The Secrets of Seduction (The Ladies of The Burling School Book 7) Read online

  The Secrets of Seduction

  By Elizabeth Lennox

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  Copyright 2020

  ISBN13: 9781950451197

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Any duplication of this material, either electronic or any other format, either currently in use or a future invention, is strictly prohibited, unless you have the direct consent of the author.

  Table of 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

  Epilogue

  Excerpt of The Tycoon’s Baby Revelation

  Chapter 1

  The elegance and respectful hum of conversation in the upscale restaurant shattered without warning. Malcolm turned his head, startled. But as soon as he took in the three lovey ladies hugging and chatting excitedly, his irritation disappeared. Ella!

  “Do you know those ladies, my lord?” his companion asked indignantly, obviously just as affronted by the interruption as Malcolm.

  As soon as the beautiful ladies pulled away, his eyes focused on one in particular. Ella Fleming. She was back and…shockingly, more beautiful than ever. If Malcolm hadn’t seen her himself, he wouldn’t have believed it was possible.

  “Who are they?” the older man demanded, looking disgruntled as he twisted in his chair to get a better look at the noisy group. “Is that…?” the man asked, his outrage dissipating as his mouth hung open in shock.

  “Yes. That is Queen Cassandra del Soya Irazi and Naya Danilov.”

  “Oh,” he took a longer look at the trio. “I’ve wanted to speak with Pierce Danilov for ages!” Shaking his nearly bald head, he sighed. “I don’t suppose you know him?”

  Malcolm shrugged. He was friends with both Nasir and Pierce. But since Malcolm wasn’t particularly fond of the blustering fool sitting across from him, there was no chance that he would offer the man an introduction. “We’ve crossed paths,” was all Malcolm would confirm.

  Besides, his attention was focused on the third member of the trio sitting at the table by the window. The sunshine glinted off Ella’s blonde hair, shoots of gold sparkling around her head and creating almost a halo effect as she sat down. Queen Cassandra was lovely as well and Naya Danilov was a beauty, to be sure. But neither of them were as stunningly gorgeous as Ella. There was just something about her that drew his eye and captured his attention. There was an undefined quality about her that was just…alluring. Perhaps it was the energy that seemed to emanate from her. Or maybe it was that their pasts had collided one too many times over the years. Malcolm wasn’t sure. But for the rest of the meal, he was distracted by Ella’s beauty and irritated with the pointless ramblings of his pretentious lunch companion.

  Finally, the end of the meal arrived and both men stood up. If Malcolm’s eyes again drifted towards the three lovely ladies sitting in the corner, he could be excused for his curiosity since most of the other patrons were glancing in that direction as well.

  “My lord,” his companion stood, bowing slightly. “It has been a pleasure. Please convey my greetings to your father. He doesn’t get into the city as often as he used to, does he?”

  Malcolm’s good humor faded at the mention of his father. “No.”

  The other man waited for more. Perhaps more of an explanation for the duke’s continued absence from society functions or maybe something about his father’s health. But Malcolm didn’t say a word. A moment later, the man awkwardly nodded, as if understanding the unspoken message, then turned and exited the dining room.

  Malcolm made a mental note to call in the irritating man’s debts. The lunch had theoretically been a way for the man to obtain an extension on the amount due to Malcolm’s company. The man had explained how his factory was doing extremely well and that he had several orders that he hadn’t been able to fill because of a lack of capital to expand the business. But what the man had actually revealed was that he had run his business into the ground and probably all that was left was the shell of a factory and a team of disgruntled employees. Since Malcolm had anticipated this, had even loaned him the money so that he would go further into debt, there wasn’t an issue. Malcolm could now step in and take over the factory. Exactly as he’d expected. The pompous ass had no idea how to run a manufacturing plant and had spent the loan amount repairing his decaying house and paying for the flighty spending habits of a mistress more than thirty years his junior. A very expensive mistress, Malcolm thought.

  And on the subject of women…Malcolm shot another glance at the lovely blond. Time to rekindle an old acquaintance, he decided as he stood and moved across the dining room, weaving his way through the other diners. Malcolm heard his name called by several voices, but he barely acknowledged the calls, intent on one lovely blond with sparkling brown eyes.

  From the fury in those gorgeous eyes, Malcolm realized two things; her hatred of him hadn’t dimmed over the past decade-plus and…Ella Fleming was even more stunning close up.

  Ella had known that Malcolm Reynolds, Marquis of Theeds, was in the restaurant from the moment she’d entered. There were few who wouldn’t notice the tall, shockingly handsome man. His dark hair and cobalt blue eyes were a startling contrast against his tanned skin, revealing a trace of an Irish ancestor in his family’s past. But there was something more about him. Something that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Perhaps it was the irritating confidence that always seemed to surround him. Or maybe it was just his height and that hard jawline. The blue eyes that she thought she could see even from across the room?

