The Secrets of a Scoundrel Read Online Free

must be frank, Lord Forrester—may I call you Nick? I’ve done my research on you, and I already know all your tricks.”
    Oh, I doubt that.
    “So don’t even think about trying to deceive me,” she continued. “In all, we shall get on handsomely, I think, as long as you’re a very good boy for me and do exactly as I say.”
    “Or what?” he challenged in a low tone. Because such instructions went against the grain of every atom in him.
    “Or I’ll shoot you in the head,” she replied without a trace of humor.
    Nick was fascinated in spite of himself but didn’t trust her by a mile. “Who are you, exactly?”
    “I’ve already told you. My name is Virginia Stokes, Baroness Burke. Gin to my friends.”
    “Baron Burke . . . your husband,” he murmured, searching his memory. “I’ve heard the name, but I don’t believe I ever met the man.”
    She pursed her lips, as though holding back a comment.
    Judging by her expression, it was something along the lines of, You weren’t missing much.
    Seeing that he had read that assessment on her face, the mysterious Lady Burke looked away.
    “Wasn’t he a nabob?” Nick knew that the Order had a few men based in India. “Was he an agent? One of ours?”
    “God, no.”
    “Are you?” he persisted in a whisper, leaning his forehead against the bars.
    There was an edge to her smile as she glanced wryly at him. “You know the Order does not allow women to serve in that capacity, my lord.”
    “Then who the hell are you?” he exclaimed, pulling away and banging the bars in frustration. “Answer me! I can see there’s plenty you’re not telling me—”
    “You will be given information as it’s needed, Lord Forrester.”
    He glared at her, seething as he strove to figure her out. For all he knew, this could be another trap.
    He had many enemies out there to this day. Or the Order could be testing his loyalty. He might be an idiot if he took the bait. “I’m sorry. I just don’t understand what’s going on.”
    “No, I don’t imagine that you do. You’re just going to have to trust me, I suppose.”
    “And why would you trust me?” he countered. “You see where I am. I don’t deny that I belong here for everything I’ve done.”
    “What you’ve done?” she echoed in surprise, her blue eyes flashing with a sudden angry gleam. “You’ve served this organization and the Crown since you were younger than John Carr. And this is the thanks they give you? A bloody cage?”
    Nick was taken aback to realize for the first time that she was not angry at him, but for him.
    He wasn’t quite sure what to say. “I deserve it.”
    “For wanting to quit? For getting tired of it all?” she countered passionately, to his surprise. “For having your heart broken too many times, facing down an evil that other people don’t even know exists? Oh, Nick.” Gazing at him, she shook her head almost tenderly, and he went half-mad with the need to figure out where he knew her from.
    Then she gave it away softly. “Nick, Nick, Nicholas.”
    The phrase jerked his head up and put all his defenses instantly on high alert.
    Only one person used to say that to him, in tones of fatherly affection . . .
    The only father figure he had ever known. The first and possibly the last person who had ever believed in him.
    His handler.
    Oh, how he’d let the old man down.
    He gripped the bars intensely, staring at her. “Who are you?” he demanded in a savage whisper. “Either tell me now, or take yourself out of here. Quit playing games.”
    She was unmoved. “Do you want to know why I’m giving you this chance? Yes, I do need the game piece. But the reason I’m willing to trust you is because my father did. Explicitly.”
    “Your father?” He swallowed hard, his brain unwilling to accept this revelation.
    She finally relented, lowering her mask of cool control just a bit. “My mother’s the Countess of Ashton, and though I am acknowledged as the offspring of her