Bleakness sank through his body, alerting him to the fact that he’d been fooled more thoroughly than he’d imagined. It left him with a bitter taste of failure, and a sudden thirst for vengeance.
He glared at Samantha. His wife. “We’ll never recover from this.”
“Why not?”
An incredulous laugh rumbled through him, as raw and painful as every lie she’d told him. “Because you’re not who I thought you to be. Because you manipulated me from the very beginning. Because I was nothing more than a job to you. Because the woman I fell for is just an illusion. Shall I go on?”
Something in her gaze shifted – a flicker of deep emotion so fleeting he failed to define it. Her features tightened and fire lit up her eyes, the force of it so intense he sucked in a breath. Whatever his feelingsabout her, this woman was strong, resilient, unwilling to back down when faced with a challenge.
She would not let him break her, no matter how hard he tried to tear her to pieces with words. Hell, she’d knocked him on his arse earlier, which was something no other woman had done before.
Despite everything, he couldn’t help being impressed.
“Would it make a difference to you if I were to tell you I fell for you too?” The softly whispered words drifted toward him, like the heady smoke from an opium pipe. “That’s what changed the most. The more I got to know you, the more I saw you for who you are. And it occurred to me that you aren’t the cruel, murderous villain you’d been painted as, but rather the definition of what it means to be righteous. It made me realize that you don’t deserve to be hunted. You deserve to be saved.”
It was difficult not to stare at her, the passion with which she’d spoken reaching so deep, it touched a cold place in his heart, warming it slightly. And yet, he could not ignore her actions, would not allow her the satisfaction of knowing the potent effect her words had upon him.
“You’re wrong.” It was time to show her his hand and see how she truly felt. “I am every bit the cruel and murderous villain, Samantha.”
“Perhaps so, though I doubt you’re as bad as Kendrick and Harlowe would have me believe.” Hergaze was direct. “According to them, you would force women to whore themselves so you can turn a profit.”
“That’s a disgusting lie.” He abhorred those guilty of such abuse.
“I thought as much.”
“Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean I’ve not dirtied my hands in other ways. Those thugs who attacked us at Reed’s… They’ll never be heard from again for good reason. Same goes for Newton. I took particular pleasure in putting an end to his miserable life. And those are just the last in a long list of deaths that were caused by my hand. That is who you married, though I had hoped your sweetness would help me put all that behind me, perhaps even offer a bit of salvation. Except, there’s nothing sweet about you, is there? It was just an act.”
“Parts of it were, but a great deal was real. Our conversations, for instance, were open and honest. Everything I told you about myself was true.”
“What difference does that make when you omitted the most important part?” He snorted with disdain. “If you’d cared for me as you claim, you would have told me the truth before we spoke our vows. Instead, you chose to trap me.”
“You’re right and I’m sorry. But since I’d made the decision to stand by your side, I worried the truth would just wreck things between us.”
“It did so anyway.” Bitterness draped itself over his shoulders. “Your selfishness denied me the chance to choose.”
Her eyebrows drew together, brow creasing as she closed her eyes for a moment. When she looked at him next, regret showed in her expression.
Still, her voice remained level, determined, as she quietly told him, “I may not be as pure of heart as you believed, but maybe that’s better for you.”
A different perspective he hadn’t considered. He narrowed his gaze, trying to figure out if she was being honest or trying to trick him. On guard, he carefully asked, “How so?”
“I think the woman you thought me to be would have judged you harshly, not because you deserve it, but because she wouldn’t have understood you the way I can. Adrian, I know I’ve done everything possible to make you doubt me, but the truth is, I’m on your side. When I stopped making progress and Kendrick threatened to get rid of you through other means, my only thought was to protect you.”
“You’re telling me the chief constable meant to have me killed?”
“I don’t know. He was trying to pressure me – yet another reason why marriage was so compelling. It allowed me to keep a close eye on you and your surroundings, prevent an attack if one was attempted.”
“Like you did at The Toothless Cat?” She’d leapt between him and Clive Newton’s pistol, gotten herself shot in the process. A sacrifice he’d later justified as an attempt on her part to endear herself further, when the truth was, she could have died.
Despite everything, the thought was so unpleasant it sent a harsh shiver through him.
“I know what you think, but you’re wrong.” Her jaw tightened. Regret was replaced by flint. “Instinct will always compel me to put you first. I don’t know why. I can’t explain it. But…thatis the truth.”
Arms crossed, she glared at him as though she found her compulsion to save him a huge inconvenience. The corner of his mouth twitched with amusement. Maybe she wasn’t the innocent woman he’d thought her to be, but there was something very enticing about this version of her.
Was it possible for them to start over?
He blinked on that thought and considered the possibilities. If she was in earnest and she’d truly turned against Harlowe and Kendrick, she’d make a formidable ally.
