Dangerous Weakness Read Online Free PDF

closely. “I don’t believe he means you harm.”
    “He cares only for himself and for England,” she retorted.
    “I doubt if he knows the difference between the two,” the old man chuckled. He leaned forward and took her hand. “You need a protector, Lily. You are foolish to carry burdens alone.”
    Lily wondered if he understood how a London lady might take the meaning of “protection.” He must know Glenaire’s rank prevents him from viewing a minor diplomat’s daughter as marriage material .
    Before she could reply, a door slammed open behind Sahin. Its violent explosion echoed through the room.
    Sahin sat straight, instantly on guard; Lily looked up into the face of catastrophe.
    Rage, when it collides with evidence of misconception, shatters into pieces. Richard felt his anger crumple into shards and reassemble into alternating waves of bafflement and irritation. Nothing was as he expected.
    Lilias Thornton and Sahin Pasha? The old man could be her grandfather. Could she be Volkov’s messenger? Where was the damned man himself?
    The representative of the Sublime Porte, cousin and ambassador of the Sultan himself, sat looking like a dark-skinned version of an English gentleman at a rough table with Richard’s quarry.
    Lilias looks terrified. The blasted woman should be for leading me a merry chase.
    Two rather large men he had passed in the taproom, who were, upon closer look, not the English farmers Richard had taken them for, moved to either side of him. At sharp words in Turkish from Sahin Pasha, they melted away.
    “Ah, my friend, we just spoke of you. Come and sit,” Sahin said.
    Richard looked from Sahin’s amused face to Lilias’s stricken one. He sat, muddy and haggard, with as much dignity as he could muster, growing more irritated every minute. How does this blasted woman undermine my common sense? I could throttle her.
    “Would one of you like to tell me what is going on here?” he demanded, with more heat than he intended. His famous sangfroid eluded him.
    “My good friend, Miss Thornton, sought out my advice,” Sahin told him.
    Good friend? Vienna, Saint Petersburg, of course! Damn it! Why can’t I reason properly where this woman is concerned? He chose not to examine his relief that whatever he interrupted was not a lover’s assignation.
    “You borrowed a horse, fed your aunt some nonsense, and rode like a mad woman cross country to ask for advice?” he demanded.
    Lilias raised her chin. “And why did you do the same?” she retorted.
    He sent her a glare that should have shriveled her.
    “You thought I came to meet Volkov!” she exclaimed.
    Heat rose up his neck. “I warned you . . .” He glanced at Sahin Pasha, who smirked back at him.
    “As you see, I did not,” she said primly.
    “The Russian wolf frightens your Lily,” Sahin said. “She is shockingly reluctant to tell me why.”
    She’s not my Lily!
    “You too?” Richard asked ruefully. “What do you know, Miss Thornton?”
    She looked over at Sahin and at Richard and appeared to consider something.
    “Damn it, enough secrecy.”
    “Did you call my father home?” she asked softly.
    Richard ran a hand over the back of his neck and sighed. “Yes.”
    She brightened. Sahin leaned forward.
    “At least I ordered it. The dispatch will take time to reach Saint Petersburg.”
    She hesitated.
    She looks like a rabbit faced with a fox—or perhaps I should say wolf. Volkov certainly is one.
    “He threatens your father, little one? I told you the man should be shot,” Sahin said.
    “Our couriers are faster than Volkov’s,” Richard said, praying he was right. “Even if he guesses you’ve told me, we’ll get there first. I ordered a bodyguard to accompany him.”
    Still silence.
    “Miss Thornton—Lily—is that what friends call you? Lily? I doubt if he will know. We have time to protect your father. Tell us what has you frightened.” He glanced up at Sahin.
    “Let us help you, little one,” Sahin