A Thin Line
Authors: Tammy Jo Burns
Tags: #regency romance, #Historical Romance, #disability romance, #blind romance, #duke romance
Excerpt - Taming the Wicked Wulfe
Excerpt - Seducing the Ruthless Rogue
A Thin Line
The Reluctant Lords, Book 2
By
Tammy Jo Burns
This book is a work of fiction
.
The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real
.
Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All Rights are Reserved
.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author.
A Thin Line
The Reluctant Lords, Book 2
©2013 by Tammy Jo Burns
Excerpt of
A Traitorous Heart
,
The Reluctant Lords, Book 1
©2013 by Tammy Jo Burns
Excerpt of
To Love and Protect,
The Reluctant Lords, Book 3
©2014 by Tammy Jo Burns
Excerpt of
Taming the Wicked Wulfe
,
The Rogue Agents Trilogy, Book 1
©2014 by Tammy Jo Burns
Excerpt of
Seducing the Ruthless Rogue
,
The Rogue Agents Trilogy, Book 2
©2014 by Tammy Jo Burns
Cover Design by The Killion Group
http://thekilliongroupinc.com
Dedication
To Dad.
Thank you for everything!
You are one of a kind.
Love you!
Acknowledgements
Thank you Dene’ & Mary for all that you do.
Also, thank you to a special friend growing up that allowed
me to “see” her sightless world.
She was (and is) an inspiration to us all!
Chapter 1
“Damn him!” Kala’s raspy voice resonated in the empty room.
Most would think she had a cold or the ague, but no, this was her new voice courtesy of the villain who had stalked her sister-in-law.
Who knows?
she thought, momentarily distracted.
Perhaps I will start a new trend among the
ton
.
Back to the matter at hand.
She had found Gabriel Hawke, the Duke of Hawkescliffe to be a traitor in the true sense of the word.
She had argued with herself for the last week that she had misunderstood what the voices on the other side of the door had been saying the night of the ball for her brother, Derek and his new wife, Tessa.
As many times as she tried, she could not deny overhearing him share troop movement, nor could she come up with a plausible answer for his actions.
The man had given away government secrets to a French harlot.
What made the treason so much worse remained the fact that Gabe and Derek were best friends.
Her brother's best friend, a traitor to king and country.
And to make matters worse, at one time she thought herself madly in love with him.
He had definitely ruined that possibility for both of them.
No way could she even stomach the idea of being married to him now.
She could barely look at him.
And to think, he had once stood alongside Admiral Nelson at Trafalgar.
She pushed herself out of the big bed, paced to the window and threw back the curtains.
The moonlight streamed into the room but did nothing to calm her.
The rare cloudless and fogless night in London showed off the true beauty of the city, but she failed to see it.
She had too many thoughts wrestling about in her mind for superiority.
“How could he?” She muttered helplessly, pressing her forehead against the cool pane of glass.
He had witnessed the heartache Derek had gone through when he believed his wife to be a traitor.
Thank goodness all that had turned out to be false.
So how could he, Derek’s best friend, do something like this?
The man must have lost all the good sense he had been born with.
She shook her head sadly replaying that awful night in her mind.
So many things had happened that night.
Tessa had been kidnapped for one.
But first she had heard Gabe giving information on troop landings to that exotically beautiful woman.
She had a French accent, claiming to be an émigré to all other members of the
ton
.
And there lay the crux of the matter.
He divulged information to the enemy.
The enemy was beautiful and seemed to have him firmly in her clutches, if the way the woman adjusted her dress before leaving the room had been any indication.
She thumped her hands on the windowsill and let out a little growl of frustration.
She had to decide what to do about this matter and soon.
One thing had made itself abundantly clear though.
“She can have him.
I’m through with him.”
“Through with whom?”
Kala whirled around and clutched at her throat with one hand.
“Dru, you startled me.
I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“I couldn’t sleep.
Indigestion,” Kala’s aunt explained as an aside as she patted her barely there tummy.
“Now what has you in such an uproar?”
