What a Reckless Rogue Needs Read Online Free PDF

gathered the girls in her arms. “Hush, Papa will not throw Hercules in the dustbin.”
    “Oh, yes, I will!”
    Fat tears welled in Bianca’s and Bernadette’s eyes.
    Colin folded his arms over his chest, knowing his gruff father wouldn’t be able to withstand their tears. Doubtless the twins knew precisely how to manipulate him.
    Ames held out his hands for the dog.
    The marquess narrowed his eyes at his daughters. “He stays in the kitchen. I do not want to see him above stairs ever again or he goes. Do I make myself understood?”
    Bianca and Bernadette ran to the marquess and hugged him. “Oh, Papa, thank you,” Bianca said, sniffing.
    Bernadette brushed her finger under her eye. Colin was fairly certain it wasn’t a tear, but he must credit his sisters for their theatrical performance.
    The marquess patted his daughters awkwardly and addressed Ames. “The water closet floor needs to be cleaned.”
    “Yes, my lord.”
    The marquess sat on a chair, removed his boots, and signaled a footman. “The smell will never come out. Burn them.”
    “Yes, my lord.”
    The twins volunteered to take Hercules to the kitchen. Colin suspected they would sneak the pug to their room at the first opportunity.
    “Colin, we will meet in my study in thirty minutes,” the marquess said.
    He inclined his head and thought his father looked rather undignified as he walked up the steps in his stockings.
      
    Precisely thirty minutes later, Colin rapped on his father’s study door.
    “Come in,” the marquess said.
    When he entered, his father continued writing. “Be seated,” he said.
    Colin jiggled his leg, an old habit. Be calm; be confident.
    The marquess sanded the paper, folded it, and applied a seal. When his father opened a new letter, Colin forced himself to relax his jaw. He understood his father’s silent message: patience.
    He did not expect this interview to be easy. His father would likely interrogate him, but he was prepared.
    The marquess set the letter aside. “You requested this meeting. I will hear you out, but I am disinclined to make a gift of the property simply because you are my son.”
    Colin lifted his chin. “I understand. However, I am willing to take responsibility for all needed repairs.”
    The marquess folded his hands on the polished desktop and regarded him with a patronizing expression. “I received an excellent offer. The prospective buyer is willing to make the purchase and see to any needed repairs. It will cost me nothing, but I will certainly gain from the sale. You probably do not have sufficient funds for renovations.”
    Colin had expected this argument. “I understand that I would have to make a considerable investment.”
    The marquess huffed. “You mean I would have to make the investment.”
    “Only if you wished to contribute,” Colin said.
    “Well, how else would you finance this venture? Beyond your quarterly funds, you have no other source of income.”
    Colin knew that he would shock his father. “I’ve made investments in shipping.”
    The marquess snorted. “So you’re literally waiting for your ship to come in.”
    This is business. Keep your emotions out of it. “I’ve been investing a considerable portion of my quarterly funds since I was twenty-one.”
    The marquess stared at him in a stupefied fashion. “You jest.”
    “No. I figured money was the key to my independence.”
    “You did it in the event I cut off your funds.”
    Colin smiled a little. “You did threaten once or twice.”
    “With good reason,” the marquess said. “That affair de coeur with Lord Ogden’s wife could have ended with you planted six feet under.”
    He’d been only twenty when Lady Ogden had seduced him, but he didn’t want the conversation to veer off into a blind alley. “First things first. I will take care of estimates for the repairs. If I find that it is currently beyond my means, we could draw up an agreement in which I repay you for the cost of any required