One Wicked Sin Read Online Free PDF Page A

gentleness in it.
    “If it comes to that,” he said, “neither do I.” He moved away. “Put some clothes on. We’re leaving.”
    Lottie let out her breath on a sigh. “Thank you.”
    Ethan held her eyes for a long moment. A smile still tilted his lips. Heat shimmered between them, robbing Lottie of breath. She felt flustered, taken by surprise. Then he turned away and scooped up the bags of guineas. “Don’t thank me,” he said. “I’m simply protecting my investment.” He sounded impatient now. “That old procuress would only rob you blind if I left you aloneto deal with her. I don’t want you costing me more than is necessary.”
    Lottie scrambled in the wardrobe for a gown and shoes. Most of the clothes Mrs. Tong had provided her with were unpleasantly cheap quality as well as cut to enhance every asset she possessed and to fall off at the slightest touch. There was not a single tasteful garment among them other than the one gown and spencer that she had brought with her from home, from her lost life. She bundled them up under her arm. The cupboard smelled of stale scent. With a pang of loss she remembered the bottles of perfume she had once bought at Piver’s and at Rimmel’s in the Strand. Flower-scented gloves had been one of her favorite indulgences in the old days…
    “Are you ready?” Ethan still sounded impatient. How long did he think it took a woman to dress? She did not even have a maid to help her. She opened the cupboard again and dragged a cloak about her shoulders then grabbed the canary’s cage from its hook.
    “Is that your bird or are you stealing it?” Ethan raised one black brow.
    “It’s mine.” It was the only thing she had taken with her from Grosvenor Square. She looked around and raised her chin. “I don’t want anything else from this godforsaken place.”
    “An understandable sentiment,” Ethan said, “but not very practical. I am not prepared to pay to dress you from scratch.”
    Grumbling, Lottie gathered up some underclothes, stockings, gloves, a shawl, two fans, a feathered head-dress, a couple of gowns and a parasol, and threw theminto a small bandbox she had found at the back of the cupboard.
    Ethan took her hand. His touch made her tremble. She felt disturbed. Misgivings stirred for the first time; more stark choices; stay in this hellhole or go with a virtual stranger. He slanted a look down at her, his gaze sardonic.
    “Scared?”
    She wished he could not read her so easily. It seemed extraordinary—and deeply inconvenient—that he could. She looked up and met his eyes boldly.
    “No, of course not.”
    “Liar.” A smile curled his lips. There was a hard light in his blue eyes. “It is your choice, Miss Palliser.”
    “You are the lesser of two evils,” Lottie said.
    His smile deepened, sending a quiver of awareness like a lightning bolt through her. “Or perhaps the devil you know?” He murmured.
    “I don’t know you,” Lottie said.
    “But you will,” Ethan said. “You will.”
    It sounded like a dangerous promise.

CHAPTER THREE
    T HE GREEDY BAWD had taken him for almost every guinea he had on him. Ethan was not surprised but he was wondering if it was worth it.
    He sat opposite Lottie Palliser in the hackney carriage and watched her as the shadows skipped across her face in bars of light and dark. She was not at all what he had expected. How many times had he thought that this evening? How many times had he had the opportunity to change his mind, discard her and choose another, more biddable and accomplished woman for the role of mistress? How had he, the most cold and calculating man in the kingdom, ended up with a courtesan who seemed almost as nervous as a virgin, accompanied by a canary that could not sing? He shifted with irritation, with himself, with her, with the damned canary. This was too important a mission he was engaged on; he could not afford to ruin it all on a whim because for some inexplicable reason he preferred Lottie