Pleasures of a Tempted Lady by Jennifer Haymore

one saw him for two days after that, when he returned to the deck, pretending like none of it had ever happened.
    That incident had only been the beginning. It had been bad enough with the drunken rages and beatings when Sarah had been alive. But afterward… Meg shuddered again.
    She bent forward and ruffled Jake’s soft brown hair. He was safe now, and she’d keep him that way.
    “If there’s one thing I’ve ever done right in my lifetime,” she told Jessica, “it was taking him away from that man.”
    The door swung open, jolting Meg’s attention. Even Jake’s head riveted toward the sound.
    It was Serena and the earl, followed by one of the maids. Serena smiled, first at Jake. “Jake, Molly is here with me. She wants to take you into the kitchen for a sweet. Would you like that?”
    Jake didn’t answer. He stared at her, then looked at Meg, his blue eyes flaring with panic, and gave a vigorous shake of his head.
    Meg tried to give him a reassuring smile. “I could go with you,” she murmured. “Would you like that?”
    The earl cleared his throat. “There are a few things we’d like to discuss with you, Meg.”
    She glanced sharply at him. The way he and Serena stood side by side, it looked like they did intend to have a serious discussion with her. One they didn’t want Jake present for.
    She didn’t want him present for it, either. But being away from him made her anxious—even when he was safe asleep in her bed and she was awake somewhere else in thehouse. Whenever she was apart from him, she worried. He felt the same. This was a new world for him, and his fears tended to overwhelm him unless Meg was within viewing distance.
    Jake was only six years old, but he understood a great deal, not the least of which was why they’d escaped from his father. She sighed and looked up at her brother-in-law. “Jake would prefer to stay here. Whatever we need to discuss can be said in his presence.”
    The earl leveled a look at Jake, who ignored him, having already gone back to his puzzle. He tended to focus so intensely on his current obsession that he usually didn’t listen to the drone of adults, anyhow.
    Serena glanced at her husband and nodded. “Very well.” After turning to dismiss Molly, she took the seat beside Meg on the opposite side of Jessica. The earl sat on a cream-striped silk chair across from them.
    Her brother-in-law opened his mouth to speak, but Meg held up her hand. “Please,” she said. “I believe I know what you’re going to say. This situation is truly impossible, and it has been horrible of me to disrupt all of your lives this way—”
    “Nonsense.” Serena sounded cross. “Really, Meg. Don’t be absurd. We’re your family .”
    Meg clasped her hands in her lap and looked down at them, watching her knuckles turn white. She chose her words carefully so as not to upset Jake—if he was listening. “The truth of the matter is that I cannot stay in London. I’m positive he’ll be coming for us. I can’t allow that to happen.”
    Serena nodded thoughtfully. “Jonathan and I have spoken about this. We want to help you.” She leaned forwardin her chair and spoke earnestly. “We are so happy you’ve come back to us. We all wish we could keep you here, have you close, so that we can be sure you’re all right. We want you with us so badly. But the fact of the matter is that you’re in danger here in London, and we cannot continue to selfishly keep you here.”
    It was a relief, really. Serena and Lord Stratford already understood why she needed to go away.
    “I should go to Ireland,” Meg said. “It is where I had originally planned to go, before Captain Langley—”
    Serena shook her head. “No,” she said, her voice flat. “It’s too far away. Plus, the Donovan side of the family was never happy with Father for leaving Ireland to begin with, don’t you remember?”
    “Of course, but I don’t think they’d turn me away.” Meg had met her grandparents and