  Whatever it was, Ella had not only seen her family’s nemesis, but she’d tracked him as he made his way through the dining room towards her. It was almost as if she could hear his deep, smooth voice over the low hum of conversation from the other diners, even from a distance. He was a powerful person within the global financial world. One of the most powerful, she thought. Ella wasn’t sure how that had happened since his father’s ducal estate was a mess. How had Malcolm gone from the tall, athletic teenager she’d known so many years ago, to the powerfully handsome, confident man in front of her? She didn’t know and she had to remind herself that she didn’t care!

  “Good afternoon, Ella,” he said, his smooth, sexy voice sliding over the table. Naya and Cassy smiled politely, doing their political thing. But Ella wasn’t married to a global political or financial leader. She didn’t have to be polite or diplomatic.

  “Go away, Malcolm,” she replied without prefacing her comment with pleasantries. She hated him with an acidic rage that was unlike anything she’d experienced in her life. And that hatred was justified.

  Her poor mother!

  Okay, Malcolm hadn’t actually killed her mother. He hadn’t pulled the trigger or slipped po
ison into her mother’s afternoon tea. But Betty, Ella’s mother, had been the housekeeper for the Duke of Theed’s estate for twenty years. For twenty years, Ella’s beautiful mother had cooked and cleaned for the disgusting Duke of Theeds, Malcolm’s father. Her family had lived in the small village just outside of the estate and, at the first sign of sickness, that horrible, disgusting Duke of Theeds, Edward Reynolds, had fired Ella’s mother. Thankfully, health coverage in Great Britain wasn’t an issue. It was just the demeaning and horrible way that Ella’s mother had been kicked to the curb.

  Ella had hated him ever since. That’s why Ella sat back, watching and observing. Planning. Plotting! She looked on objectively as Malcolm charmed both Naya and Cassy, laughing at their comments and debating various issues. He truly was a handsome man, no doubt about it.

  What he didn’t know was that Ella knew about a dark mystery that involved Malcolm’s family. Something was going on inside his father’s estate, something deeply dangerous and evil. Ella knew it and she’d come home to prove it. Malcolm Reynolds, Marquis of Theeds and Edward Reynolds, Duke of Theeds, were going down! She wasn’t sure what they were doing, but Ella was fairly sure that it was illegal. She’d come home to prove it and bring their malicious deeds out into the light.

  “Good afternoon, ladies,” he said with a charming smile, turning his head away from Ella, but he moved his tall, muscular body closer to her.

  Naya and Cassy were too polite to ignore him. “Hello, my lord. It’s wonderful to see you again,” Naya replied. “How is your father these days?”

  Ella gritted her teeth, wishing that Naya wasn’t so polite.

  “He’s at home,” Malcolm replied, bowing slightly but Ella saw something in his eyes. Had he just closed down? Was there bad blood between father and son? Interesting, she thought.

  “Ella, how are you?”

  Ella wanted to ignore the man. Her rudeness should have warned him not to speak to her. But before she could reply, Ella remembered the old adage about “attracting more flies with honey than vinegar”. So instead of snarling at him, she pulled up the corners of her mouth into what she hoped was a polite smile, even if her eyes didn’t convey the same message. “I’m fine, my lord,” she replied, although her throat convulsed around the words.

  “And how is your father?” he asked, continuing with the ridiculous charade.

  Again, she nodded, pulling her smile brighter even as her eyes narrowed. Was that amusement in his blue eyes? “Fine,” she replied with a tilt of her head.

  He chuckled softly and Ella ignored the tightening of her stomach at the sound. “Good to hear. Why don’t you stop by my office some time? We could catch up.”

  She nodded, thinking he was playing right into her hands. Into the lion’s den, she thought! “I might just do that.” Although, mentally, she added on the possibility of finding clues about his dark deeds during that “catch up” meeting.

  “Good. I look forward to seeing you again,” he said, then looked at the two other ladies and nodded. “Ladies,” he said to Naya and Cassy, then he turned and walked out of the restaurant.

  There was a heavy silence at the table after he left. Ella watched until she couldn’t see him any longer, then turned and drained her wine glass in a single gulp, shuddering with fury. “Goodness, I hate that man!” she hissed.

  Naya and Cassy chuckled, sipping on their wine. “So that’s the man, huh?” Cassy commented. “Interesting. He’s much more handsome than I would have thought.”

  Naya nodded. “Yeah, I couldn’t see his horns under that head of thick, dark hair. Did you see them pointing out the back?” she asked of Cassy.

  Cassy shook her head, straight-faced. “Not a horn in sight.”

  Ella rolled her eyes. “Right. Aren’t you two supposed to be on my side?”

  Cassy and Naya laughed, leaning forward. “Absolutely,” Cassy replied. “We’re here for ya. But he’s really is more handsome than I would have thought after what you told us about him back in high school.”

  Ella toyed with her water glass, contemplating Malcolm and her almost violent reaction to him. “Yes, well, my mother thought he was sweet and adorable, up until the day that his father kicked her out of his house and out of a job.”

  “But that wasn’t the son’s fault,” Naya pointed out. “You said he was rarely around. So how can you blame the son for the father’s sins?”

