Dangerous Loves Romantic Suspense Collection Read Online Free

cursed thing into his back. Zounds, how did this happen? Who saddled him this morning?”
    “I did, m’lord. You know I did, m’lord. No one else would dare touch your horse.” Joshua grew pale.
    “Then how did this happen?” A new wave of dizziness hit Nigel as fresh anger made his blood race. A trickle of blood ran down his cheek. He rounded on his groom. “How did this happen?”
    “I-I don’t know, m’lord. You know I take great care with the blanket and saddle. I check the blanket for burrs every time, m’lord. You know that.” His ruddy cheek bloomed red with anger. “Someone purposefully injured Zeus.”
    “A chilling thought.” Nigel accepted Joshua’s innocence for the moment. His groom sung to the estate’s horses and treated them as if they were his children. He wouldn’t harm a horse as a means to kill a man. But if not Joshua, then who? Who would be interested in his death?
    “My lord,” the messenger stepped forward. “Begging your pardon. But my master insisted I not hesitate to deliver this note to your hands. I am to await a reply.” The lanky messenger held out a folded piece of foolscap.
    “Joshua, take care of Zeus. I’ll ride Hera back to the manor.” Nigel stumbled a step. “In a moment.”
    He took the message and studied the red, wax seal. The seal, a growling beast surrounded by a circle of flowers, was a mark he quickly recognized.
    Matters had to be dire for Severin to contact him. Nigel peeled back the wax and opened the letter.
    Lord Edgeware , it read, a certain situation in London requires your immediate attention. I dare not explain more. But I must impress on you the urgency in which this is written. I only pray you make every effort to attend to this catastrophe with utmost haste . The message had been signed with an elaborate letter “A”.
    Nigel blinked several times as his vision swam in and out of focus. The timing of this new crisis could not be any worse. He swore an oath beneath his breath as he crumpled the foolscap clutched in his bloodied hand. He knew he could not ignore the plea for help. Severin would not write without desperate cause. There could only be one reason he’d send this note.
    Dionysus.

Chapter Three
    Lord Baneshire ground his jaw as he paced the green-hued parlor, the muscles in his reddened cheeks visibly straining. A day after the scandal and his anger had still not cooled.
    Word of the scandalous painting had reached the Baneshire household even before Elsbeth could usher Olivia and Lauretta into the carriage and rush home. Lord Baneshire, grim-faced, had waited for them at the front door. His arms crossed and his legs spread wide, he made quite a menacing picture. He’d taken one look at the three girls and pointed the way to their bedrooms. They had silently obeyed.
    Late the next morning, the earl summoned Elsbeth and her cousins into the front parlor. Elsbeth sat primly in her favorite chair. An uncomfortable calm filled her as she watched her uncle pace.
    Lord Baneshire had every right to be angry. His family was a model of propriety. Such a scandal wouldn’t only mortify him and harm his children’s chances at finding husbands, but it would also touch his political career. A career in which he took great pride.
    She should have never accepted his invitation to live with them. She should have known her dream of returning to London and settling into a quiet, unassuming life had never been possible in the first place.
    “Strumpets pose for artists,” he said without altering his stride. “Whores pose for artists.”
    “The children, my lord,” Lady Baneshire, paler than usual, scolded softly with a quick glance in the direction of Olivia and Lauretta who sat huddled together on a small sofa, their heads lowered.
    “When did you do this?” he shouted with a great wave of his arm. “You were supposedly observing a period of mourning this past year. Or did this happen before your husband’s death? Were you unfaithful? Were