To Tempt the Devil (A Novel of Lord Hawkesbury's Players) Read Online Free PDF Page B

enough to know that. After leaving England and joining a mercenary force on the Continent, Rafe had spiraled down a destructive path of needless violence. Hughe had pulled him out of it. He retrained Rafe, taught him control, showed him friendship until Rafe learned to focus his anger on others more deserving than his stepfather. In time, he had come to appreciate life again. The irony of it wasn’t lost on him—he was employed to end the lives of others.
    “How’s your new beginning?” Hughe asked, voice light once more.
    So he wanted to play it like that—find out the lay of the land before stating his business. Rafe could wait. It was all part of the game with Hughe.
    Rafe stretched out his legs. “Slightly less dangerous, but not without intrigues of its own.”
    “For example?”
    “For example, I forgot I retired and offered to kill someone today.”
    Hughe chuckled. He stretched his legs alongside Rafe’s and massaged his knee. “Should I be worried about your operating a rival band here in our fair city?”
    “No. She turned me down.”
    “She? That does sound intriguing. Care to elaborate?”
    The image of Lizzy looking up at him with big, scared doe eyes lodged in his mind and he couldn’t shake it off. “There’s nothing to tell. She’s my brother’s…close friend.”
    Hughe arched a brow. “A female friend?” he scoffed. “An impossibility.”
    “Perhaps. I admit I don’t understand why he hasn’t secured her. He has lettuce leaves for brains.”
    “Speaking of your brother, was that him with you outside the cookshop?”
    “You’ve been following me that long?” Rafe shouldn’t be surprised. Hughe had a way of going unseen in a crowd, even with such an excessive ruff. “That was James,” he said. “He’s a tailor’s apprentice. Or was.” He sighed. “Got himself into some money problems and he’s off to the Marshalsea tomorrow morning until I can pay off the debts.”
    That imperial brow forked higher. “What about your savings?”
    Rafe caught his friend’s gaze and held it. “Who said I had savings?”
    “You were paid excessively well and never spent more than you needed to. You obviously weren’t sending it back here or your brother wouldn’t have gotten himself into debt, so…where is it?”
    Rafe said nothing.
    “You gave it away, didn’t you?”
    Several beats passed. Neither man so much as twitched a finger.
    “To his sister?”
    There was no need to mention a name. Rafe knew who he meant. His stomach rolled and his chest tightened like it always did when he thought of John Barker, of what he’d almost done. And of what Rafe had been forced to do to stop him. With Barker dead, his only kin, a young sister, was alone. Rafe had to give her all his savings. He couldn’t live with himself if he’d left her with nothing.
    “I don’t regret giving it to her,” Rafe said. “She no longer has anyone to support her. Will you lend me the money to pay off James’s debts? It’ll be better than relying on Liddicoat to advance my wages.”
    “I’ll give you the money. On one condition.”
    “Ah. Of course. You want me to return to the guild.”
    “Just for one last commission.”
    “I don’t know.”
    “You are my trusted friend, Rafe. You never let any of us down. Ever,” Hughe said. “Don’t start now.”
    Their gazes connected, held. The moment grew long, stretched, and thin. Hughe hadn’t understood why Rafe wanted to leave the guild, hadn’t understood that Rafe couldn’t follow orders anymore, not the sort that forced him to eliminate men he’d once called friend. Yet to save James quickly…
    Hell .
    “Who’s the target?”
    “Barker. He’s still alive.”

CHAPTER 3
    “W hat!” Rafe exploded. “How?”
    “Quiet.” Hughe glanced around but there was no one nearby. Night had crept over the city. Lamplight flickered in the windows of the lodgings above the shops on the bridge and on board some of the ships beyond, but their immediate