Sutton's Secrets

SUTTON’S SECRETS THE SINFUL SUTTONS BOOK SEVEN SCARLETT SCOTT Sutton’s Secrets The Sinful Suttons Book 7 All rights reserved. Copyright © 2023 by Scarlett Scott Published by Happily Ever After Books, LLC Edited by Grace Bradley Developmental Editing by Emerald Edits Cover Design by Wicked Smart Designs This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded, or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is punishable by law. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events, or locales, is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously. For more information, contact author Scarlett Scott. https://scarlettscottauthor.com CONTENTS Author’s Note Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Epilogue Don’t miss Scarlett’s other romances! Author’s Note on Historical Accuracy About the Author For my readers, with everlasting gratitude for your support, kind words, and love for my books. I’ll never be able to thank you enough. AUTHOR’S NOTE Some events within this book happen concurrently with events which happened in previous books in The Sinful Suttons series. If you haven’t read those books, don’t worry. This is stand-alone. But if you have, you’ll be seeing these events from Logan’s perspective. CHAPTER 1 Logan took a puff of his cheroot, watching everyone, trusting no one. Smoke hung in the air, a silver shroud providing him with a momentary screen as he surveyed the chamber. Willowby’s was a stunningly plummy establishment. A place where sinners congregated to partake in any vice they chose, assured of their privacy. The walls were hung with scarlet damask, offset by elaborate French curtains draped over the windows to create an illusion of seclusion from the outside world. Even the chairs, Grecian affairs fashioned of mahogany with inlaid ebony and red Morocco leather, were a marvel. The matching card tables were enhanced by scrollwork and gilt. One had to merely step one foot inside to know it was for the well-equipped. Only culls flush with coin would be able to afford the games being played within this lair. And aye, by comparison, it made his own family’s gaming hell, The Sinner’s Palace, look like a tumbledown, second-rate den for vagabonds and filching coves. But it had been some time since he’d last been within those once-familiar walls, and he wasn’t here to fret over the competition. Nor to gamble or sample the fine swill or attract the even finer quim. Rather, he was here on deadly important business, awaiting the arrival of a man known only as the Major. The exchange—information about the next secret meeting amongst the remaining members of the London Reform Society in return for two hundred pounds—had been arranged by Logan’s superior at the Guild, Archer Tierney. The group of revolutionaries behind the Society were as depraved as they were brazen. They were willing to commit any crime, regardless of the victims, in the name of their proposed revolution. Attacks on the Tower of London, plots to murder prominent members of the government. And that was just the start. All of which necessitated a great deal of care in the negotiations which would ensue this evening. Nothing had been left to chance. The Major was to meet Logan here, sit at the table, and tell him that he heard the port at Willowby’s was particularly fine. The Major had been previously informed concerning the details of Logan’s appearance; the color of his hair, the coat and cravat he would be wearing, the table at which he would be seated. Logan and his informant would share a glass of port. At some point during the course of their interview, a missive would be passed to Logan from the Major. Logan would pay the man the agreed-upon sum. He was to linger at Willowby’s, to avoid drawing undue attention to himself and his mission, lose a game of vingt-et-un, and subsequently depart. He would then take the communication immediately to Archer. But the appointed hour for the Major’s arrival had already come and gone. The fellow had either been waylaid or had experienced a change of heart. It wouldn’t be the first time an informant failed to appear since Logan had begun his covert work for the Guild. And he knew it wouldn’t be the last. Feigning ennui, he extracted his pocket watch and consulted the time. The Major was one quarter hour late. Logan reached for his port, taking another slow, small sip. And that was when he saw her. She was not the only woman in the club’s main room. Nor was she the only beauty. There were petticoats aplenty to distract, for Willowby’s was a place where men and women mingled freely. But this woman was different from all the rest in a way that was indefinably alluring. It was an enchanting combination, he thought, of the way she carried herself and the way she dressed. She simmered with intelligence and boldness, and a glance at the other coves proved he was not the only one captivated by her. But inevitably, his gaze returned to her. She moved through the throng of gents with grace and poise. She wore a gown of vibrant, red velvet that showed her figure to perfection, her pale breasts on display above a bodice bedecked with silver rosettes. Her shoulders were bare, her arms concealed in white lace sleeves that hugged her wrists, and a necklace of triple pearls with