Authors: Charis Michaels
When he continued, the words came out hard, clipped. “I lied to you, Piety—about his presence at the wedding, about his contact with me, about the tasks he set before me. I did it to shield you, although I can see, now—considering you
bloody well ran away
—that I should have shown you the reality of the situation, no matter how bleak, rather than allowing you to assume I was still purposefully holding myself apart from you, like an idiot.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but he continued on, “I knew you would offer up your own money as payout, and I could not allow that. Instead, I endeavored to figure out my own way. I kept my distance from you, emotionally and physically—as was our original agreement—because, I worried that if I showed you favor, it would give him a new pawn.
“
This
is the reason for our race back to London after the wedding.
This
is the reason I went out the night we returned. I have been very preoccupied on Straka’s behalf. Unfortunately.
“Then,” he continued, “the accident happened. I was forced to double down. Once I located you, I was unwilling to be away from you unless it was absolutely necessary.” He quirked his eyebrow at her. “But I could not manage Straka on my own and be at your bedside at the same time. I’ve had to put my trust in someone else—a man I’ve only just met. I made a friend, of sorts—you’d be very proud. He’s helped me a great deal.”
“Oh, Falcondale,” Piety said, dropping back against the cushions. “I wish you’d simply told me.”
“I was a fool,” he said. He wished, fervently, that she would call him Trevor. “But you needn’t worry,” he went on. “Straka wanted me to steal the money. Instead I sold my house to this man, my new friend. With
that
money, I may now send Straka packing. He has vowed, after this sum, to never intrude on me again.”
“But how can this—”
Trevor shook his head. “I know, it’s deuced hard to understand. There is more, much more, and I will tell you all, when you can bear it.”
If you will allow it.
“In the meantime, I need to remove him as far from you and the other women as possible. Your duty, is merely to
rest
. Recover. Allow Miss Breedlowe and Miss Baker to care for you. Be sensible about your health, Piety. Please. I’ll be preoccupied with him just one more day. Perhaps less.” He raised his eyebrows, imploring her.
She chewed her bottom lip, ratcheting up his temptation to reach for her. He looked away.
She began, “Can you—”
“Eh
?
”
Across the room, Straka roused, snorting, groaning.
Trevor shot from the couch and stepped squarely in front Piety. “Careful, Straka,” he urged in Greek. “Careful. You’re all right. You’ve had a nasty fall.”
The old man let out a string of profanity. He fought the bindings, flapping ineffectually.
“Piety,” Trevor said calmly, “Please get up. Go ’round the table, keep your distance, and join the women in the other room. Lock the door.”
She didn’t move.
“Piety,” he repeated more firmly. “It’s essential that you do as I ask. Please comply with me. Just once. Please.”
“I’m going,” she said indignantly. “We may all assume that I have
improved
, but I cannot fly. Yet.”
He turned to her, whispering apologies, helping her to her feet. It was his first time to touch her when she was not in a fevered sleep. Even with Straka threatening to erupt just feet away, he savored the warmth of her skin beneath his hands. He lingered close, his face nearly touching her hair, his hand on the small of her back.
“Go,” he said gently. “Lock the door. Try not to worry.”
She laughed at that, a heavy, worried sound, and picked her way around the edge of the room to the door. When she had disappeared into the bedroom and slid the lock into place, Trevor said to Straka, “I have your money, but it is not here—”
“That is a lie! Iros has followed you for days. He followed you this very morning after the meeting with the viscount.
The money is here
.”
“Take a closer look, Janos,” Trevor said. “Iros is strong and loyal but hardly a logistical genius. He knows what he
believes
he saw, but there is a reason that you chose me to run your empire. Iros is a bodyguard, not a spy.”
“Iros never betrayed me!” Straka strained against the bindings. His voice dropped to a deadly growl. “And if he did, he would kill me when he had the chance. His life would be worthless, if I survived.
As yours is now
.”
“Come now,” said Trevor, “you cannot threaten me now. Not when I have so much lovely money for you. And why would I kill you? I don’t want you dead; I merely want you away from my wife.”