“Oh, I’m just excited over all the events of the last few weeks,” Kala stuck as close to the truth as possible.
“It has been quite an adventure, hasn’t it?”
“Yes.
Derek and Tessa will be leaving for the country once more.
Then we will all gather there for Christmas in a few months.”
“Now what are you so worked up about?”
“I can’t tell you, Dru,” Kala said, her shoulders drooping.
“What?
You used to tell me everything.
I am your favorite aunt, you know,” she waggled her brows for effect.
Kala giggled but shook her head adamantly.
“No.
This is something I must figure out and address on my own.”
“If you insist.
Just keep in mind there is a thin line between love and hate.
Often times that line becomes blurred.”
She reached into the pocket of her dressing robe and took out a deck of playing cards.
“What do you say we pass the time with a few games?”
“Yes, but no bets this time.
Derek yelled at me for an hour for losing my quarterly pin money to you,” she shook her head sadly.
“I had a winning hand.
I still don’t understand how you beat me,” she lamented.
“Derek is a spoilsport.”
“Derek is right,” a deep voice drawled from Kala’s doorway.
“Richard, I hope you didn’t miss me.”
“Of course I did, my love.”
He dropped a kiss on her lips and then covered her stomach with one of his large hands.
“Is she keeping you awake?”
Richard felt convinced their fourth child would be another girl so they would have a ‘matching set’.
“Yes.”
Kala watched the byplay unashamedly and with a great deal of envy.
She had been raised in a household like this one, with parents that adored one another and touched and kissed.
She had hoped that she and Gabriel could have had something like this, and perhaps they could have if he had never become the Duke of Hawkescliffe.
He had changed drastically after receiving the title, a title he never should have had to don.
A large part of her mourned that fact.
Another part of her knew she must get on with the job of living.
“Richard, please stay and keep an eye on Dru.
I think she cheats,” she whispered loudly.
“Kala, I’ll let you in on a little secret,” Richard replied.
“What?”
“I
know
she cheats.”
The three stayed up until early morning playing, laughing, and talking.
***
The next morning, Kala quickly dressed in a plain, serviceable dress and scampered downstairs before anyone else arose.
She asked a footman to call for a carriage.
He performed the task reluctantly, seeing a dressing down in his future for letting her leave the house unescorted.
Miss Kala would be the death of them all in his lowly opinion.
The carriage arrived and Kala embarked on a journey across town to the Horse Guards.
She left the conveyance and paid the driver.
She paced back and forth in front of the building, chewing on her thumb as she tended to do when nervous.
Her sable hair fell in loose waves down her back in a most improper way.
Her thick, black lashes fluttered, hiding the mercurial changes of her hazel eyes.
She marched to the door with the look of a soldier preparing for a court-martial.
As she neared, it swung open and a footman stood sentinel.
“Is Director McKenzie available?”
“Not as yet, madam.”
“Thank you.
Please send him to me as soon as he arrives.
I will be over there,” she waved absently towards the side of the building.
Mikala spun away and spent the next fifteen minutes pacing and rehearsing exactly what she would say.
She needed to speak to Director McKenzie as soon as possible and silently cursed the man for choosing this morning to not arrive before everyone else to the War Office, the central headquarters where plans were made to defeat Napoleon, and as she so recently found out where her brother and Gabe spent most of their days, which of course is how Gabe retrieved the information from the French whore.
So caught up in practicing her speech she did not hear the brisk footfalls until they were upon her, “What do you think you are doing here?”
“Director McKenzie, the Duke of Hawkescliffe is a traitor,” she said as she turned around to look at the man.
Her mouth fell open in horror as she realized she had just told the information to the suspected traitor himself.
“Now that you know, what am I going to do to keep you silent, Pest?” Gabriel Hawke, the Duke of Hawkescliffe snarled as he pulled her close, the scar that slashed down his right cheek made him appear menacing.
Kala did the only thing she knew to do, she raised her knee and in his moment of agony, she tore free of his hold and ran for her life.
