James clenched his jaw. “You planned this.”
Lady Whitcombe’s smile widened. “Of course I did.”
Roderick stepped forward. “Explain yourself.”
Lady Whitcombe folded her hands neatly in her lap. “Your father was drunk. He was charming in that state. Less careful. Easier to guide.”
James’s stomach turned.
“And afterward,” Lady Whitcombe continued, “he sobered and became cruel. He wanted me gone. He wanted silence.”
James’s voice sharpened. “Because you threatened him.”
She tilted her head. “Would you not have?”
Roderick’s tone was hard. “You used him.”
“I used an opportunity,” she corrected, unbothered. “And when he refused to pay, when he refused to protect me, I adjusted my strategy.”
James stared at her. “You are trying to make me believe this was his fault.”
Lady Whitcombe’s gaze was steady. “I am telling you the truth. Men like your father make promises in the dark and deny them in daylight.”
James’s hands clenched at his sides. “You will not speak of him that way.”
“Why? Because he was your father? Because you want him pure?” Her voice sharpened.
James stepped closer, voice low and dangerous. “Because you are twisting this to suit yourself.”
Her eyes gleamed. “Am I? Or are you finally seeing what he truly was?”
James’s pulse hammered in his throat.
Roderick’s voice cut in, urgent. “James. This is a diversion. She is baiting you.”
James did not look away from Lady Whitcombe. “Where is the man we came for?”
Lady Whitcombe’s tone softened into something almost pitying. “Still chasing the villain. Even now.”
James’s jaw tightened. “Answer me!”
Lady Whitcombe held his gaze and said quietly, “You will, Your Grace. Very soon.”
James’s vision tunneled.
The pistol was in his hand before he fully registered the motion, his arm steady, his finger firm on the trigger. Lady Whitcombe did not scream. She did not even flinch.
Instead, she smiled.
“Go on,” she said calmly. “This is what you came for, is it not?”
Roderick turned sharply. “James.”
James did not hear him.
“You will not leave this room alive,” James said, his voice low and shaking with restraint. “You will answer for what you have done.”
Lady Whitcombe tilted her head, studying the gun with mild interest. “You truly believe you have time for that?”
