The year is 1806. Bastard-born jewel thief David Lambert has few rules in his personal life. Never bed the staff, never more than once with the same man, and never, ever, kiss. Attending an aristocratic party and relieving some of the wealthy of their possessions should be easy, but in the space of a weekend, one by one all his rules are shattered by a footman with a secret.<br><br>Jeremy Naylor thought he had found the man of his dreams, the one man who might understand him. Someone passionate, handsome, and respectable. But in one shocking moment his world is destroyed, and he is forced to run for his life.<br><br>Flung together to escape the hangman’s noose, the passion between David and Jeremy burns fiercely. But Jeremy yearns for respectability, and David refuses to admit what lies in his heart. Will they find a way together, or will their differences lead them to the very brink of disaster and the shadow of the gallows?

Thief of Hearts

“Tell me everything,” David demanded.


Charnley gestured to a seat. David sat and watched as his brother sat opposite him, brushed at a speck on his breeches, and cleared his throat. “I need a letter returned to me. It is a letter from someone I hold in high regard, and if it were made public it would ruin both of us.”


“And if you have the letter in your possession, Standish will have no hold over you and you won’t need to hand over the government information he is asking for?”


“Exactly.” Charnley paused and took a deep breath. “However, this move in having Naylor taken gives us an additional complication.”


David scrubbed a hand over his mouth. “You are making an assumption that Standish has connected us. It may be that he simply wants to punish me for rejecting him.”


Charnley nodded. “True, but I think we should be prepared for him to have made the link and simply be tightening the screw.”


Chapter 59