Reed just stared, saying nothing at first. Then he spat out, “What a load of bullshit!”
Finn backed up a step at the man’s vehemence.
Rose’s brother continued, barely taking a breath. “If my sister loved you, then why did you need to better yourself? Not for her sake, I guess, but for your own. You were a selfish bastard to do what you did. Can you convince me otherwise?”
Finn felt the blood drain from his face. Convince the man? He thought about it. Was that what he wanted to do? Did it matter now if he made Reed believe he wasn’t an utter cad?
No, it didn’t. Not a whit. The words spilled from him anyway. “After my convalescence, I found a place to study to become a master builder. I seized the opportunity to be more than I was, and itwasbecause of Rose, if not directly for her. When we were together, she was ashamed of me and could not bring herself to introduce me to you and the rest of the world as her husband.”
Reed nodded slightly, which was enough encouragement for Finn to finish.
“Since I’ve lost her, none of what I did makes sense anymore. I am a trained naval architect, and a good one, but I could have come back and kept my Rose and been quite happy as a shipbuilder at the yard. I find that without your sister . . ,” he trailed off and sat heavily upon the narrow bed, feeling all the wind go out of his sails.
Finn stared at the wide pine floor and saw nothing. “I suppose I will go up to Maine where my father lives. There’s plenty of shipbuilding there. I know one thing, I can’t stay here.”
“Because it would be too painful to see her,” Reed surmised.
“Worse,” Finn said, lifting his head and looking his brother-in-law square in the eye. “Because my being here would cause her pain.”
Reed’s eyebrows lifted nearly into his hairline.
“I have seen it every time she looks at me. My coming back has caused her nothing but distress.”
Finn realized the ache he was feeling was not physical. Centered in his chest, a dull throbbing that made it difficult to breathe — it was the keen loss of Rose.
Reed said nothing. Then he also sat on the edge of the bed next to his leather portfolio, glancing at the scattered books and papers with cursory interest.
“I’ve spent some time reading the accounts of the sinking,” Finn explained, “and learning precisely who said what. I appreciate what your wife found out.”
Reed jumped up again as if he’d been scalded. Wearing an expression like a thundercloud, he demanded, “What does Charlotte have to do with this?”
Finn thought the man’s eyes would pop out of his head. “I’m sorry if I’ve spoken out of turn. I assumed you knew that Rose asked your wife to determine if there was anything shady. And Mrs. Malloy did exactly that.”
Reed ran a hand over his eyes and then through his hair before he spoke again.
“What did she find?” His tone was clipped.
“Insurance fraud,” Finn explained, thinking of Liam’s elegant house and how slippery the man had become, never at home when Finn went looking for him. “It has nothing to do with my divorce from your sister. Shall we get on with it? I assume you have something for me to sign.”
For a moment, Reed looked as if he wasn’t done with the prior subject, but then he leaned over and started to undo his satchel.
“Yes, I have brought an agreement for an uncontested divorce. If you sign it, then I can file in the court and—”
One of the six lower panes in the room’s only window shattered inward with such sudden force that both men ducked. The brick that did the damage skidded to a stop in front of their feet. A piece of paper was tied to it with twine.
Reed bent down first and picked it up as Finn crunched over the glass, raised the sash, and looked out, craning his neck one way and then the other to see if anyone was running away. No one looked the least bit suspicious.
When he turned, Reed had untied the note from the brick, which he placed by the door. Then he handed Finn the paper. “Message for you, I take it.”
Finn shrugged, only wishing Rose’s brother hadn’t been there when this unsavory event had occurred. He scanned the writing, a mere two lines:
If you want to stay alive, leave Boston. Don’t tell a soul or your delicate flower perishes.
Finn didn’t have to read it twice to understand what the threat implied. Someone had seen them together at the bookstore and knew who she was.
“What is it?” Reed asked.
Finn looked up from the note and directly into a blue gaze that so resembled Rose’s eyes he couldn’t speak. How could he possibly hide this from her brother, her protector? Wordlessly, he handed the paper over.
