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

“Give me the necklace.”
    The hand was dirty and scarred, much as Gideon’s. The long, sharp nails had dirt underneath. Behind him, Stub and Racer called out.
    “Give it to me now, and I’ll kill you fast,” Beezle said.
    “A generous offer, but I’m not ready to die.”
    “Too late.”
    Beezle lunged, and Gideon caught the glint of the long, deadly dagger he held. Gideon shielded his face with his arm, crouching instinctively. The low growl made him flinch.
    Beezle looked over his shoulder. “What was that?”
    The mongrel stepped out from the shadows behind Beezle. His teeth were bared, the only white on his otherwise black form.
    “Have you met my friend Killer?” Gideon asked.
    Beezle swung the blade, and the dog lunged for him. Gideon shot away, running on fear as much as thrill. He exited the alley and tumbled into the street when he heard the dog’s growls behind him.
    “Not much of a meal, is he?” Gideon called over his shoulder.
    The dog barked, and Gideon pushed his body to the limit.
    “If you want to eat me, first you have to catch me!”
    * * *
    “Why are you in here?” the Dowager Lady Dane asked, holding a lamp aloft.
    Susanna turned from her father’s bookshelves. She’d been tracing the spines of her father’s collection in his darkened library. She hadn’t bothered to light a lamp or to ask Crawford to stoke the fire in the hearth. She wanted the peace of the dark.
    But peace was fleeting.
    “I repeat, why are you in here?”
    Susanna shrugged.
    “Do not shrug. It is not ladylike.”
    “I’m sorry. I would choose a book to read.”
    Her mother huffed and held the lamp higher as though to view Susanna’s choice. “And did you? Make sure I approve it first.”
    Susanna had tugged her shawl close, shivering in the coolness of the large library.
    “I haven’t chosen one yet. I…I was thinking about Dane.” Oh, treacherous ground! She should scuttle away or risk being smashed underfoot.
    She squinted her eyes closed and pressed on. “Have you had word from Dane and Marlowe?”
    Her mother put a hand to her forehead. “Do not mention that woman’s name to me. She is the reason we have no invitations tonight. Lord Braybrook is hosting a musicale, and do you think we were sent an invitation? No. We are little more than pariahs. That is what your brother and his mésalliance have done to us.”
    “We are hardly pariahs.” She should shut up now, but then she would never know. And she would have to call herself coward . Again.
    “We are not as popular as we might have been, Mama, but you cannot blame Dane for following his heart. He loves Marlowe.”
    “ Love .” Her mother fanned her face with a gloved hand. “What do you know of love? What about duty? What about honor? How could he shame us by marrying a…a common thief?”
    “Haven’t you ever been in love, Mama?” Susanna flinched back at the impertinence of her question. Generally, she refrained from asking her mother even the most basic sorts of questions, but Lady Winthorpe’s conversation at the garden party had made her inexcusably curious.
    “Of course,” her mother snapped. “I loved your father.”
    “There was never anyone else?”
    Her mother’s thin lips pressed together. “Why do you ask?”
    Susanna almost shrugged. She caught herself in time. “I just wondered.”
    “You wondered?” Her mother stalked into the room, bringing the slash of light from the lamp with her. “There is nothing about me to wonder. I married your father and birthed three children. Why the three of you insist on plaguing me now is beyond me.”
    “Have you ever been to Vauxhall Gardens?” Susanna asked. Was it her imagination or did her mother’s face go white?
    “Of course. But it was a long time ago. The gardens have deteriorated since then. It is not safe, full of rakes and courtesans.”
    “I want to go.”
    “Out of the question.” Her tone was imperious. Not even the Queen could have done as well.
    “I’m