The Rogue You Know (Covent Garden Cubs) Read Online Free

open the door, and make his escape.
    Footsteps clomped without, and the door handle rattled.

Two
    Gideon cursed. He’d used the dub to open the door. Why the hell hadn’t he locked it again?
    He had two options: hide and be found or not hide and be found.
    He patted the velvet bag, still hidden in his coat. The door creaked open.
    “You took your time about getting here,” Gideon said, hands on his hips. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show.”
    The man and the woman in the doorway exchanged confused looks. That was better than having them try to kill him, so he kept talking. “Do you have any idea how late it is?” Not that Gideon knew either, but it sounded good. “I’ve been waiting for you for an hour.”
    Finally, the girl edged into the room. “Who are you?”
    Gideon raised a brow in a way the ladies seemed to like. He’d perfected the art of brow raising.
    “The question is, who are you? No one mentioned a rum duchess like you.”
    She giggled, and Gideon took that as a good sign. He moved forward, lifted her hand, and kissed it. “Pleasure you meet you. I’m Gideon.”
    She giggled again. “Alice.”
    The man she was with—little more than a cub, really—snatched her hand back. He probably had some prior claim on the girl. Gideon would have assumed he’d interrupted a romantic meeting, except he doubted Mother Cummings ever allowed anything of that sort down here. The rooms upstairs were for let. Everyone knew that.
    “Ye’re not supposed to be in here,” the cub told him.
    Gideon scrunched his face into a confused expression. “Then why’d you tell me to meet you here?”
    Now might be a good time to think about escape. He spotted several brass door knockers on the floor nearby and sidled closer to them.
    “I didn’t.”
    “Mother Cummings don’t let anyone in here,” Alice told him.
    “You’re in here.” He needed one door knocker. Just one.
    “She trusts us.”
    “I see why.” He made a show of looking her over, inching closer to the door knockers as he did. “Rum blowen like you. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Why don’t we go outside and talk about the game?”
    “There’s no game with you,” the boy said. “You think I’m some kind of nob?”
    He swung his fist, and Gideon ducked, grabbing one of the door knockers. He came up swinging and caught the lad on the side of the temple. The cub went down with a yelp that was sure to attract attention. Gideon took Alice’s hand again.
    “Another time, sweet Alice.”
    With a kiss to her knuckles, he bolted from the room. He sprinted for the door to the house, ignoring the guard screeching at him to halt. He would flash her a grin and a wave when he flew through the door.
    Except three short, thick men, fat as Norfolk dumplin’s, thundered down the steps and cut off his exit.
    Gideon skidded to a halt and went back the way he’d come. Unfortunately, the lad he’d smashed over the head had recovered and was coming for him, blood streaming from the new gash on his temple.
    “Not going that way,” Gideon muttered to himself and took the only option open to him, the door on his right. The handle turned, and Gideon ran through, slamming the door on his pursuers. That wouldn’t keep them for long, and he turned in a circle, looking for a way to escape. The only exit he spotted was a glaze. He ran to it as the door burst open. Gideon pushed the pane up and jumped out.
    He felt his coat again, making sure the necklace was still secure, and took off running. Behind him Mother Cummings’s thugs climbed through the window.
    They’d never catch him.
    He pumped his legs, clearing the shadow of the house and screeching to a halt when Racer and Stub stepped in front of him.
    “Gideon,” Racer said, crossing his arms in front of him.
    Gideon panted, looked over his shoulder.
    “Where are you off to in such a hurry?” Racer demanded.
    “Ye’re not trying to chouse Beezle, are you?” Stub asked.
    “Me? No.” His lungs