“You had a man in your room,” Myra reminded her. “Last night. I get a share of those earnings, too.”
“Running a lewd house, Myra?” David asked. “You know that’s illegal.”
“I just rent the rooms, lawyer man. Who the girls see and what they do is their business. But it’s only fair that I charge for overnight visitors. The hotel does.”
Tessa felt David Alexander’s body stiffen momentarily in reaction to Myra’s words before he moved away from her. He released his hold on Tessa’s waist, grasping her arm instead. It was the only place he touched her.
She looked from David to Myra. “I didn’t invite anyone into my room.”
“He was there,” Myra said with finality. “That’s all that matters.”
“I don’t go with the men.” Tessa’s gaze darted back to David Alexander. “Myra knows that!” She looked from Myra to Liam. “Both of you know it. Please, tell Mr. Alexander!”
David gritted his teeth, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he sought to keep a rein on his rising temper. “It doesn’t matter,” he said, pulling Tessa toward him, then leading her back down the stairs. They had drawn a crowd. Just what David had hoped to avoid.
“What do you mean, ‘It doesn’t matter’?” Tessa demanded. “It matters to me.”
David’s reply was scathing as he gazed at her. “I can tell.” He indicated the curious spectators avidly eyeing the confrontation. “Satisfied?” he asked. “All you had to do to avoid this was follow my instructions.”
Tessa’s temper flared under his verbal assault, but she fought back the biting words that were on the tip of her tongue.
“What did I tell you, lawyer man?” Myra called as David led Tessa down the street, Coalie close behind. “Irish trash.”
* * *
David unlocked the door of his office with undisguised relief. He’d managed to cool his temper during the walk to his office, but it was still simmering beneath his calm surface. David opened the door and ushered his charges inside, closing the door behind them.
Tessa stepped inside and looked around. Compared to the room she and Coalie had occupied for the past five weeks, David’s office and living quarters seemed enormous. Tessa gravitated toward the potbellied stove, and Coalie hurried to stoke up the fire. The coal bin was nearly empty. Coalie grabbed the bucket and started toward the door at the back of the office, which opened into the alley.
“I think I’m entitled to some answers,” David said, his attention drawn to the stove and to Tessa.
Two pairs of eyes looked up at him. Tessa’s blue ones were cautious, guarded, but Coalie’s huge emerald-green eyes were shining.
“From you.” He pointed at Tessa, taking care to exclude Coalie. David removed the key to the coal box from a nail near the door and handed it to Coalie. “You did well out there in front of the crowd.” He patted the boy on the shoulder as Coalie headed outside to get more coal. Then he turned to speak to Tessa. “You should have followed my instructions.”
Tessa, busy removing David’s oversized coat, froze at his words. “Why should I?” She looked at David as if he’d suddenly sprouted horns.
“Because you need me,” David replied. “You need me to defend you.”
“That’ll be the day.” She dropped his coat into the nearest chair, then made a show of wiping her hands on her skirt as if his garment had soiled them.
David frowned, glancing out the window to make sure Coalie was out of earshot before he answered. He thought about lying to reassure her, then decided to tell her the truth. “It is the day. The evidence I’ve gathered so far is damaging, but at least it’s mostly circumstantial.”
It was Tessa’s turn to frown. “Circumstantial? What does that mean, Mr. Alexander?” Her haughty manner was back.
“It means. Miss Roarke,” David began, moving to stand in front of her. He halted, losing his train of thought. Her eyes were on a level with his mouth. Funny, he hadn’t noticed that in jail. She
had seemed smaller and maybe a bit more vulnerable sitting rigidly on the hard cot. But she damn near matched him in height as well as obstinacy. “It means,” he repeated, “that on the surface of this investigation, you look guilty as sin.”
Tessa faced off with her attorney. “What about below the surface?”
David shrugged, then walked to his desk, sat down in the comfortable leather chair, and rested his elbows on the blotter, his long fingers forming a steeple against his full lower lip. “Why don’t you tell me?”
It was tempting. Tessa wavered a moment, torn between self-preservation and an even greater need to protect a defenseless nine-year-old boy. She wanted to tell David Alexander her side of the story and be done with it. But to do so would endanger Coalie. She couldn’t take that risk unless she knew she could trust David with the information.
“You might as well tell me now,” David said quietly watching the changing expressions on her face as she pondered the situation. “Telling me the truth is the price you’re going to have to pay to stay here under my protection.”
Tessa turned back to the stove and began to warm her hands. “Nothing changes.” Her voice was soft but laced with bitterness. “Everything has a price.”