Baron Read online

  Joanna Shupe’s Wicked Deceptions Series Is the Talk of the Ton!

  The Lady Hellion

  “A beautiful and complex love story featuring a hero who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and a heroine with a penchant for saving the day. Shupe is very talented, walking a fine line between Quint’s demons and Sophie’s charming, almost madcap character. These two sparkle in this wildly entertaining story.”

  —Sarah MacLean, the Washington Post

  “Shupe invites readers to sit back and enjoy the terrific chemistry between the unconventional Lord Quint and the exasperating Lady Sophie in the conclusion to the Wicked Deceptions trilogy. With emotional intensity, poignancy, passion, and murder, they won’t be disappointed.”

  —RT Book Reviews, 4.5 stars

  “Sophie’s independent nature makes her a delightful protagonist. . . The romance is delectable as sensual love scenes balance the well-woven mystery subplot.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “I enjoyed this series quite a lot, and am looking forward to seeing what Shupe writes in the future.”

  —Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

  “The Lady Hellion is a fabulous, wonderful book! Sophie is a superb heroine, the kind little girls dream of being. It is also refreshing that Quint is neither a rake nor a rogue, but he is most definitely a brooding hero, and it is totally relevant to the story arc. The Lady Hellion is built upon a very clever premise, and Ms. Shupe crafts an exciting and meticulously researched story fraught with suspense and startling plot twists combined with frissons of sexual tension and a beautiful, tender love story. And what an ending! Absolutely terrific!”

  —Fresh Fiction

  The Harlot Countess

  “With her knowledge of the modes and morals of the Regency era, Shupe delivers a well-crafted novel in this second installment of her Wicked Deceptions series. Steady pacing, delightful characters, and an ability to build steamy sexual tension make for a lively love story.”

  —RT Book Reviews, 4.5 stars

  “A good story well told. This is a fun series.”

  —Romance Reviews Today

  “An intriguing tale, The Harlot Countess, the second book in author Joanna Shupe’s Wicked Deceptions series, is an emotion-packed, sexy historical romance that will keep readers captivated right up to the very end. Angst, heartache, vengeance, blackmail, secrets, miscommunication, passion, forgiveness, romance, and love all intertwine in a story that readers will not soon forget.”

  —Romance Junkies

  The Courtesan Duchess

  “The powerful passion in this riveting tale of betrayal and forgiveness will knock your socks off!”

  —Sabrina Jeffries

  “Joanna Shupe’s compelling story of an estranged couple brims with emotion and sensuality.”

  —Miranda Neville

  “Heartfelt . . . This original and alluring novel is a very promising beginning to Shupe’s career.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Shupe’s debut Wicked Deceptions tale is passionate and seductive. Her carefully drawn characters and their nicely crafted, poignant love story engage the readers’ emotions and will have everyone anticipating the next book in the series.”

  —RT Book Reviews, 4 stars

  “Shupe launches her romance-writing career with a polished Regency-set historical that successfully merges engaging characters, steamy sensuality, and a dash of danger into one captivating romance.”

  —Booklist

  “A lively story . . . A naïve, desperate heroine and a thoughtless, rakehell hero mature delightfully as they come into their own in this steamy debut that is the first of a back-to-back trilogy and skillfully sets the stage for more stories to come.”

  —Library Journal

  “From its first naughty page, be prepared to be swept away by Joanna Shupe’s The Courtesan Duchess. Julia will win your heart, and hero Nick’s, too! This skillful debut reads sure and true, and I can’t wait to see what Joanna dreams up next in the series.”

  —Maggie Robinson

  “One of the best debuts I’ve read in years. Joanna Shupe’s The Courtesan Duchess is fast-paced, compelling, and super sexy. You won’t be able to put it down.”

  —Valerie Bowman

  “Joanna Shupe is a wonderful new voice in historical romance. The Courtesan Duchess takes readers on a steamy ride from Venice to London, proving that some happily-ever-afters are worth waiting for.”

  —Jennifer McQuiston

  Books by Joanna Shupe

  Wicked Deceptions

  The Courtesan Duchess

  The Harlot Countess

  The Lady Hellion

  The Knickerbocker Club

  Tycoon

  (novella)

  Magnate

  Baron

  Mogul

  (coming February 2017)

  Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

  BARON

  The Knickerbocker Club

  JOANNA SHUPE

  ZEBRA BOOKS

  KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

  http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  Table of Contents

  Joanna Shupe’s Wicked Deceptions Series Is the Talk of the Ton!

