Page 82 of Scandalous: Family Ties and Spies

“I told you more than a year ago the qualities I was seeking in a wife when I began considering retirement to marry and produce an heir,” Valeran said with quiet stoicism. “We both know love was not one of them.”

“You won’t lose her, Val.” Despite his friend’s firmly spoken reassurance, Valeran waved his hand in a flippant denial.

“I’m not worried about losing Amalie. We suit each other.”

“Goddamnit, man, you can’t allow the bastards who robbed you of your parents and took your eyesight, win,” Jamie snarled as his body snapped forward to lean over the edge of the desk.

The action blew a stack of correspondence his secretary had organized off the desk to the floor. In the back of his mind, he experienced a powerful wave of irritation. He’d yet to read the translations, which meant Smithers would have to reorganize the damn documents. It wouldn’t be a simple task when the man always paired the written documents with the braille translations. Despite his annoyance at the jumbled papers, and his friend’s insistence on discussing a topic that wasn’t any of his business, Valeran remained silent.

“You’re no exception to the rule when it comes to a devastating loss, Val. Others have suffered grief the same as you, but they don’t shut the world out. And certainly not their wife or husband.”

The other man’s icy words were filled with a soft, restrained violence Valeran had only heard once before. One of the men they’d arrested two years ago had posed a threat to Jamie’s cousin, Imogene. His friend’s wrath had changed him into a man Valeran didn’t recognize. With methodical precision, Jamie’s rage had driven him to hammer a full confession out of the suspect.

The beating had been so brutal, Valeran and another agent had been forced to pull Jamie away from the prisoner. That kind of fury, if unleashed, could get Jamie killed. When he didn’t speak, Jamie’s shadowy arm swung up, then down in a vicious movement. The violent crack of his friend’s palm hitting the surface of the desk stirred the air with fury, and a couple more pages of correspondence hit the floor.

“You’re goddamn fool, Val.”

“This discussion is closed, Jamie.” Valeran’s quiet statement made his friend shake his head.

Although he couldn’t see the man’s disgusted expression, Valeran heard it and detected it in Jamie’s body language. Fingers digging into the wood arms of his chair, Valeran hardened his expression into one he knew made him appear calm and unfazed by his friend’s anger. The last thing he wanted was a brawl in his office. The other man uttered a harsh oath and sprang to his feet. Leaning over the wide desk in an intimidating manner that would have made another man flinch, Jamie drew in a low hiss of fury.

“If you hurt her, Sommerville. I’ll have your head.”

“Leave now, Jamie, before you do something foolish. We both know I’m the better fighter, and we both know you’ll regret it afterward if you don’t.”

His friend jerked upright, then spun around and headed for the door. Valeran hesitated to add fuel to the fire, but he wasn’t about to take orders from his friend, no matter how well-intentioned.

“A word of caution, Jamie. Never interfere in my marriage again, or it will be your head that rolls, not mine.”

Valeran knew Jamie would understand the dark promise in his warning. If there was anything the younger man had learned since they’d become partners, Valeran was at his most dangerous when his threat was delivered with such soft, almost pleasant congeniality. Jamie’s only response was to tug the study door open in a savage movement, slamming the door shut behind him.

Outside his study, he heard Amalie call out her cousin’s name, but if Jamie answered her, it was nothing more than a gesture as the front door slammed shut with the same force his friend had shown Valeran’s study door. Leaning back in his desk chair, Valeran pinched his nose between his fingers and sighed. He hated being at odds with his friend.

It was a rare occurrence, but he knew how protective the man was where his family was concerned. Jamie’s concern for Amalie didn’t surprise Valeran, but he refused to let his friend meddle. It was a family skill the Rockwood women excelled at, and for the first time, he realized Jamie had acquired more than his fair share of the trait.

A quiet knock on his office door made him jerk upright. Amalie. She would ask what had created a riff between him and Jamie. It was a topic he wasn’t prepared to discuss. He was too fond of his wife to cause her pain. In fact, it surprised him how protective he was of her. In the back of his head, he heard a whisper that he quickly silenced.

“Come in.” At his quiet command, the door opened a small amount, allowing Amalie to poke her head around the door.

“Is everything all right, Valeran? Jamie seemed uncharacteristically angry.”

“I think the better word would be enraged,” he said with a sigh as he waved his wife through the door.

The lush outline of Amalie’s round, feminine curves became visible as his wife entered the study, and something indefinable latched onto him. The woman hadn’t even touched him, but watching her shadow drawing closer, her presence sent a tactile sensation scraping across every inch of him. His wife circled the desk, and the instant her palm gently cupped his cheek, Valeran pulled her down into his lap.

“It must have been something important, because I’ve rarely heard Jamie raise his voice tae anyone like that before.”

Curiosity and puzzlement filled her siren voice. Like so many other small habits they’d come to share between them, her aristocratic manner of speaking disappeared when they were alone or with her family. Amalie’s fingers glided through his hair, and she pushed a stray strand back into place. Valeran closed his eyes, savoring the gentle touch. When he didn’t speak, his wife released a small sound of concern.

“Would ye like tae talk about it? I know Jamie well, perhaps I might be able tae help.”

“It was a business matter.”

“I dinnae know the two of ye were business partners.”

Amalie’s surprise strengthened the sultry strength of her Scottish accent. As always, it twisted his insides into knots. A second later, Valeran was forced to silence a groan of disgust as he realized his misstep.

“We have mutual business concerns,” he lied, guilt nipping at his conscience.