The Sinners Club by Kate Pearce Read Free Book Online Page A

went out through the main door, shutting it carefully behind him. Jack remained staring thoughtfully at the space his companion had recently occupied. Had he been issued an invitation to investigate the unlocked doors, or was Simon merely being a good host? Would bedding one of his potential adversaries help or hinder his cause? If they thought he was on their side, wouldn’t it be easier to bring them down from within?
    Jack sighed, shrugged out of his coat and waistcoat, and hung them on the back of the chair by the fire. In truth, he wouldn’t mind bedding either of the Picoults. They were both enticing in their own ways, and it wouldn’t be the first time he’d been involved in a threesome....
    A tap on the interior door concealed in the round wall of the tower drew his attention. He went over and unlocked the latch, swinging the door wide to reveal Simon in his shirtsleeves. He held something out to Jack.
    â€œI thought you might require a nightshirt or a cap.”
    Jack slowly let out his breath. “That’s very thoughtful of you, but I prefer to sleep in the nude.”
    Simon’s eyes widened. “That’s rather unusual.”
    â€œYou have to remember, I was brought up in France,” Jack said almost apologetically. “It does make me rather unconventional.”
    â€œYou didn’t attend school in England?”
    â€œSometimes.” Jack loved spinning a convincing tale. “My father was a baronet and I was his third son. I attended a minor public school from the age of fourteen until I was eighteen.”
    â€œLike Eton?”
    â€œAs I said, not quite that high-flying, but a fee-paying institution nonetheless.”
    Simon licked his lips. “Is it true, what they say about such schools?”
    â€œIs what true?”
    â€œThat the younger boys had to fag for the older ones, and carry out their every wish?”
    â€œIt was not unheard of, even at the school I attended.”
    â€œDid you, were you—?”
    â€œDid I fag for someone?” Jack smiled. “Indeed I did.”
    â€œWere you treated well?”
    He leaned his head back against the door frame and stared into Simon’s eyes. “Do you mean, was I fucked by him?”
    â€œYes.”
    Jack removed the modest jet pin from his serviceable cravat and started to unwind the linen from around his throat. “I was required to serve one of the senior prefects who had a reputation as a ruthless boxer and was a much-admired athlete. I must admit I was rather concerned about his size.”
    â€œHis size.”
    Simon’s gaze was riveted on Jack’s hands. “I was neither as tall nor as strong as I am now. I feared he might overpower me and force me.”
    â€œAnd did he?”
    â€œNo, he was far more subtle than that.” Jack took the nightclothes out of Simon’s unresisting hands and let them fall to the floor. “One night, after I’d finished serving dinner to him, he offered me a drink of whisky. I’d never touched the stuff, and I didn’t realize quite how powerfully it would affect my senses.”
    â€œHe took advantage of you when you were drunk?”
    â€œOh no.” Jack smiled. “He started talking to me about women. Not ladies, you understand, but about the sort of women men of his class and even mine consider fair game. Servants, barmaids, and dairymaids—you know the kind of girl. One who wouldn’t be averse to a roll in the hay for a few coins, no questions asked, or give a gentleman any ‘trouble’.”
    Simon’s mouth firmed into a straight, forbidding line. “I know the kind of man who thinks like that.”
    Jack took note of his companion’s strong reaction and filed it in his memory for further thought before returning to the far more interesting business of seduction.
    â€œI don’t like the aristocracy much myself these days, but you have to remember that I was young