Hawkesbury House in Belgravia, London

“Be warned, my lord,” the woman said. “I shall return. Tomorrow. Early. Very early. And if you refuse to speak with me, I’ll haunt your house until you are prepared to listen to me.”

Justin Tremayne, Viscount Hawkesbury, felt the air suck out of the room. Movements ceased, breaths held, no one spoke. Every person in the room, including the courtesans, was aware of the reason he’d spent four years debasing himself before the wealthiest members of the ton.

The reason he forced himself to get out of bed each day, to place one foot in front of the other and go through the rituals, the pretense of living a normal life. Why he arranged wild bedroom antics for women and men that he barely knew and certainly didn’t like or respect. His guilt festered like an open wound and the pain never lessened. His obsession was to locate his mother and two sisters, to bring them home, and try to make amends for his absence at the time his deranged father had evicted them.

Unable to reply, he shook his head, robbed of coherent thought, unable to believe her declaration. Unable to convince himself it wasn’t another misery-causing lie. Unable to gather the energy to conclude his night’s business. Nothing mattered above the bait she dangled before his nose, the thing he yearned for more than any other—to bring his family back to him. This tiny despot had forced him into negotiating with her.

“Bart, Thomas. I ask you to leave me to my visitor. Then I’m off to find my bed.”

https://books2read.com/suziloveTVPH The Viscount’s Pleasure House. Irresistible Aristocrats Book 1 By Suzi Love.