Nicole Jordan Read Online Free PDF

touch…
    Wondering if he was again dreaming, Max blinked rapidly, just as Thorne said in a suddenly terse tone, “Excuse me. Caro may be looking for me. I need to discover what brought her here.”
    As his friend strode away, Max stood momentarily rooted, feeling slightly stunned. Like Thorne, he had no idea what had brought Caro Evers here to London, specifically to Lady Hennessy’s ballroom.
    Yet he had no doubt whatsoever why his life had suddenly brightened.
     
    Relief flooded Caro when she spied Thorne approaching. At least she wouldn’t have to search further for him.
    When he reached her, she forced herself to return his smile of welcome, knowing that she was the object of countless curious stares. The notoriety didn’t bother her—she was fully accustomed to it by now. And in the five years since her horrible Season in London, she had conquered the sick, hollow feeling of being an outcast. But no one needed to suspect that she and Christopher, Lord Thorne, were anything more than longtime acquaintances and neighbors, or that she had come here to fetch him for an urgent mission.
    “Did you just arrive in London?” he murmured as he bent gallantly over her hand.
    “Yes. I called at your house but was told I could find you here. Thorne, it is Isabella. We think she has been taken captive.”
    His pleasant smile never wavered, although a spark of dark emotion flared in his eyes. “I am delighted to see you again, Miss Evers. Come, you can give me all the news from home.”
    Tucking her arm in his, he ushered her from the ballroom and along the elegant corridor to a large library.
    Caro shivered as he closed the door behind them. A fire had been lit in the grate, but it was still far colder here than home on her beautiful island.
    “So tell me what happened,” Thorne said brusquely, all business now that the need for pretense was over.
    “Five weeks ago Isabella was returning home after visiting Spain, but her ship never arrived on Cyrene. In all likelihood it was overrun by Barbary pirates and she was enslaved.”
    Caro heard the note of fear in her voice, saw the dismay in Thorne’s frown as well. There was always danger in sailing the Mediterranean. Now that Napoleon had been vanquished, the French fleet no longer threatened merchant vessels. But for centuries corsairs from the Barbary Coast of North Africa had menaced the waters, practicing the lucrative business of seizing ships and selling their captives as slaves. In fact, a decade ago the American navy had fought a war with Tripoli over that kingdom’s enslavement of its citizens.
    “Sit down and start from the beginning,” he suggested as she began to pace.
    “I couldn’t possibly sit. I have been doing nothing but sitting on board a schooner for two weeks now. I wish it didn’t take so blasted long to reach London!”
    “Well, you won’t do Isabella any good by wearing out my aunt’s carpet,” Thorne replied. “Would you care for some sherry?”
    “Yes…thank you.”
    His pragmatic tone had a calming effect. Taking a deep breath, Caro moved over to the hearth and held out her gloved hands to the fire while Thorne went to a table and poured her a glass of sherry.
    Memories rushed through her mind as she stared at the flames. Lady Isabella Wilde was her dearest friend—a beautiful Spanish noblewoman who had outlived three husbands and now frequently traveled the globe, living life as she pleased. The adventuresome Isabella had been like a mother to her, ever since Caro’s own mother died when she was a girl. Isabella was also a role model of independent thinking and had encouraged her in countless ways to pursue her dreams.
    Caro was fiercely determined to save her friend from captivity—and so were all the other Guardians. This was not just a personal mission for them. As the daughter of an exiled Spanish statesman, Isabella had been granted sanctuary on Cyrene many years ago. And the capture of someone under the Guardians’