Bound by Darcy: Sinful Secrets, #3

By Emma East

The final book in the Sinful Secrets series sees Darcy face the consequences of his actions.

Elizabeth's life was turning around and then Darcy caught her in a scheme that crushed whatever feelings she held for him. Confined in a gilded cage not of her own making, it's time to unravel the man she's irrevocably tied to before she loses her heart to him again. However, before she can think to begin, the Bennet family faces a terrible test. To pass it, Elizabeth must lean on the man she despises.

Darcy knows he betrayed Elizabeth and he must face the consequences before he can obtain the one thing he wants more than anything: Elizabeth's heart.

Bound by Darcy is the third and final book in the Sinful Secrets trilogy, a Pride & Prejudice variation to heat up your night. Bring your smelling salts and mind the steam!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emma East
• Release date: Jan 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215912423

Emma East

Emma East loves three things: Darcy, Darcy, and Darcy. Writing since her teenage years, she delights in putting characters into steamy situations, creating a need for smelling salts for unwary readers.

Book preview

chapter one

A wave of fear overtook Elizabeth. She saw the shock and anger on the faces of her aunt and uncle. Time seemed to pause as the air thickened, charged with the tension that rolled off them in waves. And then, it happened—her aunt’s sharp, Lizzy! sliced through the air like a blade, and Elizabeth realized she had no chance of escaping unscathed from their seething rage. She closed her eyes and braced for their wrath.

Instead, Darcy released Elizabeth and faced her aunt and uncle with a smile worthy of the stage. It was presumptuous of me, but I couldn’t restrain my joy. Elizabeth—Miss Bennet agreed to become my wife. His smile grew when he looked at Elizabeth, frozen to the spot. I am the happiest man alive.

Mrs. Gardiner gasped in surprise, her eyes widening with joy as she looked back and forth between the two of them. Really, Lizzy? Is it true?

Elizabeth couldn’t form a word. No one would expect this reputable, wealthy man who moved along with the best of men to lie with a mouth full of spun sugar. Affection filled his eyes as he looked at his supposed fiancé. The Gardiners exclaimed in delight, with Mrs. Gardiner even shedding tears of joy and Mr. Gardiner offering his congratulations. While they were properly conservative, a kiss between an engaged couple was still deemed pure in their estimation.

Mr. Gardiner tugged at the lapels of his jacket, harrumphing while as his cheeks reddened with the pleasure of an excellent match for his niece. With a playful shake of his finger, he said, I will overlook this out of love for my niece, but I won’t be so kind in the future.

Of course. I apologize for any slight to yourself or your niece, Darcy said with a low bow. Mr. Gardiner’s pride at being treated to such respect by a man as esteemed as Darcy made his entire face light up. Darcy rose. It will not happen again. Might we all enjoy a celebratory drink in honor of this moment?

Should we invite your sister? Mrs. Gardiner asked.

I’ll go request her presence, Darcy said with a fond look at Elizabeth.

Their discussion, the clatter of glasses, the door opening. More exclamations, congratulations, and loud chatter. The wash of it was like a buzzing noise in her brain. Everything was all so… very… far away.

I never even suspected, Mrs. Gardiner whispered, tweaking her elbow. Elizabeth responded with a shaky smile, finding a small glass clutched in her hands. The burn of alcohol singed her nose.

How did it come to be there? How was she here?

Was it too late to change the course of this awful night?

She met Darcy’s eyes over the rim of his glass of port. You’ll forgive me, he said.

Elizabeth turned away.

Is there some reason you won’t look at me?

She wouldn’t look at him? After the farce which had just taken place, that was what he was concerned about? She glanced toward the door, their relatives having left briefly. Mr. Gardiner wanted to call their carriage after the satisfactory night. Mrs. Gardiner had asked Georgiana to borrow a novel and left with her, giving Elizabeth a wink. Furious, she spat out, Pray tell, does it offend you?

A little, he said, his glass clinking against the top of his desk when he set it down. We only have a moment before your relatives return. Won’t you speak civilly to me?

She turned to the door. I don’t have anything to say.

I find that hard to believe from you.

She paused, her hand landing on the cold metal doorknob. You don’t understand me at all.

And then she walked away, her footsteps being muffled by the silence in the room, leaving behind the man who had betrayed her.

chapter two

Some time before…

The name his steward announced to him jolted Darcy out of the world of Pemberley as seen through its ledgers and into London again. Who did you say had arrived?

It’s Mr. Anderson, the steward answered. He’s come to visit the young miss.

What did he want with Darcy’s sister?

Darcy’s eyes narrowed. Bring him here first, please.

The steward bowed and retreated. Darcy drummed his fingers on the desk, glancing at the clock on the mantle, wondering about this social visit from an acquaintance his sister had little in common with. It was good Georgiana was engaged with her music practice, so if Anderson proved to be a nuisance, he could turn him away.

However, the likelihood of him turning away the gentleman expanded as he called up his recent disappointment with Elizabeth, and how he attributed most of it to the flatteries of this false gentleman. A gentleman who would put his wife to work was no gentleman in Darcy’s view. He only wished she were here now.

