Love With a Scandalous Lord Read Online Free

of his gaze, unable, unwilling to move beyond him.
    As though suddenly and equally stunned by her presence, he came to an abrupt halt. The servants behind him promptly stopped as well.
    Lydia’s heart hammered rapidly against her ribs with the intensity of his stare. Ensnared by his commanding presence, she was acutely aware of his nearness, his harsh breathing. His hair, the black of midnight, had fallen across his brow. She desperately wanted to reach up and brush it back into place.
    A high-pitched shriek shattered the moment. Rage, fast and furious, flashed in his eyes. At that moment, Lydia thought she should have feared him, and yet she felt completely and absolutely safe. Surely he was here to rescue her stepfather from the abusive woman at the top of the stairs. A woman protected by the privilege of her rank.
    Although the staircase was wide enough for anyone to have passed by them, Lydia grabbed her siblings. She pressed them and herself against the wall, giving the man ample room to charge past them and put an immediate end to the shrew’s shrieking.
    “No need to run away,” he said with a voice as warm and soothing as the nectar of honey beneath a Texas sky.
    “I wasn’t running.” But her unexpected breathlessness belied her statement.
    He arched a dark brow in skepticism. Then he continued up the stairs, his long legs taking the steps two at a time. His servants quickly followed.
    As did Lydia, with her brother and sister in tow. She had a feeling the Duchess was about to get her comeuppance, and she wanted to be near enough to witness it.
    When she reached the landing, only a step or two behind the others, she pulled Sabrina and Colton off to the side so they’d be out of harm’s way, but she’d have a clear view of the Marquess. The Duchess had yet to notice him, and yet to Lydia his presence dominated the hallway.
    “Mother.” His Lordship’s deep voice echoed around them, carrying a hint of warning.
    The Duchess swung around. “You! You sent for him!”
    “Yes.” The single word made no apology for what she obviously viewed as an unforgivable betrayal.
    “You’re a worthless excuse for a son. As long as your father breathes, your title is nothing more than a courtesy.”
    “As long as Father is alive, I am obligated to carry out his wishes. He wants to see the son he loves, and you will allow it.”
    She thrust up a chin supported by layers of fat. “I will not.”
    “You will.” He made a waving motion to the two young men who had accompanied him. “Escort Her Grace to her chambers.”
    Her Grace shook her fist in the air. “I shan’t go!”
    “You may either leave with a measure of decorum and respectability, or you will leave flung over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes, but one way or another, Your Grace , you will leave so Father may visit with his son in peace. The choice is yours, but make no mistake, you have all of two seconds to render a decision.”
    Fury contorted her features. “I wish to God it had been you who had drowned.”
    Sadness touched his gray eyes as he said with a wealth of compassion, “I know.”
    He angled his head slightly, and the servants stepped toward the Duchess. She cast one last scathing look at Lydia’s stepfather and then at her son before lifting her skirts, tromping to the stairs, and going down them. Not soon enough, as far as Lydia was concerned.
    The Marquess turned to her stepfather. “My apologies. I hope you’ll forgive the Duchess’s unpleasant behavior. The past few months have been exceedinglydifficult for her, and she is a bit overwrought.”
    On the stairs, he’d impressed Lydia as a man filled with conviction and passion. She could hardly reconcile that image with the frigid greeting he’d bestowed on her stepfather. Nearly fifteen years had passed since Grayson Rhodes had left his home and traveled to Texas. Fifteen years, and he was not greeted with smiles or hugs of welcome. Instead he was spoken to as though he was an