The Seduction of Lady X Read Online Free PDF Page A

them.
    “Why do you keep me waiting, Olivia?” Edward asked curtly, bringing her back to the mission at hand. “I told you I had work to do.”
    Alexa shuddered; Olivia put her arm around her sister’s shoulders and began the little speech she’d privately rehearsed: Alexa had gone to Spain. Alexa had behaved poorly, for which she was terribly sorry. Alexa was with child. From the corner of her eye, she saw Mr. Tolly flinch, and wondered if it was revulsion at what Alexa had done, or recognition that this would not go well for anyone.
    Olivia’s speech was followed by pure silence. There was not a breath, not a creak, as Edward turned his cold gaze to Alexa, who stood shaking before him.
    Edward’s gaze flicked to her abdomen, then to her face. “Is this true?”
    “Yes, my lord,” Alexa admitted, her voice scarcely more than a whisper.
    “Who has done this?” he asked, his voice so soft and dangerously low that a shiver shot down Olivia’s spine. When Alexa did not answer straightaway, Edward smiled a little and said, “You may trust me, Alexa.”
    No, Alexa, you cannot trust him! Never trust him!
    Alexa lowered her gaze to the floor and shook her head. “I will not say.”
    Olivia glanced at Mr. Tolly. He held her gaze a slender moment and she thought—or perhaps hoped—that she saw a flicker of reassurance in his eyes. He was always so calm, so hopeful! Olivia wanted to lean on him now, to put her head on his broad shoulder, to feel his arms around her, strong and protective, keeping her safe from Edward.
    “You will not say?” Edward asked, rising from his seat.
    “I will not,” Alexa repeated.
    Edward made a sound of surprise. “But my dear, you must surely realize that if you refuse to tell me who has put this by-blow in you, I can only surmise that he is unsuitable in every imaginable way. Or . . . that you are a whore.”
    Alexa choked back a sob.
    “Edward, please,” Olivia pleaded.
    Her husband shifted his hard gaze to her. “Please what?” he asked, the venom dripping from his cold smile.
    “Please leave her be,” Olivia implored him. “She knows her mistake, and the good Lord knows she will pay for it in many ways for the rest if her life. You need not punish her further.”
    “I see,” Edward said casually as he came around to the front of his desk. “You suddenly believe yourself in a position to tell me what I need not do. Shall I tell you what I find interesting?” he asked as he sat on the edge of the desk.
    “No,” Olivia said quickly.
    “I find it interesting that while you are as barren as a Scottish moor, your sister is a whore who apparently will conceive a by-blow with any man who lifts her skirts.”
    Olivia’s face flamed. The conflict between her and her husband was no secret, but it was humiliating nonetheless.
    “There is only one,” Alexa foolishly tried, but Edward quickly turned on her.
    “Only one, eh?” He chuckled as if that was somehow amusing, and gestured to Alexa’s belly. “The only difference between the two of you is that one of you is only half a woman. One of you led me to believe she could give me heirs and yet cannot. Or will not.”
    He shifted that hard gaze to Olivia, and Alexa burst into tears. Behind Edward, Mr. Tolly turned to look out the window, his hands on his hips. Olivia could see the tension in his jaw, as if he were fighting to keep from speaking.
    “The question we have before us is what to do with this one,” Edward mused, his gaze raking over Alexa. “With your mother buried, there is no one who will stand up for you, is there?” he asked her. “Certainly not your scofflaw uncle Barstow. You are entirely at my mercy as your benefactor and provider. And yet, I am the second cousin to the king. The Carey name means quite a lot in this country. Do you mean to defile my good name? A name from which you derive social benefit by mere association?”
    “No, my lord,” Alexa said softly.
    “Then why would you allow some man