He stopped on the walk leading up to the front door. The parlor drapes were pulled open and for a moment he stopped there to study the happily domestic scene through the parlor window.
His father-in-law sat in his wingback chair and Imogen fluttered about the room with her usual energy. She draped a blanket over her father’s lap and then poured him his claret from a nearby tray.
As she straightened he was granted the view of her slightly swelling belly. Her hand went there. Her fingers curled around the gentle mound protectively, as though assuring herself that their babe was indeed tucked safely below her heart.
Their family was growing and Perry was beside himself with joy.
They had each other and that was more than enough, but now they would soon be blessed with even more. There seemed to be no end to the riches in his life.
Imogen’s gaze alighted on him through the window and a wide smile curved her lips in happy greeting.
He smiled in turn. Lifting his fingers to his lips, he pressed a light kiss there and then carried it to her on the air with a float of his fingers.
Her smile beamed brighter and she waved him in with an eager hand.
Grinning, he hurried forward and entered the house.
About the Author
SOPHIE JORDAN grew up in the Texas hill country where she wove fantasies of dragons, warriors, and princesses. A former high school English teacher, she’s the New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author of more than thirty novels. She now lives in Houston with her family. When she’s not writing, she spends her time overloading on caffeine (lattes preferred), talking plotlines with anyone who will listen (including her kids), and cramming her DVR with anything that has a happily ever after.
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Don’t miss
The Rake Gets Ravished
The next book in New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s Duke Hunt series.
Available from Avon Books
March 2022
By Sophie Jordan
The Duke Hunt Series
The Duke Goes Down
The Rogue Files Series
The Duke Effect
The Virgin and the Rogue
The Duke’s Stolen Bride
This Scot of Mine
The Duke Buys a Bride
The Scandal of It All
While the Duke Was Sleeping
The Devil’s Rock Series
Beautiful Sinner
Beautiful Lawman
Fury on Fire
Hell Breaks Loose
All Chained Up
Historical Romances
All the Ways to Ruin a Rogue
A Good Debutante’s Guide to Ruin
How to Lose a Bride in One Night
Lessons from a Scandalous Bride
Wicked in Your Arms
Wicked Nights with a Lover
In Scandal They Wed
Sins of a Wicked Duke
Surrender to Me
One Night with You
Too Wicked to Tame
Once Upon a Wedding Night
Copyright
the duke goes down. Copyright © 2021 by Sharie Kohler. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.
Digital Edition AUGUST 2021 ISBN: 978-0-06-303564-5
Print Edition ISBN: 978-0-06-303563-8
Cover design by Nadine Badalaty
Cover illustration by Chris Cocozza
Cover images © Getty Images
Avon, Avon & logo, and Avon Books & logo are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers in the United States of America and other countries.
HarperCollins is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers in the United States of America and other countries.
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