Her Reluctant Viscount (Rakes and Rogues) Read Online Free PDF Page B

to the one before her. Pug. With his intense blue eyes and thick dark hair, she knew he was going to be breaking hearts. He had already gained the height of a man even if he were a mere fourteen.
     
    “Yes, Pug. Thank you for asking.” She reached out and touched the side of his face. “You are so sweet for inquiring about me.”
     
    He flushed and she dropped her hand, thinking perhaps she had made him uncomfortable with her actions.
     
    “Get back in here, Jo,” Trystan’s demand came from behind her.
     
    Pug moved faster than she did, skirting her and placing himself between her and Tryst. Turning she frowned at the scowl on Trystan’s face. Blue eyes slid to her and a mocking grin flashed before vanishing, leaving him expressionless. With a sigh, she maneuvered around Pug and went toward the man who threw her life into such turmoil, sending him a glare. At his side, she peered over her shoulder and gave a glowering Pug an honest smile.
     
    “You really need to stop ordering me around,” she said as they walked back to the room.
     
    He did not speak just clamped a hand on an arm and directed her to a settee and sat beside her, crowding her. She jerked free, struggling to control her emotions. Trystan leaned forward and grabbed one of the sheets before thrusting it at her.
     
    “Are you sure you saw this?”
     
    “Yes.” She looked at the symbol before putting the paper beside her.
     
    “Where?” His question was low and sent chills up her spine with the lack of emotion.
     
    “I told you. At the museum. It was interesting so I drew it.”
     
    He did not say anything else so she looked at him and nearly shrank back from the cold mask of fury on his face. Concerned she glanced to Colin and Najja. Their expression mirrored hers but Colin’s was angry as well.
     
    “Did someone show it to you?”
     
    Tryst’s question drew her attention back to him. She shook her head, realizing this matter was personal—extremely personal—to him. “No. I spied it on a man’s wrist. He reached out to take something from the man he was with and his sleeve slid up.”
     
    “So you drew it? Damn it, Jo, do you not ever think before you do things? Or do you jump in with your eyes closed?” He jumped up and shouted down at her.
     
    Her restraint crumpled, like a dead leaf beneath a boot heel. She shoved to her feet, face aflame with the shame of his censure. “I am an artist. I see something I like, I draw it. And I do think before I do things.”
     
    Crack! She slapped him hard across the face. “I thought that through. Now get the hell out of my house!”
     
    She ran and bolted for her room.
     
    Trystan shook with the force of his anger. How could she be so foolish? He expelled a sharp breath and numerous curses. Nothing else had mattered once he had seen the sheet which had the symbol for The Alchemist on it. That had been his entire focus. He saw flashes of his murdered team and the rest of the patrons at that tavern. Could not forget the mocking smile of the bastard. Then there was the shame he had failed his men. His friends.
     
    Seven years he had been waiting to find this person and avenge the deaths of his friends. He just had not been prepared for it to circle around Jo.
     
    “I will check on the children.”
     
    Najja’s voice an intrusion to his ranting and mental trip. Snapping his head around, he spotted the purple fabric of Najja’s dress as she disappeared out of the parlor. He was alone with Colin.
     
    “How bad is it?” His best friend asked.
     
    Trystan collapsed on the settee Jo had just vanquished. His cheek still stung from the strength of her swing.
     
    “She is a marked woman, Colin, if this is true. The Alchemist…” He ran a hand over his face. “She needs to be protected.” I have to get word to Jack.
     
    “I thought The Alchemist was dead.”
     
    He fingered the scar on his jaw, feeling the phantom burn of the night it happened. “So did I. I sent him to the