Page 175 of Her Reluctant Hero
“I—” She stopped herself. She had no idea what Adrian had planned to do with the money, other than pay his debts, maybe fund another site. “No. Adrian was writing a book.”
Valentine’s bark of laughter carried over the water. “He can’t sit still that long.”
He did know Adrian. But Mallory refused to be drawn in by his familiarity. “At least he’s not willing to kill for what he wants.”
Valentine leaned on the table and stroked a finger down her cheek. She flinched and he laughed. “Are you certain? I know I saw murder in his eyes when I was holding the gun to your head. Hell, if he could see us now, I’d wager he’d want to kill me.”
She yanked out of his reach as he twined a lock of her hair around his fingers. “He wouldn’t kill an innocent, frightened girl. I never thought you would be capable of something like that. Why would you do it?” The last words came out choked as she thought of the young woman that she hadn’t even liked much, but who’d died so suddenly, so violently, so senselessly.
His brows drew together in an expression of sympathy, but she knew now to look past that into his eyes, the flat eyes of a shark. Had he been like that after Tunisia? She had been so upset, she might not have been able to recognize it.
“Adrian didn’t leave me a choice. Don’t you see?”
How could he think that? “No. I don’t. He was bargaining with you, he was promising you he’d follow directions.”
“And I didn’t believe him.Youdidn’t believe him—I felt the tension in your body.”
“Because you had a gun to my head!”
“Yet you didn’t think I was capable of shooting anyone.” He leaned back, templing his fingers. “I submit that you didn’t believe Adrian when he promised he would do whatever I told him to do. Now he will, if only to keep you safe. You must remember that the choices you make, that he makes, will come back to you.”
“I trust my husband,” she said stubbornly, hoping he didn’t see through her doubt. Adrian was out in the field for a reason—he didn’t play well with others, especially not the man who stole from him.
“Your husband.” He narrowed his eyes, assessing. “I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. You’ve spent your whole life looking at the past, but doesn’t it get old? I mean, if you’re always looking behind you, how can you ever move forward? Here you are, back with the man you walked away from.”
She couldn’t let him rile her, which was clearly his purpose. If she let her anger overtake her, she might do something stupid and lose her focus. Keeping her focus was key. They had to get out of this alive.
“You held Dr. Vigil’s gambling debts over him to ruin Adrian.”
Smoller sipped from his wine glass. She might be able to break the glass quickly enough to use it as a weapon. As if reading her thoughts, he edged her glass away from her.
“I had so much more than that to hold over him. Robert Vigil was my father.”
Mallory’s insides iced at Smoller’s conversational revelation. She snapped her mouth closed as her mind raced with the implication. She tried several times before she could speak again.
“Your what? Dr. Vigil didn’t have a family.” She searched her memories. No, no mention of a family, of a wife, of a child. She looked closer at the man, could see no resemblance, though he was older than Dr. Vigil had been when she’d met the professor.
“Did he know and walk away?” She couldn’t imagine the man she knew and loved being capable of doing that. He’d loved her so much. She never would have thought he’d walk away from his own flesh and blood.
But then they discovered his betrayal of Adrian, and she realized she hadn’t really known the man. The idea made her stomach clench.
Smoller looked out over the water, fingers playing with the stem of his glass. “He knew. But the job came first. The job, and after a time, his precious Adrian.” He smirked, but she understood the pain in his eyes.
That was why he hated Adrian. Jealousy, and not because of something Adrian controlled. Jealousy over a father’s love.
No wonder Dr. Vigil and Adrian had been so close. They were too alike. And Smoller hated Adrian for it. The little bit of food she’d eaten threatened to rise up her throat.
“Just because your father ignored you, you decided to ruin Adrian?”
“No, of course not.” Smoller waved a casual hand and reached for his wine again. “I did it for the money. I never did understand why my father was happy to play in the dirt, leave his family alone.”
Mallory hated that she could identify with that. She couldn’t afford to sympathize with this man. He was a killer. “There are a lot of things you don’t understand. Like loyalty.”
“Ah, you’re talking about Linda.” He was amazingly nonchalant about the woman he’d shot.
“She was just a girl and you murdered her!”
All of the humor left Smoller’s face as he leaned close to her. “Your lover killed her. Don’t forget that.”
