Lord of Deceit (Heiress Games Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

her.
    He would consider his options later. “I am impressed by your fine sentiments, Madame Octavia. Not many hostesses would miss the opportunity to spread gossip about their guests.”
    “Gossip has its place. I make it a habit to know what happens beyond me. There is safety in information, as you no doubt know.”
    She paused, but Rafe sensed the quality of that silence. He waited as she toyed with the stem of her champagne glass. His patience was eventually rewarded. “But no, Lord Rafael. I do not make it a practice to gossip about my guests. Political gossip, perhaps. But the usual topics of who has shared a bed with whom, and who is ruinously in debt, and who has destroyed her reputation — those on dits don’t appeal to me.”
    There was a tightness around her mouth that didn’t disappear, even after she took another sip of champagne.
    He felt a flash of sympathy for her. He could manage sympathy — he’d often felt it in Spain and never let it distract him. But there was something else under the sympathy. Something that, perhaps, felt like a bit of connection with her — with this ruined woman whose life had been destroyed by gossip, but who wouldn’t let the ton defeat her.
    It made his mission harder, though. If she wouldn’t gossip about her guests, she would never gossip about Somerville. The chances that he could trick her into revealing anything were slim.
    That only left seduction.
    “You didn’t give me your truth and your lie,” he said.
    The abrupt shift in conversation didn’t startle her. If anything, she looked relieved to leave the subject of gossip behind. “No, I did not,” she said. “Can I say that my truth is that I’d hoped you would forget?”
    Rafe laughed. “You can say that, but it would be unsporting. I wouldn’t have thought you would turn away from a dare.”
    “I never do.” She leaned back in her chair, indolent and entirely self-possessed. Her diamonds gleamed and her rich dress rustled around her, but it was her smile that looked dangerous — as though, for a moment, she was the one who sought knowledge, and he was the unwitting prey.
    Was he considering seduction because it was the obvious next course of action for his mission? Or was it because he wanted it to be?
    She tapped her chin, pretending to consider. “My life has no secrets, Lord Rafael. The gossip sheets print them all as soon as they happen. I’m sure you’ve seen the caricatures.”
    Only years of training kept him from shifting uncomfortably at the unexpected mention of what he’d commissioned to be drawn about her — not that she knew he was the one who’d ordered them. “Humor me, Madame Octavia. There must be some secret I cannot guess.”
    She thought for another few moments. He realized suddenly that he had stopped noticing the rest of the room. Usually he registered other sounds and sights around him — he was never entirely off guard. But Octavia had captured all of his attention.
    And she could hold it. She leaned forward. He mirrored her, looking for all the world like they were engaged in the most intimate tête-à-tête .
    “My truth and my lie, Lord Rafael, are simple. The first fact is that I am a courtesan because I wish to be, not only because I was ruined.”
    If it were another unmarried lady, he might have doubted it. But Octavia belonged in this milieu — or, at least, her boldness and her straightforward gaze were more suited for this life, and not the muted, constrained prison of Mayfair’s more polite drawing rooms.
    “And your lie?” he drawled.
    “Are you so sure that my first ‘fact’ is true?” she asked, seeming disappointed.
    He nodded. “But I would hear the alternative.”
    She drained her champagne, then looked him dead in the eye. “The other fact is that I am utterly enamored with you.”

Chapter Two
    “ I beg your pardon ?” Lord Rafael said.
    Octavia didn’t know why she’d said it. She hadn’t been able to think of anything else for her