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Penny’s life had been charmed, at least she’d always believed so until the age of twelve. Though her parents had little assets, they’d had enough to be comfortable and their home had been rich with affection. After their death, she’s determined to live the rest of her life the way they taught her. With her whole heart. Her first task was to open an orphanage in a poor London neighborhood. One that would give back to the community. The problem? She needed a loan to make her dream come true. And the one man she might be able to ask for such a sum was…
The miserly Earl of Gold.
It filled her with sick dread but what choice did she have? What she never expected was to find herself drawn to such a man. He’s nothing that she ever wanted and everything she wished to stand against. But the longer she knows him, the more she wonders: is there a soft heart under that hard-shiny veneer of gold?
Earl of Gold is a bridge between the first and second round in the Lords of Scandal series. You can find the first round for sale on Amazon:
Duke of Daring
Marquess of Malice
Earl of Exile
Viscount of Vice
Baron of Bad
The second round is coming very soon.
Duke of Decadence
Marquess of Menace
Earl of Infamy
Baron of Blasphemy
Viscount of Vanity
Duke of Debauchery
Earl of Baxter
Earl of Gold
Earl of Gold, that is what society’s elite called Logan, the Earl of Goldthwaite.
The nickname was meant as an insult, he assumed, by the way the ladies curled their upper lip behind their fans or the gentlemen sneered around their glasses of port.
Which perplexed Logan to no end. First because they were all rich. Of course, he was richer than most, he understood that. But a man should think that would mean the elite would respect rather than disdain his wealth.
After all, while they had all inherited from their father’s father’s father, he, on the other hand, had taken a broken title and forged it in gold, lifting himself back up out of the ashes.
Perhaps that was what they disliked, how hard he worked while they leisurely played croquet or whatever ridiculous pursuits they filled their time with. And assumed they were better for it.
Since he’d been a boy, they had all assumed they were better. At school, he’d been shown every single day how much less he was for his father’s debts.
Or mayhap they found him too hard with the shiny outer crust he’d built around himself. But society had helped to form that thick outer layer. Had it not?
He turned his head to the side, cracking his neck, the pop echoing in the empty room.
The Duke of Darlington, who’d been droning on with an endless list of figures, lifted a brow. “I thought you, of all men, would appreciate a thorough accounting of potential sales.”
Logan gave a single bark of laughter, as he looked about the dark interior of the Den of Sins. That’s what the former owners had called this place. He’d yet to decide what he might name it if the sale went through. “I do, indeed.” The place reeked of stale liquor, body odor, and…potential.
Tucked in a seedy corner of the East End near the Docklands, the place made more money than any other endeavor he’d undertaken and his fingers itched to ink the contract that would make this gaming hell his.
Logan gave a cold smile, running his hand through his short blond hair. Perhaps that was the reason they’d disliked him. He’d use any method to make money. He didn’t give a shit about what was respectable. Actually, he didn’t care about most of their rules. They were meant to hurt nearly everyone.
