Ransom Redeemed Read Online Free

thumping hard with her knuckles and shouting his name at the door like a landlord looking for overdue rent.
    Uh oh.
    Ransom had never led her to believe he promised exclusivity, yet today he heard a tenor of possessiveness in her voice, and in the way she abused the poor girl on his steps, that suggested she might have formed dangerous expectations of their affair.
    That wouldn't do at all.
    Ransom swore softly and glanced upward to the ceiling, on the other side of which his lovely trio still slept peacefully. It was most unfortunate for Belle if she had assumed their relationship to be exclusive, but, should that be the case, the tableau upstairs would immediately assure her otherwise. Nothing he could say would persuade her that he had spent his night alone in a hipbath, but the last thing he needed anyway was a woman foolishly thinking he had any capacity, or desire, to be monogamous. Better she get that straight in her pretty head at once.
    He heard the footman opening the front door, then her voice.
    "Why do you take so long, imbecile? Where is 'e? Je vais ecraser ses noix!"
    Something about his nuts.
    For the past few weeks Belle had been away, performing in her home land, but today the delicate, darling flower of the music hall stage returned. She must have dashed to his house directly after arriving on the train from Southampton. And her ribald declarations of what she meant to do with his various body parts suggested that it was not a loving eagerness for his company that brought her there so swiftly.
    Oh, yes, she had definitely formed the wrong expectations for their relationship, despite the fact that he thought he'd made himself clear. He'd assumed, in fact, that they both wanted the same thing from their affair and nothing more. She was as little suited to monogamy as he.
    Ransom was in no fit state to confront her this morning without losing his own temper. Two people in a rage at the same time was never a good thing, as he had witnessed too often in youth when his parents fought. Indeed, the idea of facing Belle this morning was about as appetizing as a bowlful of Nanny Bond's dumplings and broth.
    Alas, he had no choice. Her voice—usually so melodious, but today raucous enough to render cracks in the plaster— echoed through his walls.
    "Deverell! Where are you? Sors du lit! Get up! 'Ere I come to find you, Monsieur Infidele!"
    The sound of her little feet clip-clopping up the stairs quickly followed. If any servant tried to stop her, they would be unsuccessful. Belle might be small in stature, but she could be very forceful when in the mood. She was also remarkably inventive when it came to expressing her wrath, for which anything sharp would be put to use. That large hat she wore looked as if it required several pins to keep in place, and Ransom was not keen to discover how many.
    Putting on his most cheerful, amiable expression, he met her on the small landing between flights. "Bonjour, my sweet. I wish I knew to expect you so early! You should have sent a message. As you see I was just on my way out."
    "Donnez-moi un couteau. Je vais lui couper fier coq!"
    Ah. Cockerel. Cut off. And knife.
    That was plain enough.
    He attempted to grip her by the arms and deliver a kiss to her cheek, but she was having none of it. Slapping his hands away and stamping on his booted foot, she started up the second flight of stairs toward his bedchamber.
    "I know you 'ave a woman 'ere, you pig!"
    "Belle, why don't you come down to breakfast and we'll discuss—"
    "Non!"
    He followed her. "Is it necessary to make such a fuss, my sweet?"
    "Oui!
    "But Belle, we did not promise exclusivity. I ought to warn you—"
    She swung open his bedchamber door and marched in. The three women on the bed were in various stages of awakening at that point, and the state of the room— wreckage of last night's indulgences— looked much worse now that more daylight crept in.
    Immediately Belle launched into a stream of French curses and tried