  Also by

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Teaser chapter

  ZEBRA BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2016 by Joanna Shupe

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

  If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

  Zebra and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

  ISBN: 978-1-4201-3986-0

  eISBN-13: 978-1-4201-3987-7

  eISBN-10: 1-4201-3987-8

  For Lin, one of the kindest and

  most generous people on the planet.

  Thanks for keeping me on my toes.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This book was so much fun to write. Some of you may remember Will, the heroine’s stuffy older brother from Magnate. After I finished that first book, I couldn’t wait to give this handsome railroad baron his own happily ever after.

  One of the reasons I enjoyed writing Baron was because its leading lady is a medium. At the end of the Civil War, there was a sharp rise in the interest in spiritualism in America. (Mary Todd Lincoln even hosted a séance in the White House.) Few career options were available to women at the time, so spiritualism beca
me a popular way for ladies to earn a living. And with so many young sons and husbands having died during the war, you can imagine how lucrative this career was for some.

  I owe a huge thank-you to my pal Todd Robbins, co-creator of the Off-Broadway show Play Dead and author of The Modern Con-Man: How to Get Something for Nothing. Todd is a walking, talking encyclopedia of spiritualism facts and trivia, and I picked his brain for hours when writing this book. All of Ava’s tricks resulted from these conversations.

  A Gilded Age series set in New York would not be complete without touching on politics and Tammany Hall. As a political organization that played a major role in New York elections and government for almost two hundred years, Tammany is most famous for its unparalleled corruption. Thanks to Jon Grinspan for his talks about the tactics used by political parties in the late nineteenth century, which helped me immensely in writing the campaign details for Baron.

  My books are always made better with the help of others. Michele Mannon spent a lovely lunch with me atop a Pennsylvania mountain where we worked out the details on Will. JB Schroeder poked holes in my plot over pizza. Lin Gavin dished up her awesome homemade pancakes while we discussed character arcs. Diana Quincy offered suggestions for improvements over brunch. (I guess I think best when food is involved?) Thanks to all these ladies. I love you all!

  Thank you to Peter Senftleben for tweets that always make me laugh and for being a kick-ass editor; the fabulous Jane Nutter and the rest of the team at Kensington for their tremendous efforts on my stories; Laura Bradford for her all-around awesomeness; Sonali Dev for generously sharing her wisdom and wit; and all my writer pals—the Dashing Duchesses, the Lucky 13s, NJRW, and the Violet Femmes—for the wine, laughs, and support.

  A huge thank-you to my husband and daughters, who are more patient and understanding than any writer deserves. Love always to my mother, who adores romance just as much as I do, and the rest of my crazy family for their unwavering support.

  Lastly, but most importantly, thank you to the readers and fans of historical romance. I am so grateful for each and every one of you!

  Chapter One

  There’s an honest graft, and I’m an example of how it works. I might sum up the whole thing by sayin’: “I seen my opportunities and I took ’em.”

  —George Washington Plunkitt,

  Gilded Age New York state senator,

  member of the Tammany Hall political machine

  Atlantic Theater, New York City

  May 1888

  William Sloane did not believe in the ability to commune with the spirit world. Hell, he didn’t even believe there was a spirit world.

  Yet here he sat, inside a ramshackle theater in the Tenderloin district, watching this audacious spectacle. Madam Zolikoff, she called herself. The mystifying medium who could commune with spirits and perform extraordinary feats. The woman was the worst actress he’d ever seen—and Will had seen plenty.

  Eyes closed, she swayed and waved her hands, all while chanting. The man across from her, one she’d pulled up onstage, stared, enthralled, as Madam attempted to speak to his dead mother. The electric lights overhead flickered, and the audience tittered.

  “Ah! I think we are close!” she announced loudly in an appalling Russian accent.

  Will nearly rolled his eyes. Was anyone really buying this charade?

  Shifting in his uncomfortable seat, he took in the meager audience. About twenty men and women, all average-looking, a far cry from the extravagant crowd he usually associated with. No diamond tiaras or ostrich feathers here, just derby hats and plain bonnets. But every pair of eyes was trained on the young woman working the stage.

  She was attractive, he supposed, if one preferred liars and cheats, which he most definitely did not. Still, her pale blond hair showed off her striking light brown eyes. Straight, delicate nose. High cheekbones. Arching brows. Full lips painted a scandalous red.

  He liked those lips. Quite a lot, in fact. If he were dead, those lips alone might bring him back.

