Page 45 of When the Rogue Returns
“Nonsense,” he rasped. “Once I testify, there will be no question that they were guilty and not you.”
“You’re my husband, and you were once a suspect. Do you really think that the authorities will trust your word over my family’s?”
Perhaps if he brought his cousin into it to vouch for his character. But that would mean dragging Max through another scandal. And during a trial, all the nastiness about Victor’s father would come out, and that, too, would affect Max and Lisette.
Damn it all. It had been far easier seeking justice when he thoughtshedeserved it.
He gritted his teeth. “You can’t expect me to just forget what they did—to me, to you, to both of us. They deserve to suffer.”
“Oh, believe me, I agree,” she said softly. “But I don’t see how they can be made to suffer without ruining my life. And possibly yours. Which would be patently unfair, since neither of us did anything wrong.”
But Dom and Tristan had resources he did not. They might be able to build a case without damaging her interests—or involving Max.
“Surely the truth will count for something,” he protested. “We have the note, which isn’t written in your hand. A good examiner of documents—and I happen to know one—could easily affirm that it was forged. That alone throws suspicion on them and off of you. The very fact that they’ve been living the high life in Paris while you struggled to build a business here also adds to their guilt.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Does it? You were telling Mr. Gordon just this morning about how I either used the money to build the business or I fled to keep from being caught. My coming here clearly didn’t eliminate my guilt inyoureyes. How will it eliminate it in the eyes of the court?”
God, he hated it when she made sense. “So you’re saying that I should just sit here and let them get away with it.”
“I’m saying that whatever you do is bound to hurt me as well.”
“I don’t believe that!” When she stiffened, he moderated his tone. “I only want to do some preliminary investigation, to see if I can build a case. If we take Gerhart and Jacoba by surprise, we may even find evidence in their lodgings. Just tell me their aliases, and—”
“No,” she said, her eyes wary. “I dare not risk it.”
His temper rose. He couldn’t believe she would thwart him on this! “Now that I know what city they’re in,” he said, fixing her with a hard glance, “I can probably find them without the names, especially since I have connections to the French secret police. I’m giving you the chance to make it easier for me—but that doesn’t mean that if you don’t tell me, I won’t pursue it.”
Fear lit her eyes briefly before she wiped all expression from her face. “You do what you have to do.” Slipping from the bed, she began to gather up her clothes. “But I will not put my neck in the noose for your vengeance. I have too much to lose.”
A curse left him as he watched her slip on her drawers and stockings. This wasn’t what he wanted. And he doubted that she wanted it, either.
He left the bed to draw her into his arms. “Don’t you trust me to protect you,lieveke?” he asked softly. “I would never let anyone harm you, I swear it.”
She remained rigid. “You may not have a choice. Once you pursue vengeance—”
“Justice, damn it!” he growled. “If I wanted vengeance, I would exact my own punishment.”
Her eyes lifted to him, large and luminous in the firelight. “Is that why you came here? To exact your punishment against me?” When he just stared at her, wondering how much to admit, she said, “Whydidyou come here, Victor? How did you even find me after all these years?”
He tensed. “Does it matter?”
She gazed steadily up at him. “You say I should trust you to protect me. You want me to throw myself into your hands, but you won’t tell me something so small as how you found me. Or why you’re grand friends with a duke. Or even whether you’re really Lady Lochlaw’s cousin. Clearly you don’t yet entirely trustme.”
“That’s not true.” Except that it was.
If he told her about the duke, that still wouldn’t explain why he’d come here. If he told her about the Duke’s Men, he’d have to admit that he’d been hired to find out her secrets.
Then she could threaten to tell the baron about the dowager’s actions. Since Lochlaw was about as discreet as a four-year-old, the man would instantly plague his mother over what she’d done, and his mother would complain to Dom about Victor’s lack of discretion.
And if Dom were angry enough over it, he would refuse to help Victor bring Gerhart and Jacoba to justice—especially if there was a chance it might embroil the duke and Dom’s half sister in scandal. Then Victor would be stuck trying to capture the Hendrixes without help.
Out of nowhere came the voices of his inquisitors.Admit it—she learned the truth about you and your father, learned how low you really are, and she aspired toward more. You were the guard, you besotted arse—that’s why she chose you. And like a dolt, you helped her.
Damnation,thatwas the real reason he didn’t want to reveal his high connections. No matter how much he told himself that everything the prince’s guardsmen had said was a lie, part of him feared it wasn’t. Part of him still wanted to be sure that she wanted him for him, not for his connections or anything else.
Isa regarded him expectantly a moment longer, but when he offered nothing more, she sighed and returned to dressing. “It’s late, Victor. I have to be at the shop in the morning, so I must go. We can discuss this more tomorrow.” She slid her corset down over her chemise and turned her back to him. “Would you lace me up, please?” she said in a prim voice that annoyed him.
He strode up behind her to catch her about the waist and pull her back against him. “I don’t want you to go,” he murmured into her silky hair. “Stay here tonight.”
