Twice Tempted by Eileen Dreyer Read Free Book Online Page A

yet. Being so far away, he’s been well out of things since before the plot was discovered. Now, with his heart…” He shrugged.
    “Let me assess the threat from the tzar before they decide,” Alex suggested. “And my father’s health. I won’t have him endangered.”
    “There isn’t a soul in government who’d argue with you.” Drake rose to his feet. “Why don’t you consider this a bit of a hiatus, then? Visit with your father and see to the Ferguson sisters as a favor to me. Are you going to eventually return them to Yorkshire?”
    Alex pocketed his watch and shared a grim smile. “Lady Fiona insists on going by Miss Fiona Ferguson. What does that tell you?”
    “What do you truly think of their chances on the market?” Drake asked.
    Alex considered the remaining brandy in his glass. “Well, I’ve only met Fiona, but she is a stunner. Tall, same red hair as her brother, excellent figure. Every inch a lady.”
    “Even though she spent her formative years living beneath a bridge?”
    Alex glared, not certain why he should feel so defensive. “She was only reduced to that for a few years.” He couldn’t help it. He shared his own sly smile. “Leyburn does say she carries a knife, though. And is quite proficient on pistols.”
    The eyebrow rose again. “Something to remember.”
    “Her grandfather certainly thought so.” Alex flashed a grin. “I can’t say he was wrong. I truly cannot see her being easily importuned.”
    “And the sister?”
    Alex shrugged. “I’ll find out tomorrow. The way people talk of her, though, I doubt she’ll be an easy sell. And I don’t see Fiona deserting her.”
    “Another challenge, then.” Drake finished his own glass. “Which would be much more difficult if one were to lose objectivity.”
    “There’s no need for unsubtle warnings. I have not succumbed.” Finishing the dregs of his drink, he got to his feet. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m off to be surprised that my father is home.”

Chapter 4
    H e saw his father. His stepfather, to be precise. But as Sir Joseph Knight had acted as his parent for twenty of his thirty years, Alex disdained the difference. A distinguished fifty, Sir Joseph was lean, soft-spoken, and blessed with a thick head of pure silver hair marred only by a slice of red over his right eye. Before taking himself off the marriage market, he had been known as the Silver Fox.
    Alex walked into the library of the house on Bruton Street to find Sir Joseph sitting at the sleek Chippendale desk working on some files. Alex’s stomach dropped. The changes in his father weren’t great; he was a bit thinner, his color less robust, his hair somehow dulled. But Alex felt the dimming of the steady life force that set his father apart. He had been worried before. Now he was afraid.
    “So, left your wife to all those elegant Russian princes, have you?” he said, hoping his voice sounded hearty. He didn’t care if the throne was at risk. He wasn’t going to add to his father’s burdens.
    Sir Joseph looked up and smiled. “I told them not to bother you. I’m sorry.”
    Alex strolled over to the drinks cabinet and poured himself another brandy. He wasn’t much of a brandy man. Today, he thought, he would excuse the lapse.
    “Indeed you should be,” he said, pouring a glass for his father and carrying them back with him. “I was called away from babysitting a friend’s sisters. Before that I was at a crushingly boring house party with Princess Charlotte.”
    “The same one your sister Pip is undoubtedly terrorizing?”
    He grinned. “The very one. Considering the guest list, I sincerely doubt she can get into too much trouble. Besides, Beau’s there.”
    His father smiled. “Poor man. I wonder if he’s realized yet that our Pip is unstoppable.”
    “He should. He’s suffered her hero worship since she was three.”
    Standing, Sir Joseph waited only long enough for Alex to set the glasses on the desk before pulling him into a hug.