Page 70 of When the Rogue Returns
“I had no feathers to show. I was a rough-and-tumble soldier who’d witnessed too much hard death in battle to brag about my shooting skill.” His gaze met hers. “And you were an angel whom I thought too good to be true.”
“I thought the same of you, you know,” she whispered. “To me you were a noble, brave hero who’d helped to rout Boney. I could scarcely believe that you wanted me.” Her throat tightened. “Which is why it was so easy for Jacoba to play on my fears and convince me that you didn’t.”
His face darkened. “I swear, I wish I’d throttled her while I had the chance. I can’t believe she tried to justify why she ripped you from me.” His voice grew strained. “And the daughter you won’t even trust me with.”
“Victor—”
“Forgive me,” he said tightly. “I’m still having trouble taking it all in.”
Isa swallowed. “If I... tell you where Amalie is, will you swear not to go there until I can introduce you properly to her?”
Pain slashed over his face, but he nodded. “I have no more desire to see her harmed by them than you do.”
“I know that.” She tensed. “And speaking of my relations—assuming that Rob finds out where Gerhart is hiding, what do you mean to do to him and Jacoba?”
He froze a long moment. Then he rose to pace before shooting her a determined glance. “I mean to get rid of them once and for all.”
16
VICTOR WANTED JUSTICEand, yes, vengeance. It was all he could think about. He wanted to be done with them for good.
Isa looked wary. “How do you propose to do that? You can’t yet even prove that you and I had no part in their theft.”
“Which is why I’m not going to try prosecuting them. I’m going to call Gerhart out. It’s simple and effective, and it will rid us of them once and for all.”
Shock spread over her features. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said sharply. “You are not going to duel with my brother-in-law.”
“Why not?” He stalked toward her. “He took my wife from me. He took mydaughterfrom me. He can rot in hell—and I’m more than happy to help him get there.”
Tucking her legs up beneath her on the sofa, she pointed out, “My sister had a part in it, too.”
“We both know she would have never come up with such a scheme on her own. She always did what he wanted. I would wager my life that he was the instigator.”
“I don’t hold Jacoba quite as blameless as you do,” she said, “but even if I did, I wouldn’t let you duel with Gerhart. You could be killed!”
He snorted. “He could no more win a duel against me than Rupert could.”
She huffed out a breath. “Fine. Let’s say you won the duel and killed Gerhart.The law would consider that murder, and you would be hanged.”
“Not if I fled to the Continent.” Never mind that he’d be leaving his new cousin behind, and a potential position with Manton’s Investigations. It would be worth it to see that wretch pay for what he’d done. It would be worth it to keep his family safe. “We could return to the Netherlands, the three of us, and be free of them at last. Once Gerhart is gone, Jacoba will come to heel.”
Isa flashed him a skeptical glance. “Or she’ll hound you to the gallows in revenge for taking her husband from her.” She rose to place her hand on his arm. “Come now, there can be no dueling. I don’t fancy seeing you dangling from the end of a noose, now that I finally have you back. And we cannot drag Amalie off to the Continent if there’s any chance that Jacoba might try to get us arrested.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “If we don’t find some way to be rid of them, they’ll attempt to blackmail us either into helping them, or into paying for their silence. And paying and paying and paying...”
She shook her head. “They can’t make us do anything we don’t want to do. I say we call their bluff. Ifthey threaten to expose our past, we’ll threaten to turn them in to the authorities in the Netherlands. Surely they’ll back down if they think we’d really do it. They have as much to lose if things go against them as wedo.”
“Do they?” he said. “Unlike us, they have no children to worry about.”
A frown knit her brow. “You don’t know that. They could have had children by now.”
He scoffed at her. “Don’t you think Jacoba would have used her ‘poor defenseless children’ to play on your sympathies if she’d had any?”
“Verdomme,”she muttered. “You’re right about that. And we certainly can’t risk Amalie’s being left alone if we’re carted off to prison.”
The sight of her consternation made his throat constrict. “Amalie is the reason you wouldn’t entertain having them prosecuted when we discussed it last night. Isn’t she?”
She nodded.
