"Is that what this is all about?"
"Yes!" The word was high-pitched and ragged, since by now she's worked herself into a frenzy. "Doc Wheeler saw you in Georgetown at Burke's house, so don't deny it!"
It was a moment before full comprehension of her accusation finally sank in for Devlin. He looked at her in total disbelief for a minute, feeling like a knife was sliding into his gut. Could she really trust him so little, after all they'd been through together? Raw pain welled up in him, accompanied by bitterness at her evident lack of faith. With deceptive casualness, he crossed his arms over his muscular chest. "I won't even try."
Jess stared at him. She'd expected denials, maybe that Devlin would try to bluff his way out. She'd prayed that he would have a good reason for going to see Burke at his house, though she couldn't begin to imagine what that might be. She hadn't contemplated no explanation at all.
His voice was cold, deadly, when he finally spoke. "You honestly think I've been betraying you with Burke?"
"I don't know." Her tone held anguish. "You go behind my back, buying part of our mine from Riley and hiring servants that I don't want and ordering Doc to examine me when I'm fine—I don't know what to think anymore."
"You might," Devlin said carefully, not trusting himself to relax his rigid control, "try giving me the benefit of the doubt."
She didn't look as if she were willing to give him anything. Devlin found himself clenching his teeth. Sonovabitcb—she ought to be grateful for his intervention. He was saving her precious mine, for Christ's sake. Instead she was actually standing there accusing him of treachery! The idea that she could believe such a thing of him filled him with a stabbing rage, and a pain so deep he didn't even want to acknowledge it.
In an abruptly vicious gesture, he jerked his hat off his head and threw it on the bed. She'd been spoiling for a fight ever since she'd shown up here, and he would give it to her.
"I had the impression," he said tightly, his hands going to his hips, "that you wanted to stop Burke from taking over your mine. Was I wrong?"
"No."
"Well, I did pay Burke a visit last night. First I threatened him with a half-million dollar lawsuit if he didn't give up his ambition to own the Wildstar. Then I told him I'd kill him if he or any of his men dared hurt you or your father again."
Her eyes searched Devlin's face. "Why should I believe you? How do I know you weren't working for Burke all along? How do I know he didn't bribe you like he has most everyone else in this town?"
Devlin felt his hands curl into fists as he fought the urge to wring Jess's pretty neck. After all the risks he'd taken for her, the long tedious solitary hours spent up at that goddamned mine, the countless times he'd sacrificed his own pleasure on her behalf, she was actually calling him dishonest to his face. Some men would kill over such an insult.
Devlin's usual seductive charm deserted him totally. "I never set eyes on Burke until two weeks ago," he said with tight-lipped anger. "And even if I were the kind of man to accept bribes, why would I need his money? I have plenty of my own. I'll never miss the fifty thousand I gave your father. I spend more each year on my horses."
Her gasp was audible in the small room, though she comprehended only part of what Devlin had said. "You gave Riley fifty thousand dollars!"
"That's the usual currency exchange in America," Devlin snapped, his tone holding a slicing edge of mocker)'.
She was silent for a long time. "You're rich!" she finally said in a hoarse voice.
"That's the term for millionaires, yes." The hard light in his gray eyes pierced her. "You said Riley told you."
"He . . . never . . . told me that." She sounded breathless, as if she'd been running too long too fast. "You never told me. . . . You said you were a gambler."
"I said I was a gambler among other things."
"You lied to me. . . . You lied."
Devlin drew in a deep breath, struggling violently for patience. "I didn't lie to you, Jess. There was a time when I earned my living gambling—I still do to some extent. Only now I gamble on stocks instead of games of chance."
"How could you?" she whispered, her gaze agonized.
"How could I be wealthy?" His lips twisted in a cold smile. "Actually it took a lot of hard work. I made my money honestly, if that's what worries you. Mostly in mining stocks. Gold at first, until I diversified. I found I have a talent for playing the market. I can't give you a precise accounting, but I imagine I could buy Burke twice over."
"You're richer than Burke?"
The stricken look on her face gave him no satisfaction. She stood there staring at him in shock, her face drained of color.
"Look, what the hell difference does it make what size my bank account is?"
What difference did it make? Everything. If she had known how rich he was, she never would have hired him to help guard the mine, never would have trusted him or come to depend on him. She never would have given herself to him that terrible night in the Wildstar. Dear God, she had made love to a man who was just like Burke, maybe worse. At least she knew better than to trust Burke. Devlin had fooled her entirely. He had lied to her from the very first moment she'd set eyes on him. He had bought her father, and he had lied. . . .
The room started to spin; Devlin's face started to blur.