He’d been rude and impossible. But he’d also gone well out of his way to save her life. He’d been brusque about it. Downright harsh, truth be told, but didn’t she deserve that? What if some stupid girl had come to Scotland and risked her life the way she’d done last night? Wouldn’t she give the girl a well-deserved dressing down?
But oh, how it stung.
She would take it today because she’d been caught off guard. But woe be to Lord Heath if she ever saw him again. If he dared speak one harsh word to her, she’d tell him what she thought of him. And by God, his ears would be ringing.
Chapter One
Two Years Later
“Oh sir!”Youare an idiot.
Miss Sadie Allen, late of Scotland, held her smile by force of will. How had England ever climbed to world prominence with leaders such as this? Lord Liddican held a prominent place in the House of Lords, and yet a few flirtatious laughs had him ready to follow her anywhere.
But then the idiot proved that he was smarter than he looked. He leaned forward far enough to look down her bodice and whispered, “I know you are lying to me.”
Oh hell. Never underestimate the prey.
They were taking the air in the back garden of a slightly improper masquerade party. Most of the young women here had been forbidden to attend, including herself, but they, like her, had plotted and devised a way to arrive without their guardians’ knowledge.
She and her friends had a mission, and that was to ensure Lord Liddican could not harm his wife or child again. Their plan had gone swimmingly until now. They’d gotten to the masquerade without interference, Sadie had isolated Liddican, and was drawing him outside for his punishment.
And now he showed signs of intelligence?
“Lying, sir?” she simpered. “You are too powerful for me to think such a thing!”
“Stop simpering,” he hissed. “It makes me nauseous.”
Her, too. Damn it, this was not going well. Time to reevaluate. Except, he didn’t give her a chance. The man was all but pulling her into the bushes to have his way with her.
“I know who you are, you bold Scottish miss,” he said with a lascivious raise of his eyebrows.
Sadie winced. Just how much did he really know? Did he understand that, at the current moment, a dozen ladies of thetonplotted against him?
“I know you have heard what I can do.”
She knew he beat up women and children. His wife had showed her the bruises. But she didn’t think he was referring to that.
He grinned. “You’ll get it, too, but only if I get what I want.”
Clearly, they were speaking about vastly different things. He didn’t seem to be threatening her. In fact, it was more like he was trying to tempt her. But with what? He had nothing she wanted, except for what she had promised his wife.
“Don’t you want to know what the cost will be?” he asked. “You can’t get everything for free, my dear.”
She had never gotten anything for free.
But rather than say those thoughts, she squared her shoulders and faced him as her real self—forthright and bold. “What—exactly—is the cost?”
Lord Liddican rocked back on his heels and tapped his meaty fingers together. He wasn’t large by Scottish standards, but he was big enough to punch hard if he had a mind too.
“My lord—” Sadie began, but he cut her off.
“I want a son.”
She blinked. “I believe you should speak to your wife about that.”
He snorted. “That simpering stick of a woman? She gave me a girl. A tiny, weak, simpering girl, just like her.”
Sadie took a step back, away from the shadows. “I cannot change that, my lord. Even you must know that.”
