Too Dangerous to Desire Read Online Free PDF Page A

forever.
    Adam shuddered , sweating at the morbid thought.
    The duke was not alone. He quickly whisked the woman in his arms across the room , shoved her onto the balcony , then locked the glass doors—so Adam could not get to her.
    Something twitched in Adam’s belly. Jealousy. He was no fool. He could see the fear in Damian’s eyes : fear for the woman. The same sick and twisting fear Adam had suffered whenever Tess had been frightened or hurt or unsure. The kind of fear born of love that urged a man to protect a woman with his breath , his blood , his very fists. That his sinful brother should have such a love , while Adam endured the misery of aloneness , was an injustice. A cruelty. And a disgrace to Tess’s memory.
    “I thought you had died at sea , ” said Damian , bemused.
    “Oh , but I did.” Adam kicked the bedroom door closed with the heel of his boot. “I died on the night Tess perished.”
    There was something different about the duke. A look of . . . grief? Even remorse?
    Adam dismissed the sentiment. It was impossible. The duke was a selfish bastard. That he could mourn or feel pain was ridiculous , unworthy of consideration.
    “Adam, where have you been?”
    “In hell.” Unhooking the clasp at his neck , Adam al lowed the cloak to slip free. “All thanks to you.”
    Damian choked on his words. “Adam , please , tell me what happened?”
    “Why? You don’t give a damn.”
    “Please , Adam , tell me , ” he beseeched. “I have to know.”
    “Do you now?”
    Adam spotted a pistol resting on the surface of the writing desk , and slowly maneuvered his way closer to the weapon. It was just like the duke to be so irrespon sible : to leave a gun unsecured.
    “Very well , then , ” said Adam. “A wretched storm hit , sinking the ship. I washed ashore on a little island off the coast of Wales , where a group of monks living in an isolated monastery looked after me. For more than a year I had no memory of who I was or where I had come from. And then one night , during a brutal storm , lightning hit the holy dwelling and my memory came back.”
    Adam picked up the gun. Armed with both pistol and blade , he resumed his steady advance on the duke. It was time to avenge Teresa.
    “It’s your fault she’s gone.” The rage billowed inside Adam. He shook with repressed agony and hatred. “I had to sail home to drag you from your filthy existence. I had to wallow in muck for most of my life , lugging you out of whorehouses and gaming hells—and I lost Tess because of it. You.” Adam pointed to him with the knife , the blade trembling in his shaky hand. “You’ve destroyed everything good in your life—and mine. You’re no better than Father.”
    Their father had been a wicked scoundrel , too. And Damian had turned out to be just like the former duke ,
    worse even.
    The duke whispered , “I’m sorry, Adam.”
    Was that a tear in Damian’s eye?
    Adam blinked to dispel the thought. The “Duke of Rogues” shedding tears? Overwhelmed with repentance?
    Horseshit!
    The devil cannot reform his wicked ways. The devil deserved to die.
    “Oh no.” Adam shook his head vehemently. “That paltry and insincere gesture isn’t going to absolve you of what you’ve done.” The duke did not want to die , was all. A few tears might fool some simpleton into believ ing the duke’s atonement sincere , but Adam was far too familiar with his brother’s nefarious habits to believe such a deceit real.
    He glanced at the glass balcony doors. Throughout the exchange with his kin , the woman had pounded on the doors , wrestled with the knob. Fearful. For the duke?
    “She appears to care for you a great deal , ” said Adam. “And I suspect you care for her , too.”
    Damian’s eyes darkened. “What are you going to do?”
    “I’m going to set things right.”
    Adam paused. He was just a few feet away from his brother. Damian made no effort to run or even defend himself. He had lost this battle , and he knew