Read Online My Seductive Innocent by Julie Johnstone - Free Book Online Page A

shiny reputation isn’t tarnished.”
    “I just got here!” Mrs. Dalton exclaimed. “I was dragged out of my house by Mr. Dalton to help you , you ingrate.”
    Sophia eyed Mrs. Dalton for a long moment and could feel the seams of her temper coming undone. “If you don’t leave this instant I’m going to give you a punch you’ll never forget.”
    “You don’t look like a lady, and you certainly don’t act like one!” Mrs. Dalton huffed and stomped out of the room, shoes squeaking as she went.
    The door slammed shut behind her. Frank grinned. “Well played, Sophia.”
    She clenched her fists at her sides with the realization that she’d done exactly what Frank had hoped she would. She’d angered Mrs. Dalton and kicked her out. Now the woman could not even vouch for the fact that nothing untoward had happened, but she could certainly tell everyone that Sophia had been in a room with a half-naked man. Sophia hated Frank with a new fervor.
    On the bed, Nathan didn’t flinch at the noise, which made Sophia’s stomach clench. He must be in so much pain he was oblivious to what was happening around him.
    Frank threw his arm around her shoulder and brought her to his side, making her lose her grip on the rag she’d been holding against Nathan’s shoulder. The cloth fell to the floor and a slow trickle of blood immediately started from the wound.
    “Let me go, Frank,” she growled.
    His fingers curled around her arm as he jostled her a bit. “I always knew keeping ye with me after ye killed yer mum was the right thing to do.”
    Sophia ground her teeth. “It’s true she died after birthing me, but I suspect that’s because you didn’t take good care of her, nor pay for a proper physician to tend to her.”
    “Watch yer tongue, Sophia, else I’ll tug it right out of yer mouth. Wouldn’t be so sassy then, would ye?” He cocked his head a bit. “Ye don’t know what yer talking about, anyway. Not as if yer mum could tell ye.”
    “No,” she replied, struggling not to rail at him. “But Eleanor’s mother said it was so.”
    Frank made a derisive sound in his throat. “She just hates me cause I picked yer mum over her so many years ago, and she ended up married to a righteous arse. I bet he’s as fun in bed as watchin’ paint dry.”
    Sophia barely held in a contemptuous snort. She doubted Mrs. Cooper had spent her years pining over Frank. The lady had been her mother’s best friend, just as her daughter was Sophia’s best friend. Mrs. Cooper hated Frank, that was true enough, but her loathing had everything to do with what a terrible husband he had been to Sophia’s mother.
    Frank gave her a squeeze and said, “I think to make ye a duchess and me the father of a duchess. No more of this scraping by day to day, hardly knowing if I’ll be able to eat or drink.”
    “You cannot make a member of the ton marry someone like me,” Sophia said, feeling the shame of being his daughter from the soles of her feet all the way to the roots of her hair. She yanked her arm out of his grasp. She knew exactly what sort of drink Frank was worried about, and it certainly wasn’t tea. The man didn’t have a single concern for his children, but God forbid he not be able to afford his ale.
    “He’ll marry ye. Men like him have a burdensome code of honor.”
    “You are a fool!” she nearly screamed. “He’s not going to feel pity and succumb to marrying me simply because you orchestrated my ruination.”
    Frank’s face twisted into a scowl. “He will.”
    She could practically see the creaky, old, good-for-nothing wheels turning in Frank’s head. Her own head started to pound viciously. “Frank—” she took a long, slow breath and tried to find a little bit of calm so she could get through his thick skull “—don’t try to make him marry me. You’ll end up with nothing.” She prayed that for once he would be reasonable.
    He jutted his unshaved chin out. “He’s gonna marry ye. He’s a gentleman,