To Love a Thief by Darcy Burke Page A

if she’d ever hear from him again. Papa had always said her mouth would get her into trouble if she wasn’t careful, but she’d never imagined it would be because she’d kissed someone. She still inwardly cringed when she thought of her daring and Daniel’s subsequent departure.
    She entered the sitting room to find Aldridge standing near the fireplace, his forehead creased and his mouth drawn into a pinched frown.
    “Miss Renwick.” He said her name without an ounce of pleasantry. Indeed, it sounded rather like an epithet.
    Jocelyn’s shoulders bunched up as tension coiled through her frame. “My lord.”
    “I’ve come to discuss your ridiculous allegations regarding my property, as well as your scandalous relationship with Lord Carlyle.”
    Scandalous ? Oh no, what had Daniel told him ? She worked to keep from blushing of embarrassment and instead focused on the first thing the earl had said. “We both know it’s my property, including the watch fob you were wearing yesterday. It belonged to my father.”
    He flushed scarlet and his eyes narrowed. “You are a pest, do you know that, Miss Renwick? Like a rat that continues to invade one’s scullery.”
    Jocelyn was rendered momentarily speechless, which was quite a feat. She found her anger—and her tongue—and said, “Insult me all you like. We both know you stole my things. And more importantly, Daniel knows it too.” She tried to bite back the words. She hadn’t meant to reveal Daniel’s support, but the earl’s rudeness had provoked her reckless tongue. Again. She tried not to cringe.
    Aldridge strode across the sitting room and closed the door. A chill snaked down Jocelyn’s spine. He stalked toward her, stopping just in front of her. “What precisely did you tell him?” he asked softly.
    She notched up her chin, looking for the courage that had suddenly ebbed from her frame. “That you saw fit to have our town house ransacked the other day.”
    He didn’t look the least perturbed by her revelation, merely cocked his head to the side. “If he’s mounting evidence against anyone, I’d beware; it might be you. That’s why I came here today. Carlyle is fully aware of how I obtained these items. He’s the one who put me in touch with the fence who sold them to me.”
    Jocelyn gaped at his smug smile. It couldn’t be true. Daniel had wanted to help her, certainly not implicate her. He’d seemed so excited last night when she’d given him the knife. But he hadn’t sent any news since then. And there was the troubling way he’d retreated from their embrace. A bead of doubt wedged itself into her mind and took hold.
    The earl’s mouth remained curved up in that nauseating smile, and his eyes glinted with glee. “Carlyle has kept all of his old contacts. I know he maintains a relationship with at least one fence—a woman named Odette who owns a flash house in St. Giles.”
    “Relationship”? What sort of relationship? Was that why he’d pulled away from her last night? Jocelyn felt sick. All she could think to say was, “Daniel was a constable.”
    “And like so many of our police force, he’s corrupt.” He shook his head and held up his palm while lifting his shoulder. “It’s simply the way of things, gel.”
    Jocelyn’s knees weakened, but she refused to show her disappointment. She couldn’t believe Daniel would do anything Aldridge was saying, but how well did she really know him? Not at all, she realized.
    “Now, if I were you, I’d take myself back to my little village in Kent and forget about all of this nonsense. I’m feeling benevolent enough to give you the watch fob. I always found it a trifle mundane for my taste, anyway.” He withdrew the treasure from his pocket, and she thrust out her hand to accept it. When the weight filled her palm, she closed her fingers around it and just barely kept herself from punching Aldridge in the face with it.
    “I’d also advise you not to mention this conversation to anyone,