Happily Bedded Bliss: The Rakes of Cavendish Square Read Online Free PDF Page A

Leo shot back. “It’s plain enough what he’s done.”
    Lawrence pounded one balled up fist into his other hand. “I’m with Leo. Punishment first, then a hearing, once Northcote’s regained consciousness, that is.”
    “That’s not very lawyerly of you,” Gabriel said. “Don’t I at least deserve a chance to know of what it is I’m accused? Innocent until proved guilty and all that.”
    Lawrence shot Gabriel a furious glare. “Since we’re not in a court of law and I’m not acting as counsel, I believe I can set the finer points aside in your case.” He smacked his fist into his cupped hand again. “To think I considered you a friend, only to find out you would do such a no-good, reprehensible thing. This is beneath contempt, Northcote, even for you, and that is saying a very great deal.”
    “Let me go,” Leo demanded in a voice that wasnearly a growl. “Let me hit the stinking blackguard just one more time.”
    “Are you sure only once will do?” said Lord Cade, glaring menacingly.
    “Yes, I’d say several times more seems fitting.” Adam Gresham tightened his fists, his knuckles popping.
    Gabriel tensed, raising his own fists another defensive inch higher in case Leo broke free, or one of the others decided to have at him instead. He took a moment to assess his adversaries. The older Byron brothers, and Gresham, were unknown quantities, but they all looked to be lethal in a fight.
    As for Lawrence, there was a curious kind of irony in their present circumstances considering the two of them had once fought side by side in a bruising tavern fight that had landed them both in gaol. Lawrence was a seasoned fighter and Gabriel knew not to underestimate him any more than his twin. But he could handle himself, having participated in his own share of dirty, bare-knuckle street fights and vicious brawls over the years. He’d rather not fight Lawrence, or Leo, come to that, but he would if necessary, even as badly outnumbered as he was.
    “I’ll take you on, all of you, if that’s what you want,” Gabriel challenged. “Seven to one. I’ll make book on those odds.”
    “I’m going to tear you apart, Northcote!” Leo struggled anew against his brothers’ hold; Jack and Drake suddenly looked as if they just might set him loose.
    “Enough!” the duke ordered with a crisp authority that quieted everyone in an instant. “We will hear Lord Northcote out and see what explanations he can offer for his actions. Then we’ll decide how best to vent our collective fury. Even I would not be averse to a good old-fashioned horsewhipping; or mayhap some boiled tar and goose feathers might be better.”
    Damn,
Gabriel thought,
but Clybourne just might be the most dangerous one of them all.
    Leo gave a low grunt of frustration but ceased hisstruggles, while Lawrence lowered his fists to his sides. The rest of the men stood down. Satisfied that Leo was no longer going to attack, Jack and Drake released him.
    Slowly, Gabriel relaxed his fighting stance as well, letting his arms drop to his sides. “So, let’s hear what it is all of you think I’ve done. Or should I amend that to say
who
I’ve done, since you made mention of a ‘her.’”
    The other men bristled.
    Jack’s eyes flashed fire. “Why, you loathsome son of a—”
    “Quiet,” Clybourne ordered in a hard, smooth tone that cut through the impending chaos. Once everyone had calmed again, the duke fixed Gabriel with a glacial stare. “I’m going to enjoy making you suffer for your insolence. Now, tell me how you come to know my sister.”
    “Sister?” Gabriel scowled, racking his brain as he flipped quickly through his extensive list of current and former sexual partners. “Lady Mallory, do you mean?”
    “Lady
Gresham
,” Adam Gresham shot back. “And what do you know of my wife, sir? How dare you impugn her reputation when she is an angel and wholly above reproach.”
    “Yes, so I hear. The lady and I are scarcely even acquainted. I