  Ella pressed her lips together. “You know that the duke fired my mother as soon as he found out that she had breast cancer, but that wasn’t all that was going on in that house.”

  “You mentioned something about wild parties,” Cassy replied, leaning forward, both of them eager to hear a mystery.

  Ella nodded slowly, her eyes narrowing as she glanced at the doors where the man had disappeared. “We never knew what those parties were about,” she explained. “But one thing I didn’t tell you –because I didn’t think it was relevant back then– was that my mother found a small pin, the sort of thing that a man would wear on his lapel.”

  Her friends leaned forward, their eyes full of curiosity. “One of those small, round pins?” Naya asked, tucking her dark, curls impatiently behind one ear.

  “Exactly. At the time, my mother didn’t think anything of it. She’d just put it into the pocket of her apron and continued cleaning up. She’d found it right after one of the duke’s big, super-secret parties and it was behind one of the heavy chairs in his study. She accidentally brought it home that night but put it on the counter to remind herself to return it the next day.”

  “Ooh, I’m sensing a mystery here!” Cassy scooted forward on her elbows. “What did the pin look like?”

  Ella tilted her head slightly, picturing the pin in her mind. “It was a brass or gold pin with the image of a hand with a flame coming out of the open palm.”

  Naya nodded eagerly. “Okay, so…what did it represent?”

  Ella sighed, twisting her water glass slightly. “I don’t know. But when I was in Africa doing that story on teens and pregnancy…”

  “The one that got you a Gemstone Award?” Cassy asked.

  Ella shrugged and waved her hand impatiently, dismissing the award. “Yeah, but…”

  Naya laughed, elbowing Cassy. “Don’t you love the way she shrugs off one of the most coveted awards in journalism? Every reporter all over the world would love to win a Gemstone and yet, our Ella just shrugs the award off, as if it were a pointless trophy.”

  Cassy nodded, grinning as they both stared at their long-time friend. “She probably doesn’t even display it.”

  Cassy and Naya turned to look at Ella who immediately blushed. “Okay, so it might be stuffed into a box somewhere,” she admitted. “I haven’t unpacked from my last move yet.”

  Cassy rolled her eyes. “You moved two years ago!”

  “In her defense, she’s rarely home,” Naya pointed out. “Not all of us can be globe trotters.”

  Ella snorted. “Hardly. I travel, but just so that I can do my job.” And yet, after several years of living out of a duffel bag, Ella had to admit that the idea of staying in one place for a while held some appeal.

  As soon as that thought occurred, she banished it. She was a reporter and had to go where the stories were. Ella worked hard to help people understand how an injustice that was happening in one area of the world was relevant to the rest of the world. Everyone needed to help resolve these issues. So far, her stories had helped small towns all over the world build bridges, schools, doctor’s offices, and police forces. By bringing the needs of one small corner of the globe to international attention, Ella had seen wonderful things happen.

  She’d also seen horrible things, like tragic, devastating wars and desperate starvation caused by merciless despots. She’d seen people and animals dying due to dehydration after a ruler disrupted waterways, causing impossible cruelty and environmental devastation. But she’d also seen strangers pull together to battle those brutal forces. She’d seen miracles happen when peo
ple became aware of an injustice in the world. And she’d seen villages rise up against a seemingly impenetrable force – all because they knew that something or someone had to be stopped, changed, or fixed.

  So no, Ella couldn’t stay in one place. She loved traveling and making a difference in the world. Ella was good at her job and it renewed her faith in humanity. Her job was her identity and it was what made her get up every morning with excitement and purpose.

  “I am so proud of everything that you write,” Cassy said, lifting her hand to call the waiter. “But right now, I think we need dessert. I haven’t had dessert in months! And I miss our late night ice cream binges.”

  Ella laughed and clapped her hands. “Everything?” she asked, her eyes sparkling as she looked at her two friends.

  Naya grinned, nodding fervently. “Absolutely! We ordered salads for lunch!”

  The waiter arrived, looking delightfully solicitous. “Are you ladies ready for the check?”

  Cassy laughed and looked up at the waiter. “We’d like everything on your dessert menu,” she told him.

  The waiter looked stumped for a moment. “You’d like to look at the dessert menu?” he offered.

  Ella shook her head, offering a grin that transformed her features. In a flash, Ella changed from a serious but beautiful woman, to a mischievous elf, eyes sparkling and her up-tilted nose squinching slightly. “No, we’d like to order one of everything on the dessert menu, please.”

  The waiter included each of the ladies in a confused stare. Obviously, no one had ever ordered every dessert the restaurant offered before. But for Naya, Ella, and Cassy, this was a tradition. They were good about their eating habits most of the time. But when they got together, they didn’t care about calories. They loved having a bit of freedom from the stress of their regular lives. Ordering decadent desserts was a small rebellion against the decorum their lives normally required.

  The waiter snapped his mouth closed, then nodded and bowed. “Right away, ladies,” and he smiled as he walked away to put in their order.