Cloaked in Danger Read Online Free PDF Page A

job of pretending.”
    He doubted he’d ever get past his dislike for Ravensdale. Blythe had forgiven her betrothed’s past transgressions, but Adam wasn’t required to extend the same courtesy.
    Not after all she’d been through—so much of which could be laid on Adam’s shoulders. His list of regrets was long and he wasn’t about to compound it.
    Especially when someone like Miss Whitney stirred his...well, no need to focus on what she had stirred earlier. Better to focus on what she wanted instead.
    “Now, about Miss Whitney,” Blythe said with a grin.
    The woman in question whirled on the dance floor a few feet away with—another man? The woman was cutting quite a swath through London’s finest.
    “Why would you invite someone to your party you know nothing about?” Adam asked.
    Miss Whitney was forceful on the dance floor, her steps surefooted and confident, even when she stumbled more than once. The poor fop she danced with likely wasn’t sure who was leading whom.
    “Michael is acquainted with her father,” Blythe replied. “Until recently Miss Whitney has never attended an event. But now that she’s here, she’ll be beset by impoverished lords and gentry alike, I imagine.”
    “Why?” Look somewhere else , man. He was here to gather information, not ogle like a commoner.
    “Her father is richer than most of the men here combined. With no title in the family, she is not above reach for anyone.”
    “That is why she’s here? Husband hunting?” The idea alternately alarmed and disappointed him.
    “So say the rumors, but whether it’s true or not?” She arched her brows and cocked her head, a clear sign he was about to be blatantly manipulated. “Perhaps you should dance with her and find out.”
    “I am not interested in a wife right now.”
    “Adam, truly.” She shook her head in disgust. “You must get past this silly notion that you cannot marry until—”
    “Your first husband almost killed you, Blythe.” Adam kept his voice low, but the memory lived like a permanent scar on his heart. The gunshot. The blood. Blythe falling to the floor.
    The secret his family had been protecting since that day. They’d had enough scandal in their lives.
    Blythe opened her mouth to object, but he held his palm up to still her words.
    “We should not be discussing this now. And I won’t make the same mistake with our other sisters.” Or with Blythe’s second choice for a husband, love match be damned. He searched out their other sister, the only one old enough to attend, and found her talking amongst a group of people her age. “Cordelia will have my full attention. So will Lily in her debut next year.”
    “And Georgiana? Will you put your life on hold until she is married, as well?”
    He didn’t see the point in answering.
    “Good heavens, she is twelve years old.”
    At her exasperated tone, the same one that had started many sibling arguments, Adam steeled his jaw. “Nonetheless, that is the way it shall be.”
    “You are impossible.” She raised her hands up in a surrender he wasn’t fooled would be anything but temporary. She turned to leave, then stopped. “I hope I am there on the day you realize life won’t abide by your dictates or plans.” She clucked in irritation and walked away.
    He should follow suit and leave for the night. Instead he scanned the room.
    She proved easy to spot. Her dark blue gown stood out in a sea of pale chiffon, but it was more how she held herself apart that drew his attention. The shuttered blankness on her beautiful face might fool plenty, but Adam was well acquainted with the storm that brewed behind a face like that.
    Desperation. Anger.
    Secrets.
    So what was she hiding?
    Perhaps Blythe was correct and Miss Whitney was hunting for a title. Trapping Ravensdale into marriage would make her a duchess.
    While he might rejoice at the thought of Ravensdale not joining his family, he would not let anyone else, including Miss Whitney, hurt them