The Earl's Secret

THE EARL’S SECRET RECKLESS ROGUES BOOK ONE ELLIE ST. CLAIR CONTENTS 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 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Epilogue The Viscount’s Code - Chapter One Also by Ellie St. Clair About the Author ♥ Copyright 2023 Ellie St Clair All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher. Facebook: Ellie St. Clair Cover by AJF Designs Do you love historical romance? Receive access to a free ebook, as well as exclusive content such as giveaways, contests, freebies and advance notice of pre-orders through my mailing list! Sign up here! Reckless Rogues The Earls’s Secret The Viscount’s Code Prequel, The Duke’s Treasure, available in: I Like Big Dukes and I Cannot Lie For a full list of all of Ellie’s books, please see www.elliestclair.com/books. CHAPTER 1 “It is not a true romance if it does not have a happy ending.” Cassandra’s bold statement was met with the expected chorus of opinions. In a room of women who are all passionate about their preferences in their romance novels and never hesitated to share their true thoughts, her view would not go unchallenged. But she maintained her position as she sat in the center of the room and placed her hand over her heart as though making a lifelong vow. Although she supposed in a way, she was. “Why did we just put ourselves through such tragedy for entertainment?” she continued, her spine straight in her perch on the middle cushion of the crimson French sofa, which was beginning to show all of its decades. “I apologize, Faith, for I know the book was your choice, but I was so invested in their love, and then for it all to end in such a tortuous manner… I simply cannot go through that again.” “Cassandra,” Faith said, tilting her head to study her friend. “You are being overly dramatic. It is still a romance because they fell in love. Yes, they allowed external forces to come between them, but the story is still worth reading. Did we not learn something from it?” “We did,” Cassandra said with a firm nod of her head. “Never trust a gentleman who is more in love with a ghost than his wife.” Persephone, who they affectionately called Percy, started to snicker at that, while Faith rolled her eyes. Faith’s sister, Hope, sighed, and Cassandra knew that she likely agreed with her. The fair-haired, blue-eyed Hope lived up to her name, always seeing the best in everyone around her, while Faith was far more suspicious of anyone who entered her life. One could tell their personalities by their choice in books – which made Cassandra all the more worried about what Madeline might pick the following week. Percy held up a hand to halt a new argument. “Before we delve deeper into this conversation, perhaps we should pour ourselves a drink.” “An excellent idea,” Cassandra said, smiling wickedly as she walked to the sideboard, where her brother, Gideon, kept his alcohol. She had a feeling he knew that she and her friends often helped themselves to his supply, but each woman took a turn providing sustenance for their meetings so that there was never enough missing for him to have reason to accuse them. She reached underneath and found five short glasses, lining them up in a row on the chipped wood of the counter above. She generously poured each one, and then served them to her friends before sitting back in her own place on the sofa, closing her eyes and taking a deep sip, welcoming the fiery warmth as it slid down her throat – just as the door opened, startling all of them. “Gideon, I—oh, excuse me.” The deep, bass voice echoed through the room and straight into Cassandra’s soul. It was a voice she knew well, one that she usually attempted to avoid. For it brought nothing but trouble. She shot to her feet so quickly that the remnants of her drink spilled out and splashed over her dress, but she disregarded that as she locked eyes with the dark, unreadable ones of the man in front of her – the man she had allowed to get under her skin, not to mention a few other places he should never have been – one too many times. His broad, full lips curled into a smirk as his eyes wandered from her face down the entirety of her body to the kid slippers that covered her toes and back up again. His scrutiny was more fiery than the liquid that was dripping over her and she shivered from the intensity of it. “Having ourselves a good time, are we ladies?” he asked, although he kept his eyes on Cassandra. “We are having a private meeting,” she said, straightening her shoulders and meeting his gaze full-on, refusing to cower before him. “One to which gentlemen are not invited. I believe Gideon is hosting a gathering of his own – one that you are likely welcome at – in the drawing room. This is the parlor.” “So it would seem,” he said, his eyes sweeping around the room, missing nothing, including the books that each of them held in their laps. Cassandra gripped hers tightly in her hand as she moved it slightly behind her back so that he wouldn’t comment upon it. She had nothing to fear from the man, she reminded herself. The worst he could do was tell Gideon what they were doing in here, and the truth was, she didn’t think her brother would overly care. “Lord Covington,” Hope