“Ah, yes. The wife who is not really your wife.” He scoffed, then he bellowed. “Untie me!”
“Not yet. Not until you’ve agreed to take the money and go—agree to leave me alone forever, as you said.”
“How can I take the money if it is not here? Untie me! Let us finish what we began!”
Trevor lied quickly. “Half of it is here. What Iros saw was some portion of the money to bribe the Americans. I never meant to give it to them, mind you; but they needed to see some proof.” He whipped open a wardrobe and emerged with a bulging leather satchel. “Would
you
like to see it, Janos? It’s your money. I have only to match it with the other half, which we can easily collect in my home, just miles from here, once you’ve agreed that this ugly conflict between us is over. I’ve blackmailed the bastard; now set me free.”
“That was before you attacked me! Insulted me by tying me to the floor like a dog!”
“Agree to finish this elsewhere, then I will untie you and will fetch the other half.”
Straka scowled and said nothing; Trevor dropped the money—which was, in fact, the total sum—beside his bound feet. Iros’s report had been accurate, and Trevor had been careless to detour here with it instead of going straight away to Hampstead. But there had been time to look in on her, and he could not resist it.
“Here it is. We will count it together, you and I. Hopefully your Serbian debtors will accept British pounds in notes from the Bank of England. That was all he could get.”
“Untie me, do you hear?” Straka roared, pulling against the bindings to peer into the satchel. “How much! How much would he give?”
“Five thousand, all told. You’ll find half of it here. The balance is under lock and key at my home in Henrietta Place. Iros may be watchful, but he has not seen all of my comings and goings, not by far.” The lie came more easily this time.
“Five thousand pounds,” Straka said with wonder, and Trevor cursed himself for going too high. Straka continued, “Meant a lot to him, did it? Keeping all that depravity away?”
Trevor said smoothly, “He balked at the price, actually, but I held firm. Five thousand was meaningful, but not impossible. Ultimately, he saw the value in your silence.”
“Untie me,” Straka demanded again. “Let us finish.”
“I would like to Straka, honestly I would, but I must be assured of your cooperation. We cannot fight to the death, you and I. In fact, we cannot fight at all. And we cannot remain here. My wife is ill, and we’ve terrified her staff. A doctor is due, soon, to call. There are neighbors. It’s simply not feasible. It’s why I asked to have this exchange in Hampstead. I am only here to look in on my wife. If you’d stuck to the plan, you would, perhaps, not find yourself bound.”
“Fine. Untie me and let us remove ourselves from your precious wife.”
Trevor crossed his hands over his chest. “Can you give me your word as a”—he made a coughing noise—“as a
man who wishes to claim five thousand pounds
, that there will be no further conflict? That we may peacefully hire some conveyance to my house and finish this?”
“Yes, yes!” Straka huffed. “Let me loose!”
“And you’re aware that if you cross me, if you slit my throat and steal away with this satchel here, then you will not see the rest?”
“Is that a threat, Tryphon?”
“No, it is a fact. Joseph has very clear instructions. You saw him leave here at a fast clip. If something befalls me, he will make the rest of the money immediately unavailable to you. It goes straight to the charity box at an orphanage in Berkshire, and it will be gone from you forever. Then where will you be? You’ll have the two and a half thousand pounds and the body of a dead earl, when you could have walked away with five.”
“You would lecture me about sums? Untie me!”
“Give me your word, Straka! We leave here immediately! Truce?”
“Fine! Let me go!”
“One more thing, when I give you balance of the money, you leave me alone—forever. No more favors. No more spies. I walk away, as do you.”
“I’ll never work with you again!” Straka declared. “You’re too much trouble.”
He recoiled when Trevor squatted beside him, flashing his knife. It was Trevor’s turn to laugh. “If I’d wanted to kill you, you would already be dead.”
“Ha!” Straka scoffed, watching him slit the stockings. “You couldn’t kill me. Too soft,” he muttered. “Always too soft. Your thin, English blood!”
Trevor severed the stockings, but he stopped short of helping Straka to his feet. He backed away, keeping the knife handy, watching the big man lean heavily against the wall to heave to his feet. When he was up, Trevor kicked the satchel to him.
