmy had given him scarcely a quarter hour before.

  Aware that this pause was allowing his pursuers to gain on him, Ethan pushed her aside.

  “Hey now, ‘ere’s no need to be rude!” she shrieked.

  Ethan didn’t spare her a glance as he hastily set off once more. But then a very large man stepped in his way. “That’s right. Ye shouldn’t be rude to me trollop.”

  Bloody fucking hell. Ethan did not have time for a prostitute or her pimp. However, before he could take off running once more, the pimp positioned himself so close to Ethan that he could smell the man’s filth as well as the gin he’d swilled earlier.

  “’Is arm’s ‘urt,” the woman said.

  Ethan braced himself, expecting the pimp to hit or grab him in the arm, but the hulking bloke only leaned in closer, sticking his face a mere inch from Ethan’s. “Jagger?” he asked.

  It didn’t surprise Ethan that the pimp knew him, though the recognition was not reciprocated. One didn’t rise as far as Ethan had within the criminal ranks without developing a reputation and a . . . following. It had been, so far, a universal advantage.

  “Yes, Jagger. Now, back off.” He kept his tone even, yet commanding.

  The pimp stepped back, and
Ethan inhaled fresher air. His pulse was slowing, which meant he’d been motionless too long. The Runners were going to be on him.

  “Ye don’t spend as much time at the flash houses as ye used to.” The pimp’s tone carried an edge of skepticism that Ethan didn’t like. “I hear ye’ve taken up with a diff’rent class o’ folk, and that ye might not even go by Jagger no more.”

  Ethan didn’t have time or patience for the man’s inquiry. His arm was killing him and if he didn’t start running again, Bow Street would be upon him. “I need to be on my way. Move aside.”

  Ethan made to dash past, but as he stepped to the side, the pimp’s arm shot out and grabbed Ethan’s bicep. With a howl, Ethan spun and sent his fist into the pimp’s jaw. He would’ve followed up with another jab to his middle, but Ethan couldn’t make his right arm work.

  A shout of “There he is!” came from behind. Damn everything to hell. The Runners had found him.

  Read the entire first scene here.

  To Seduce a Scoundrel

  Book 3 of the Secrets and Scandals Series (released July 2012), where Jason Lockwood and Ethan Jagger are first introduced. Lydia and Audrey also make appearances.

  Here’s a snippet from chapter two:

  Philippa kept her face toward the wall, but her eyes darted a glance at him. “Why was that Jagger person looking for you? Are you really the ‘Vicious Viscount’?”

  A ridiculous moniker given to him when he’d been a prizefighter in another life. “It’s an old nickname.”