He drew a sharp breath. “They told me that if I could not seduce you myself, they would find someone who would. Whether or not you agreed.”
Her stomach dropped. He was talking about Thomas and his siblings hiring someone to…to…rape her if need be. For a moment, she couldn’t help but appreciate that Roarke had taken their devil’s bargain. How he’d tried, in however misguided a way, to protect her.
“And did they also offer to pay you?” she whispered.
There was a hesitation that told her the answer even before he whispered, “Five thousand pounds if I succeeded in breaking the inheritance.”
For a moment she lost her breath. Five thousand pounds was a fortune. It made her sick not only that her stepchildren had been willing to pay so much just to hurt her, but also that Roarke had agreed to take such a sum for his actions. It made his reflections on his motives all the more suspect.
“Is that all? Is that every secret?” she asked, her voice shaking. She hated that it shook, hated that she revealed herself to him. She didn’t want to be vulnerable to him anymore.
“Yes.” His voice broke again. “I’m sorry, Flora.”
“I’m sure you are, since you won’t be receiving anything, after all,” she said softly. “I’m also sure you are, since you were caught in your lies rather than getting to find a way to work around them because I was so foolish as to fall under your spell.”
“I’m sorry I hurt you,” he said. “That I continue to hurt you.”
“If there’s nothing else for you to add, then you should go,” she said, eyes stinging. She wanted him gone before the tears fell. “I don’t want to see you again.”
He recoiled but didn’t argue. “I understand. Please, though, tell me you will be careful. My cousins are cruel beyond measure and they are driven when it comes to this subject.”
“That’s the worst part, Roarke. If you had come to me from the beginning, if you had explained this was happening after we met, we could have been partners in this problem. We could have worked through it together.” She moved toward the parlor door, and there she stopped and turned back to him. “But you didn’t. And now I know the truth. And there’s nothing else to say.” She pulled the door open and motioned for him to go. “Goodbye.”
He walked across the room and her breath hitched despite herself. “Goodbye.”
He moved past her and she had a wild desire to reach out to touch him one last time. She managed to quell that and instead only watched him depart. And realized that he took some piece of her heart with him.
* * *
Roarke was numb as he stepped out of Flora’s parlor and into the foyer. It was like walking through a nightmare, one he had created and deserved. Callum and Theo were standing there, waiting for him and he tensed, preparing for whatever would come next.
Neither man spoke, but they flanked him as he moved to the front door and out onto the step. Clearly they had already asked for his horse, because it was waiting there for him.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” he said softly, daring to look at the two men who he’d begun to consider friends.
Theo shook his head. “You are, indeed. My best advice to you, Mr. Desmond, is not to darken her door again.”
He nodded. “I understand. But I would ask—”
“You dare to ask something?” Callum snapped.
“My cousins are driven. Please keep an eye on her. They might not be finished with their attempt to destroy her and take what isn’t theirs.” He met each man’s stare, one after the other. “You may hate me, as does she, and I deserve all of it. But I beg of you to listen to that one request.”
Callum’s nostrils flared. “She’ll be taken care of. Now go.”
Roarke slung up on his horse. He nudged him into motion and rode toward the gate, emptiness filling him down to his core. Before he turned onto the street, he looked back. Flora had joined Theo and Callum on the step and she watched him, her hands clenched at her sides.
And since he hadn’t earned that one, last, beautiful glimpse of her, he rode away, knowing that his life would never be the same. In more ways than one.
CHAPTER14
Two days later, Flora sat in Valaria’s parlor, staring straight ahead as the world moved around her. Her friends were all there, Callum and Valaria, Theo and Bernadette, bringing her tea that she let go cold, trying to offer her gentle support, talking about Roarke in angry terms. This was the first time she’d allowed that since she’d heard the truth. After he’d left her home, she had begged for privacy and taken to her bed like some gothic heroine. But there was only so much weeping one could do.
And only so much avoidance her friends would allow. So she was here now. Only she was still very much alone. She heard and felt none of their words and emotions. She heard and felt nothing at all, at present, except for pain when she let herself recall all the moments she’d shared with Roarke. He’d said they were real. But how could that be possible? That was the question.
Worse, if they were, then she had truly lost something that mattered.
“Dearest,” Bernadette said, sitting beside her and touching her hand to bring her back to the room. “Please, isn’t there something we can do?”
