‘The way I betrayed Mavis.’
‘The way you’re thinking you did. But there’s more. She left the house that night. Summerset and I didn’t know she was gone until the next day, the next morning when the men who wanted me sent word that they had her. They sent back the clothes she’d been wearing, and there was blood on them. For the first time in my life, and the last, I saw Summerset unable to function. I would have given them anything they demanded, done anything. I would have traded myself for her without hesitation. Just as you, if you could, would trade places with Mavis now.’
‘Yes.’ Eve set the empty cup aside woozily. ‘I’d do anything.’
‘Sometimes anything comes too late. I contacted them, told them we would negotiate, begged them not to hurt her. But they had already hurt her. They had raped her and tortured her, this delightful fourteen-year-old girl who had found so much joy in life, and who was just beginning to feel what women feel. Within hours of that first contact, her body was dumped on my doorstep. They had used her as no more than a means to an end, to make a point to a competitor, an upstart. She wasn’t even human to them, and there was nothing I could do to go back and change what had happened.’
‘It wasn’t your fault.’ She reached out and took his hands. ‘I’m sorry. So sorry, but it wasn’t your fault.’
‘No, it wasn’t. It took me years to believe that, to understand and accept that. Summerset never blamed me, Eve. He could have. She was his life, and she had suffered and died because of me. But he never once blamed me.’
She sighed, closed her eyes. She knew what he was telling her, by repeating a tale that had to be a nightmare for him to relive. Neither was she to blame. ‘You couldn’t stop what happened. You could only control what happened after, the way I can only do everything I can to find the answers.’ Wearily, she opened her eyes again. ‘What did happen after, Roarke?’
‘I hunted down the men who had done it, and I killed them, in as slow and as painful a method as I could devise.’ He smiled. ‘We each have our own way of finding solutions and justice, Eve.’
‘Vigilantism isn’t justice.’
‘Not for you. But you’ll find the solution and justice for Mavis. No one doubts it.’
‘I can’t let her stand trial.’ Her head lolled; she snapped it back. ‘I have to find . . . I need to go . . .’ She couldn’t even lift her weighted arm to her head. ‘Damn it, Roarke, damn it, that was a tranq.’
‘Go to sleep,’ he murmured and gently unhooked her weapon harness and set it aside. ‘Lie back.’
‘Inducing chemicals on unknowing people is a violation of . . .’ She slipped deeper, barely felt him unbutton her shirt.
‘Arrest me in the morning,’ he suggested. He undressed her, then himself, before slipping into bed beside her. ‘Just sleep now.’
She slept, but even there, dreams chased her.
Chapter Eight
She did not wake up cheerful. She did wake alone, which was probably a wise move on Roarke’s part, but she didn’t surface with a smile. There were no aftereffects from the tranq, which made him a very lucky man. She woke alert, refreshed, and pissed.
The electronic memo beeping its red light on the nightstand didn’t improve the mood. Nor did Roarke’s smooth voice when she engaged it.
‘Good morning, Lieutenant. Hope you slept well. If you’re up before eight, you’ll find me in the breakfast nook. I didn’t want to disturb you by ordering up. You looked so peaceful.’
‘Not for long,’ she said between gritted teeth. She managed to shower, dress, and strap on her weapon in ten minutes flat.
The breakfast nook, as he charmingly called it, was a huge, sunny atrium off the kitchen. Not only was Roarke there, but so was Mavis. Both of them beamed blindingly as Eve strode in.
‘We’re going to get a couple things straight here, Roarke.’
‘Your color’s back.’ Pleased with himself, he rose and nipped a kiss onto the tip of her nose. ‘That gray cast to your skin didn’t suit you.’ Then he grunted as her fist jammed into his stomach. He cleared his throat manfully. ‘Your energy level’s obviously up, too. Want coffee?’
‘I want you to know that if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’ll . . .’ She trailed off, narrowed her eyes at Mavis. ‘What are you grinning at?’
‘It’s fun to watch. You two are so tipped over each other.’
‘So tipped he’s going to end up on his back checking out the ceiling if he doesn’t watch out.’ But she continued to study Mavis, baffled. ‘You look . . . fine,’ she decided.
‘I am. I had a good cry, a big bag of Swiss chocolates, and then I stopped feeling sorry for myself. I’ve got the number-one cop in the city working on my side, the best team of lawyers a billionaire can buy, and a guy who loves me. See, I figured out that when this is all over, and it’s going to work out, I’ll be able to look back on it as kind of an adventure. And with all the media attention, my career’s going to soar.’
Reaching up, she took Eve’s hand and tugged her down on the padded bench. ‘I’m not scared anymore.’
Not willing to take the words to heart, Eve looked hard and long into Mavis’s eyes. ‘You’re really not. You’re really okay. I can see it.’
‘I’m fine now. I thought about it, and thought about it. When it all shakes down, it’s pretty simple. I didn’t kill her. You’ll find out who did, and when you do, it’ll all be over. Until then, I get to live in this incredible house, eat incredible food.’ She forked up a last bite of a paper-thin crepe. ‘And have my name and face splashed all over the media.’