“Oh, Gigi.” The pain in Mama’s expression stabbed her heart. “Oh my dear girl, do you know the man you have married?”
Gigi slanted an uncertain look at Conrad. He was impassive, his eyes as cold as a winter sea.
“It is true that Conrad didn’t tell me his identity until after we were married. But he had good reasons for it,” she said quickly. “Reasons that are his to share, if he wishes, but which I can assure you make perfect sense. Moreover, none of that changes how I feel about him.”
“Did he tell you about his dealings with Abel Pearce?” James asked.
Her brother’s inquiry slid like a cool droplet down her spine.
Frowning, she said, “What about Mr. Pearce?”
“Do you want to tell her, Godwin?” James lifted his brows. “Or shall I?”
When Conrad said nothing, his jaw tight, Gigi felt a pulse of fear.
“What is it?” she whispered. “What involvement do you have with Mr. Pearce?”
“I’ll explain everything,” he gritted out. “In private?—”
“There is no way in hell I am letting my sister be alone with you,” Ethan snarled. “Nor will she want to, after she discovers your plans for Chuddums.”
Chuddums? Why would Conrad have plans for the village?
Her heart thudding, Gigi said, “Please. Someone tell me what is going on.”
James took pity on her. “A few days ago, the bubble burst on a railway scheme engineered by a fellow named Jonah Westfield. It’s all over the papers. Investors have lost everything.”
“That is horrible, but how is that relevant?—”
“Abel Pearce was among the investors. He went all in, and now he doesn’t have a penny to rub together. Even worse, he was already up to his eyebrows in debt. His properties in Chuddums are mortgaged to the hilt, and suddenly his loans were called in. The news spread like wildfire through the county. When I heard, I had a suspicion that I could only confirm in London.”
Gigi glanced at Conrad, and his stony expression sent her anxieties spiraling.
“What suspicion?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“The timing of Pearce’s downfall with Godwin’s appearance seemed more than coincidental,” James said matter-of-factly. “My man of business knows the head clerk in Westfield’s office, and he was able to find out more about Pearce. Apparently, Pearce was a recent investor, and the clerk remembered how he’d bragged about being referred by ‘the famous Conrad Godwin himself.’”
“Conrad?” Gigi stared at her husband. “Is this true?”
“Pearce asked my advice, and I gave it,” he said flatly. “Look, there are things you don’t know. Things I will explain when we are in private?—”
“So that you can tell my sister further lies?” James’s mouth curled in a sneer. “No, Godwin, she will hear the truth. Not only did you deliberately entice Pearce into investing in a faulty scheme, you had an ulterior motive for doing so. I had my man of business investigate Pearce’s debts. Apparently, one by one, his loans were bought up by a holding company called Sterling Capital. The company has remarkable legal scaffolding to hide its owner, and I almost stopped digging until I discovered Sterling Capital owned a company I was familiar with. One that Gigi once asked me to look into: Empire Investment. The firm that tried to buy Miss Letty’s spa.”
Sucking in a breath, Gigi turned to Conrad. “You own Empire Investment. Do you own Sterling Capital as well?”
“I do,” he said curtly. “That is what I wished to discuss with you this morning. Before your family’s unannounced arrival.”
“What were you going to say?” Her head was spinning. “That you deliberately ruined Mr. Pearce so that you could take over Chuddums?”
“No, my grievance is with Pearce,” he stated. “He wronged me, Gigi—grievously so. Gaining control of Chuddums was part of my plan to gain justice.”
“This is about revenge…again?”
She stared at him, seeing the Viking in a gentleman’s suit. Everyone had told her he was a ruthless man, and she’d seen the evidence herself. Yet she’d made excuses and willingly let herself be deceived. Fissures spread through her heart as she looked at her husband and wondered if she knew him at all.
She took a breath. “What are you planning to do to Chuddums?”
Conrad hated being backed into the ropes. It was a weak position, where you found yourself defending against blows until one finally knocked you out. In this case, he wasn’t just facing his supposedly loyal wife: the entire Harrington clan was taking jabs at him.
