Dueling With the Duke (Brotherhood of the Sword) Read Online Free PDF Page A

foolish. In contrast, Gabriel was lean and athletic with rakish waves in his light brown hair and intelligent hazel eyes that peered back at her from behind his gold-rimmed spectacles. A crooked smile slid into place, giving him an almost mischievous appearance, and again, her heart fluttered erratically.
    She shoved aside her observations. Whether or not Gabriel was attractive mattered not to what she was doing. “I believe I asked you a question.”
    “Ah, yes,” he said. “You were questioning my authority.”
    “Your authority?”
    “I see no reason to argue here on the street. I shall escort you home.”
    He opened the carriage door and helped her inside. He followed suit, closing the door behind him. “Now then, would you like to tell me what you were doing in there? The museum has been closed for hours.”
    She tilted her chin ever so slightly. As the carriage lurched forward, Lilith shook her hands in front of her, a vain attempt to rid herself of the nerves. Damned if Gabriel Campbell hadn’t reentered her life at the most inconvenient time. It was more grist for the mill, she supposed. Nothing in her life had ever been particularly simple. She did her best not to look at him, sitting across from her, no doubt wearing a smug expression.
    How was she supposed to protect the funds until she was able to get to Isabel? She had to come up with a way to get him away from her. She could do what she always did: use her wiles to the best of her ability. It had always served her well. It would distract him, and she could slip away. No one ever saw her true nature.
    “That is my own private business, and that is a public building. I have every right to be in there.”
    “Perhaps, but one might wait until morning to make such a visit. So they didn’t have to burgle the establishment.”
    “I did not burgle anything. And I prefer the night to the day,” she said, doing nothing to ease the starch from her voice. She peered out the curtained window of the rig and found the darkened streets useless in determining where they were headed. “Are you simply going to come home with me? Or are we going somewhere else entirely?”
    “I told you I would see you home. I am not in the practice of lying.”
    She couldn’t help but feel that jab was meant for her.
    Several moments passed before he spoke again. “You are looking well,” he said, as if they were nothing more than long-lost friends.
    “As are you. How long has it been?” she asked. Then she held her breath and waited for his answer. Gabriel and she had a past, a history. They hadn’t been lovers. No, she’d been courted by his older brother and Thornton at the same time; their competition to win her hand had nearly driven her mad. Her father had made it abundantly clear that there was no choice. A duke would always be preferable to an earl, so therefore she would wed Rafe. But then there had been the duel and the choice had been made for her.
    “I believe the last time I saw you, it was the day before your would-be husband killed my brother.”
    She winced. There it was. Why had she even asked him that ridiculous question? She’d certainly known the answer. There was no point in addressing the issue. It hadn’t been her fault. She’d been telling herself that for the past six years, although she never quite believed it. Certainly she could have done something to prevent that foolish duel from ever happening.
    “What do you want, Gabriel? What is so important that you insisted on seeing me so late in the evening?”
    He had been nineteen or twenty the last time they’d seen each other, and time had most assuredly been kind to Gabriel Campbell. He’d already been handsome then, but the man who sat across from her was the very picture of a dashing gentleman. His hair fell in soft brown waves, appearing both wild and restrained at the same time. Their first meeting had been a lifetime ago, when she’d foolishly thought marriage could be about love and