See, Elizabeth—while he charms you, he preys on my little sister. Who is the better man again?

The steward returned shortly, and Darcy schooled his bitter expression while the guest was shown inside his study.

Mr. Anderson greeted him with a smile. I didn’t realize you were here. Your servant initially claimed you were out.

When I learned it was you, I was curious. Darcy gestured to the chair across from his desk. He did not reveal why he was turning away all guests, and Mr. Anderson was discreet enough not to enquire as he sat down. The chair groaned under Darcy’s back when he leaned back, clasping his hands in front of him while he looked at the man who desired to be his rival. What brings you here today?

Mr. Anderson held up a package. My newest acquisition. It is fresh from the binders, and I believed your sister would be interested, so I brought it as a gift. I’m gifting several more to other ladies of my acquaintance this week.

So you propose to make my sister part of your marketing scheme?

Barking a laugh, he responded, How cruel you are! Miss Darcy expressed an interest in the happenings of my humble business, so I thought to myself, ‘who better to gift a new volume?’

Well, there is no doubt that she loves books, Darcy said begrudgingly. He couldn’t fault the logic, and his experience of Anderson told him he was an honorable gentleman, so he didn’t see any reason to make a spectacle of the man. Who is the author?

Mr. Anderson’s flinch was small, but Darcy was not fooled.

Miss Bennet, actually. She inked a contract for three volumes and, based on our initial assessment, I can see us doing business together for a long time.

That is… Unexpected. Shocking. Good news, he finished softly. He studied the book in Anderson’s hand and abruptly decided. My sister doesn’t like her music practice to be disturbed. I will give her the book and your regards, Mr. Anderson.

Darcy waited until he heard the front door shut behind Anderson before he picked up the package left on his desk. Feeling a pinprick of something like guilt, because he had not been truly aware of Elizabeth’s devotion to the written word, he opened the package and ran his finger over the cover.

He did not mean to read it, initially, but he found himself looking up sometime later when the door to his study opened. Darcy blinked, realizing the room had grown dark with the passing of the day.

Georgiana stood before his desk with a quizzical expression. Are you coming to dinner, Fitzwilliam?

A glance at his clock showed him it was half-past five, when they usually had dinner. They were both of the mind it was better to wake early, so they arranged dinners for earlier in the evening.

Yes, I apologize. I hope you did not wait for me long.

It’s so unusual for you to be late, so I stepped out after only a few minutes. Georgiana rounded his desk with the ease of being his favored, beloved sister and tilted her head at the book in his lap. What are you reading?

It is Elizabeth—that is, Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s novel.

Georgiana’s eyes rounded in surprise. She wrote a novel? How exciting! And it has kept you here past the dinner hour, therefore it must be good.

It’s quite entertaining, he agreed.

Georgiana studied the book with increased interest, blue eyes gleaming. She’s had it professionally bound, too. What a magnificent gift she’s given you.

He winced. Actually, Mr. Anderson dropped off the book for you; he’s recently signed Miss Bennet to his publishing house as an author. Knowing you are friends, he wished to give you the gift—and I rudely intercepted it. Forgive me.

She laughed lightly. As long as you let me read it after you finish it, you are forgiven. She eyed him as he pressed a bookmark into the pages and closed the book. So it is merely entertaining? she prodded.

Read it yourself. I do not wish to spoil you.

How unlike you, she said. You usually give me a hint of your feelings on the author’s description of people or upon the plots or the language. Do you not have anything to say?

I have much to say. In fact, it is unique to Miss Bennet. You will understand once you read it.

My curiosity knows no bounds!

Darcy finished the book directly after dinner and passed it to his sister without a word in the drawing room afterward. She immediately opened it and he settled into the comfortable, quiet atmosphere with his drink of choice and pondered how foolish he had been.

At its heart, Elizabeth’s novel was about love. Love between two people who, for various reasons, had determined that they were not fit to receive or give love. The brilliance of her characters, their illogical reasonings, and their support of their choices were described in an intelligent, diverting manner so each character was both charming and refreshing. There were fools within the novel, and they were foolish indeed with their attitudes and boorish manners, not recognizing the effect their uncouth actions had on the people around them.

She painted broad strokes of the countryside, town, and even of the seaside in such a way that the reader’s mind could draw up the portrait she painted.

He laughed with the characters and at them, in turn. He cringed at their missteps and the consequences of their actions. Finally he rejoiced with the progress, though no consummation yet, of the main characters’ love.

She had so expertly weaved together her story and characters that by the time he put down the book, he was already fraught with anticipation of how their story would continue in the next. How would they overcome the obstacles in their way to recognize they were meant to be together?

As he read on and on, he could almost imagine Elizabeth sitting beside him, telling him the story herself. With her ingenious turn of phrase, her entertaining characters surely drawn from her life in Hertfordshire—among others, he recognized pompous Sir William Lucas and the ever calm, always smiling Jane Bingley. They were so vivid and written so lovingly, it was impossible to deny Elizabeth had a deep fondness for them.

As well, the themes she weaved in these black and white pages spoke to him, revealing the mysteries of her mind to him in a way conversation likely never could. Her assessments of the ton and London