My Dear Mr. Ridley (Diamonds of London Book 1) by Sandra Sookoo

Author:Sandra Sookoo [Sookoo, Sandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New Independence Books
Published: 2023-03-13T18:30:00+00:00

What the bloody hell?

She’d stolen a baby? The son she doted upon and paid him—Hudson—to locate after being kidnapped, had been taken by her in the first place?

Hudson struggled to contain his shock and annoyance. “You could have told me earlier.” It sent the case careening into a different direction. Hell, there wasn’t a case any longer.

“I know, but I was afraid, and there was no reason. We are in Rome. No one knows us here. If the marquess wanted his child, why didn’t he try to take him back while I was in England?” Before he could answer, she launched onward, and he steeled himself against her tears. “Yes, I have made mistakes in my life. Perhaps taking that baby was one of them.” The delicate tendons of her throat worked with a swallow. She clenched her hands tightly together in her lap. “But how could I, in good conscience, leave that little babe out in the elements to die because the damned marquess couldn’t be bothered to look after his child—legitimate or otherwise?”

“That is not for me to answer.” There were crimes of all sorts that people perpetrated in this world, and from his way of thinking, a sin was a sin. Why should he overlook her breaking the law when he prosecuted others?

“Don’t you see?” She implored him with luminous eyes and moisture-spiked lashes, her chin quivering. “Hanneford is not a good man.”

Every part of him balked against her story, and for years he’d trained himself not to get involved in the personal lives of either the victims or their families. As best he could, Hudson hardened his heart; he had a job to do. “That doesn’t matter. What you did was a crime. You stole a child.” It still boggled his mind, but then, she had a compassionate heart. Hadn’t he already seen evidence of that?

She scrubbed at the tears on her cheeks. Fire flashed deep in her eyes. Oh, she was well and truly displeased with him. “Then arrest me, Hudson. Take me back to England and into Whitehall.”

“I can’t—”

But she wasn’t done. “Lock me away for being a good person, for caring, for giving that boy a home, for wanting to be a mother so badly my maternal instincts and protection welled when I saw him in that bush.” More tears fell and she pushed out of the chair. “I am proud of what I did, what Nathanial and I did. No one deserved to be parents more than us, and now…” Her voice broke and she put a hand to her cheek. She swayed where she stood. “And now, that compassion, that one tiny decision has led to this!”

Apparently, he was only so strong. His chest tightened at her distress. “Please stop.”

She sliced a hand through the air in frustration. “You are the one who is making me feel like a criminal when you should be hunting down the people the marquess has probably employed. He stole my son. He kidnapped the boy, and no matter what you say, I want Jacob back.

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