A Kiss With Scandal (Scandals & Secrets 4) Read Online Free PDF

the ton , he sent messages at all hours of the night from any number of places. Most were time sensitive. Tonight was no exception. “Meet me once you’re done. George will tell you where.” His driver could be counted on.
    With only a few minutes wasted, he returned to the ballroom and waited. Ah. And there it was. Lady Charlotte made her way to her mother, fanning her face. After all the dancing she’d done that night, everyone would believe she was fatigued.
    Her mother nodded quickly, searching the crowd for her husband. Within a few minutes, they gathered up their party and said good-bye to their host.
    He trailed the group, exiting a moment after them. From now on, he’d protect Lady Charlotte. Whether she accepted it or not. Her knowledge was too valuable to be left vulnerable.
    Ever ready, George, his driver, perched atop the carriage.
    “Follow that coach. Not close enough they’ll notice, but enough so we can get to them if anything happens,” Derek ordered before vaulting into the chaise.
    The carriage jerked forward as the horses maneuvered around parked vehicles. Derek didn’t watch her conveyance through his window. He couldn’t risk exposing himself. His driver was well trained and knew what the stakes were if he failed to follow them. They all did.
    Turning down a side street, George slowed the horses, allowing Derek to jump out. The shadows hid him as he turned the corner, blending with the building. Skulking down the sidewalk, he leaned into an alcove deep in the darkness and watched Lady Charlotte and her family descend the coach and make their way into the brightly lit house in Mayfair.
    It was quiet this time of night. Rain had watered the streets recently, and the fresh scent lingered. The streets glistened from lights reflecting from the row of townhomes before him. Every window blazed, warding away the dark. Or more aptly, the miscreants who roamed the night.
    He wasn’t a vagrant, but neither was he only a peer of the realm. He had seen too much, done too much, to ever go back. His callused knuckles attested to the backstreet brawls he engaged in. Scars marred his body—a testament to failed attempts on his life. A bullet had grazed his shoulder, but the knife to his abdomen had almost killed him during his first year with the War Office. He’d made the mistake of trusting the wrong person only once. Trust was now a liability.
    Life filled Charlotte’s house, but it resembled other homes in this part of town. Clean, expensive, classy.
    Movement in one of the second-floor windows drew his eye. He couldn’t make out who it was, but he didn’t need to see them to know. He felt her.
    Her body stilled as she gazed out into the night. For a second, he thought she must have seen him, but she didn’t call for help. Surely if she saw a stranger staring at her through the window, she would alert someone.
    Her body leaned closer to the glass. Yearning.
    He relaxed against the stone, unable to look away. What did she yearn for?
    In the eyes of society, she was perfect. Perfect manners, perfect physique, perfect station, wealth, temperament. She held the ton in her palm. His eyes traveled over her silhouette as pleasant warmth settled in his gut.
    Intriguing.
    Why was she unmarried?
    He had seen Lady Charlotte more times than he could count over the years, but he’d never had such a reaction to her.
    He frowned. He’d never had that reaction to anyone in society, now that he thought about it. Bollocks. Of course I have. But as he tried to recall someone, anyone he’d desired, he came up empty.
    He rubbed the back of his neck. Not that he’d been a monk, but the women he’d been with were in the lower class. Just a moment of mutual pleasure where both walked away satisfied. That’s how he’d always managed his affairs.
    Affairs. That’s all his life had been up until this point. That’s all he’d ever been able to manage with his responsibilities to queen and country. A string of useless