Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart Read Online Free PDF Page B

twin brother—the good twin. “I might remind you that my family has spent quite a bit of energy caring for your sister, Leighton.”
    There it was.
    The heavy weight of scandal, powerful enough to move mountains.
    He did not like having such an obvious weakness.
    And it would only get worse.
    For a long moment, Simon could not bring himself to speak. Finally, he nodded his agreement. “Fair enough.”
    “You can imagine how much I loathe the very idea of asking you for assistance, Duke, but think of how much you will enjoy rubbing it in my face for the rest of our days.”
    “I confess, I was hoping not to have to suffer you for so very long.”
    Ralston laughed then. “You are a cold-hearted bastard.” He came forward to stand behind the chair he had vacated. “Are you ready, then? For when the news gets out?”
    Simon did not pretend to misunderstand. Ralston and St. John were the only two men who knew the darkest of Simon’s secrets. The one that would destroy his family and his reputation if it were revealed.
    The one that was bound to be revealed sooner or later.
    Would he ever be ready?
    “Not yet. But soon.”
    Ralston watched him with a cool blue gaze that reminded Simon of Juliana. “You know we will stand beside you.”
    Simon laughed once, the sound humorless. “Forgive me if I do not place much weight in the support of the House of Ralston.”
    One side of Ralston’s mouth lifted in a smile. “We are a motley bunch. But we more than make up for it with tenacity.”
    Simon considered the woman in his library. “That I do not doubt.”
    “I take it you plan to marry.”
    Simon paused in the act of lifting his glass to his lips. “How did you know that?”
    The smile turned into a knowing grin then. “Nearly every problem can be solved by a trip to the vicar. Particularly yours. Who is the lucky girl?”
    Simon considered lying. Considered pretending that he hadn’t selected her. Everyone would know soon enough, however. “Lady Penelope Marbury.”
    Ralston whistled long and low. “Daughter of a double marquess. Impeccable reputation. Generations of pedigree. The Holy Trinity of a desirable match. And a fortune as well. Excellent choice.”
    It was nothing that Simon had not thought himself, of course, but it smarted nonetheless for him to hear it spoken aloud. “I do not like to hear you discuss my future duchess’s merits as though she were prize cattle.”
    Ralston leaned back. “My apologies. I was under the impression that you had selected your future duchess as though she were prize cattle.”
    The whole conversation was making him uncomfortable. It was true. He was not marrying Lady Penelope for anything other than her unimpeachable background.
    “After all, it isn’t as if anyone will believe the great Duke of Leighton would marry for love.”
    He did not like the tremor of sarcasm in Ralston’s tone. Of course, the marquess had always known how to irritate him. Ever since they were children. Simon rose, eager to move. “I think I shall fetch your sister, Ralston. It’s time for you to take her home. And I would appreciate it if you could keep your family dramatics from my doorstep in the future.”
    The words sounded imperious even to his ears.
    Ralston straightened, making slow work of coming to his full height, almost as tall as Leighton. “I shall certainly try. After all, you have plenty of your own family dramatics threatening to come crashing down on the doorstep, do you not?”
    There was nothing about Ralston that Simon liked.
    He would do well to remember that.
    He exited the study and headed for the library, opening the door with more force than necessary and coming up short just inside the room.
    She was asleep in his chair.
    With his dog.
    The chair she had selected was one that he had worked long and hard to get to the perfect level of comfort. His butler had suggested it for reupholstering countless times, due in part, Simon imagined, to the fraying, soft fabric