The Wicked Beginning: A Prequel: The League of Rogues, #13

By Lauren Smith

A wicked duke and his four friends plot the abduction of an innocent debutante out of revenge.

 

Have you ever wondered how the League of Rogues came to be? What events led to the adventure that started it all? This is your exclusive inside peek into the world of the beloved bad boys of the League shortly before their lives are changed forever.

 

*Note: This is a short prequel that ends on a cliffhanger which has a happy ending in the full story Wicked Designs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lauren Smith
• Release date: Sep 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952063374

Book preview

1

London - August 1820

M ust you leave? Emily Parr flopped ungracefully onto the bed in a fashion more becoming of a girl of seven rather than seventeen.

Her mother, Clara, smiled at her as she pulled on a dark-red pelisse and fastened the buttons. She presented an elegant and willowy figure. Emily hoped she would someday be as beautiful as her mother. They shared the same violet eyes and dark-auburn hair.

Yes, my heart. Your father and I need to have some time together. You know I don’t like it when he leaves us.

So instead you leave me to go to New York, Emily reminded her. I’ll be coming out soon. What if you miss my first Season?

I would never miss that. I have the most wonderful plans for your debut. I promise to be there. Her mother leaned in and embraced Emily in a fierce hug. You will be fine. Mrs. Danvers will take care of you, and your uncle Albert is here in London if you need him.

Emily winced. Her father’s brother was not a pleasant man. He cared little for his brother’s family. Her mother straightened and started for the door. Something about seeing her mother leave sent a sharp cry of warning through her, almost feverishly, that she should say something.

Mother! I love you! she called out.

A deep sense of dread filled Emily’s chest in that heartbeat of an instant before her mother glanced over her shoulder and replied, I love you too, darling . . .

Emily tried to leave the bed as her mother and the sunny room dissolved around her.

Emily bolted upright in bed with a start. She blinked, breathing hard as a sob caught in her throat. The air was silent, cold, and stagnant around her, and the darkness that was usually a comfort was now oppressive. A light sheen of chilled sweat covered her skin. She trembled.

It was a dream. Just a dream. A dream she’d had so often of late.

What she’d seen in the dream hadn’t happened a year ago when her parents left. Emily had never said goodbye or that she loved her mother and father. No, she had decided that sketching a bunch of silly flowers was more important than making sure to be home when they left for New York. Now she would never have the chance again.

Emily sat up and pulled her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her legs and stared into the dim, moonlit room. It was not her bedchamber that she now slept in, but one of the spare rooms in Uncle Albert’s townhouse.

She had been here almost a year, ever since her parents’ ship had sunk on its return journey from New York.

Everything had changed. She was eighteen now. Her beloved governess, Mrs. Danvers, had taken another post with a little girl in need of a good tutor, and Emily had no choice but to live with her uncle. His London townhouse had perhaps been impressive once, but it was clear that her uncle’s mismanaged investments had made a decent upkeep of the house almost impossible. They had only a butler, a cook, one groom, one maid, and one footman to tend to the large townhouse.

Much of the furniture from her parents’ country home had been sold, and her beloved horse had been auctioned off so her uncle would have money to keep her fed and clothed. She’d had barely a few days to resign herself to losing everything of her old life before Uncle Albert had taken it all away from her.

She’d thought she had two choices: live with Uncle Albert or travel to Yorkshire to live with her mother’s distant cousin, Mr. Garrity. He was placed in charge of Emily’s inheritance, a small but decent-sized fortune that had been put into a trust for her.