  “I hear her!” A steady rapping reverberated around the room. An accomplice, no doubt, yet the audience gasped.

  “Mr. Fox, your mother is here with us now. What would you like to ask her?”

  The man onstage asked simple questions for the next fifteen minutes, with Madam Zolikoff “interpreting” the dead mother’s answers. Will absently rubbed his stomach, anger burning over this performance, that she would take advantage of someone’s grief in such a profoundly fraudulent way. When Will’s own mother had died, he’d fervently wished for something—anything—to bring her back. Nothing had, however, and he’d been left in a cold house with an even colder man.

  Madam Zolikoff prattled on, regaining his attention. Had this woman no shame? No empathy for the heartbreak that went along with losing a loved one? For the first time since he sat down, he looked forward to the confrontation with her.

  He planned to shut the medium down. Run her out of Manhattan, if necessary, because she was standing in the way of something greater, a different sort of power than he possessed now, but one of greater import. A power he would not fall short of achieving.

  John Bennett, a former New York State senator and current gubernatorial candidate, had asked Will to partner on the ticket as lieutenant governor. It was something Will’s father had always wanted, to wield political influence, yet he’d died before his political career could take wing. Now Will would be the Sloane achieving that goal—and dancing on his father’s grave after he and Bennett won.

  But John Bennett had a weakness, one by the name of Madam Zolikoff. Seemed the madam had dug her hooks into Bennett, and the candidate would not listen to reason regarding the dangers this presented. But Will wasn’t about to allow her to jeopardize Bennett’s political career—or his own. They could not afford a scandal six months before the election.

  When the performance finally ended, Will didn’t bother clapping or stamping his feet like the other patrons. He rose, turned on his heel, and headed straight for the door he’d learned would take him backstage.

  No one stopped him. More than a few curious glances were thrown his way and he tugged his derby lower to obscure his face. He’d run Northeast Railroad for the last thirteen years and came from one of the most prominent families in New York. The name Sloane was as well known as Astor, Stuyvesant, and Van Rensselaer. Consequently, Will had never shied from public attention, but he’d rather not be recognized here.

  For several minutes, he cut through the long hallways in the bowels of the theater. Now at the door to her dressing room, he knocked. A slide of a lock and then the door opened to reveal a brunette woman in a black shirtwaist and skirt, the same costume she’d worn on stage. Her lips were still painted a deep red. He inclined his head ever so slightly. “Madam Zolikoff.”

  “Come in, please.” Her voice was deep and husky, a sultry tone more suited to a bedroom than a stage. Thankfully, there was no trace of that ludicrous Russian accent she’d used in front of the crowd. Perhaps this conversation would not be as difficult as he’d feared.

  She stepped aside. “I’ve been expecting you, Mr. Sloane.”

  No surprise she knew his face, but had she noticed him in the audience? Three steps brought him inside her dressing room, if one could call a space no bigger than a cupboard a “room.” Not enough square footage existed here to allow for more than the small table and chair already in place. A mirror hung on the wall above the table, and a blond wig rested on a stand atop said table. With nowhere to go, he folded his hands behind his back.

  She glided around him and lowered into the sole chair, facing away from him, and reached for a cloth. He watched in the mirror as she slowly swiped the cloth over her mouth to remove the lip color. She didn’t rush and Will had plenty of time to study her mouth. He highly suspected the display another type of performance, one designed to throw him off balance.

  “Is there another name I may call you, other than your stage name?”

  “No.”


  “I feel ridiculous calling you Madam Zolikoff.”

  “That is your problem, not mine.” Finished with her cloth, she dropped the scrap to the table and caught his gaze in the mirror. “We are not friends, Mr. Sloane, so let’s not pretend otherwise. I know why you are here.”

  “Is that so?” He hadn’t expected her to be so forthright. In his mind, she’d been meek and frightened, concerned over the unpleasantness a man in his position could bring down on a woman in her position. But this woman seemed neither meek nor frightened. “And why am I here?”

  “You want to scare me away from John. Get him away from my evil clutches.” She wriggled her fingers menacingly on this last sentence. “How’s that?”

  “Good. This saves us both time. Now you may agree to never see Bennett again, stop bilking him out of hundreds of dollars, and stay out of his life forever.”

  “Bilking him?” Her lip curled, drawing Will’s attention back to her mouth, damn it. “I’ve got news for you, mugwump, I’ve earned every dollar providing services to your friend—and not those kind of services, either. John and I are strictly business.”