“Count it, if you like.”
Straka laughed, straining low to swing the heavy bag to his shoulder. “You know I never count it until I am alone,” he said. “You also know what happens if I have been—”
He was cut off by a knock on the door.
Trevor’s gaze snapped to the entryway, and Janos craned around.
The knock sounded again. Louder, longer.
What now
?
Trevor’s gaze flicked to the old man. Iros and Demetrios? No, it was far too soon. Joseph? Please, no. It was too soon for the doctor. The maid never knocked.
The rapping sounded a third time—more of a pounding now—and Trevor stopped trying to guess. He took up the most strategic position, flat against the wall, behind the door. Janos looped the strap of the satchel diagonally across his chest and wove through furniture, making his way to the window.
“Janos,” Trevor whispered. “Do not even think
—
”
Bam!
The front door swung wide, nearly flattening Trevor, admitting a throng of uniformed policeman and Bryson Courtland, Viscount Rainsleigh.
Officers swarmed the room, filling every corner, while a sergeant barked orders. Straka bolted and was halfway to the window before they closed in and seized him. They discovered Trevor a moment later and took him up, too.
“Yes, that’s right, that’s them!” Rainsleigh said, striding to the center of the room. He pointed to each man in turn. “
He’s
got the swag—my money in my leather satchel, just as I described. He’s the Greek national, Janos Straka. Masterminded the whole thing. The other one is Falcondale, and he’s the Greek’s first lieutenant and chief extortionist. Arrest them both! They’ve just extorted me for five thousand pounds!”
I
t was impossible for Piety
not
to look. The shouting was too urgent and angry, the commotion too great. She unlocked the bedroom door and cracked it, ever so slightly, peeking out.
The parlor was filled with police. There was also a tall, finely dressed man. His bearing was important, and the police regarded him with deference. He crossed his arms over his chest and made small gestures in the direction of Trevor and the Greek man. The police pounced, herding them against the wall, spinning them to press their faces against the plaster and wrenching their hands behind their backs. Piety watched in horror as they clapped irons on Trevor’s wrists.
She spun to Tiny and Jocelyn. “My clothes! Quickly! I must dress.”
The women opened their mouths to oppose her, but something about her expression deterred them. They shared a miserable look and fled to her trunks.
Piety turned back to the door. The Greek was fighting the police, blustering, resisting. They shackled him before taking a bulging satchel from his chest. Now they were forced to unchain him and played tug o’ war to untangle the bag.
Trevor appeared too stunned to fight. He craned around, as if straining to see the gentleman in the center of the room. The Greek man shouted to him in his own language, and Trevor answered.
She heard him say, “He doesn’t speak English. He won’t understand the charge!”
The gentleman said shortly, “Tell him it’s blackmail and extortion.”
Trevor translated, and there was more bluster. The policemen shouted over the angry Greek, working together to subdue him. It took four of them, but they hauled him to the door.
The gentleman shouted to Trevor over the din, “Perhaps your accomplice would go more peacefully if you explained that they will detain you separately. He is a foreigner, and you are an Englishman with a title. He needn’t worry that you don’t leave together. The booking procedure is not remotely the same!”
Trevor scowled at him and translated, shouting to be heard over the Greek man’s tirade.
Before he’d finished the translation, they began to hustle Trevor to the door. Piety’s heart seized. She spun to check the progress of a dress.
“We are looking for something that will go over your bandages!” Tiny whispered.
“It doesn’t
matter
,” Piety said urgently. “Anything! Hurry! The police are taking him away!”
She checked again. Trevor had finally begun to argue.
“Please, my wife! In the next room. She is not well. Pray, do not disturb her!”
The gentleman shook his head. “My accusation is not against his wife.”
“My lord,” a policeman said to him, “the money.” He held out the leather satchel.
The gentleman rifled through it. “We’ll want to count it. But it looks close to what I was ordered to place into the bag.”
Trevor was nearly to the door, being shoved and pulled by two policemen. “Rainsleigh!” He finally raised his voice. “My wife! I must speak to her. Five minutes! Tell them I require five minutes. She will not understand.”