If You Deceive - Cole Kresley (версия книг .txt) 📗

Abandon her here?After he'd convinced her that he was taking her with him?

What choice did he have? If he took her away, would he find himself saddled with her? He had a profession, a solitary one, and he wanted to get back to it.Damn it, I doona want to get stuck with her.

Help her, then leave her. Of course. "Tell me how to find Toumard."

Chapter Twenty-six

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Maddy asked when Bea rose from the bed and dressed.

"Maddee, if I rested every time I had a blue eye," she said in a deliberate tone as though explaining to a child, "I would do little else,n'est-ce pas ? Now, let's sit on your balcony and you can tell me everything that happened last night."

When Bea opened her door, MacCarrick and Corrine appeared to have just finished their conversation. His stony gaze flickered over Bea's eye, and his jaw clenched.

To Maddy, he said, "I'll return soon."

"Are you going to see Toumard?" At his short nod, she said, "Can I come with you?"

"Absolutely no'. Stay here, enjoy a going-away drink together."

"Very well," she finally said, confused by his mood change. He seemed to have trouble looking her in the eyes just before he left them to wait in Maddy's apartment.

The three had just agreed to sell the pricey bottles when the door opened once more. MacCarrick had returned.

To open the champagne.

"Some things are meant to be enjoyed in the moment, are they no'?" he said, with another fuming glance at Bea's face. To Maddy, he added, "So that you doona go out to sell it by the glass…"He filled her new reticule with cash.

Her jaw dropped at the wad of money. "This is four hundred francs! Do you want me to go buy a piano? Or a cabriolet?"

"Un bateau!" Bea cried with a clap. "A boat!"

Maddy leaned into her, play-shoving her with her shoulder. MacCarrick didn't come close to smiling.

"Well, let's pour it up!" Corrine said, taking out chipped porcelain mugs from under Maddy's stove. When she offered a cup to MacCarrick, he waved his share away. "Doona drink."

"Plus pour nous," Bea said, her tone delighted.More for us . Even after her run-in with the henchmen, Bea was likely deeming this one of the best days of her life.

"I'll be back," MacCarrick said to Maddy with a curt nod.

"Please be careful, Scot."

When the door shut behind MacCarrick once more and they heard him stomping down the stairs, Bea fanned herself and whispered, "I'm in love. Maddee, do you know he sent us lobsters last night? I'm not jesting." She added with a sigh, "Pretty lobsters…"

Maddy grinned. MacCarrick was turning out to be such a…surprise, giving her a new day, a new beginning. She hurried to the balcony to watch him striding away.So tall, strapping, confident. Just as he had been the first time she'd spotted him—when he'd been huntingfor her .

"I think you might have a diamond in the rough there," Corrine said behind her.

Maddy was beginning to think so, as well. In London, he'd been the first person ever to fight for her—and now he was marching out to do battle again.

"Tres viril," Bea added, joining them.

There was that, too. She blushed to recall the way he'd pleasured her so perfectly in the shop—twice. She believed that her nights spent tossing in her sheets, yearning and lonely, were ended.

"Now, Maddy girl," Corrine began with a sniffle, "we've got to drink two bottles of champagne and get you packed by the time your fiance comes back."

Maddy nodded, then set about divvying between her two friends the new cash windfall, her stash of coupons, and her contraband. After she'd packed the few things that were dear to her, they sat outside drinking and awaiting his return.

She was stunned to realize this could be the last time the three ever sat here like this. "If he's legitimate, I'll send more money as soon as I can." In fact, she'd be sendingfor them , but she didn't want to get their hopes up before she knew if she could trust him implicitly.

"And if he's not legitimate?" Bea asked.

Maddy hesitated. "Corrine, can you hold my room for a couple of months, just in case?"

"Naturally," Corrine said, then added, "but I do hope this works out with him. Just remember, Maddy, with a man that strong-willed, you'll get more with honey than with vinegar."

She sipped her champagne. "And if I run out of honey…?"

What would be worse for her?Ethan thought on the way back from killing Toumard.Mixed up with a man like myself or left behind?

At heart, Ethan was a selfish bastard. If he took her away, eventually this superficial noble streak would fade.A man canna change his nature .

Get away from her…just bloodythinkabout this for a while. Doona do anything drastic.

But the idea of leaving her behind felt so wrong that it pained him physically.

If Maddy didn't get out of this slum, then at best, she'd become like Corrine—working to the bone, old before her time. Or she could become like Bea—or worse. Then Madeleine would have some man lifting her skirts in a reeking alley while his friend waited.

Ethan's fists clenched even now. If Toumard had had his way, that would have been her within mere weeks.

Ethan had already known he'd have to kill Toumard. When the man had coldly informed him what he'd been planning to do to Madeleine—sampleher before putting her to work—Ethan had burned to. He would have shot him in cold blood if Toumard hadn't drawn on him.

Breaking the arms of the henchmen…? Well, that had merely been sport.

If Ethan left Madeleine, there were a thousand more like Toumard eager to prey on a girl like her, and she now had no marriage prospects. Except for bloody Quin. Ethan would have to remember that. As soon as Quin learned that Ethan had left her alone, he'd come charging down to Paris to save her. Perhaps Ethan should let him.

The thought of them together clawed at him.

Damn it, do nothing drastic….Ethan was a man who liked to have a plan. Now that his initial one was absolutely extinguished, he cast about for what to do next. The facts: The most desirable woman he'd ever beheld desired him back. He'd contributed to her painful past and could ease her troubles now. He'd vowed that he wouldn't rest until he'd had her again, and when he made decisions, he bloody stuck by them. He would take her away, seduce her, then settle money on her. He'd be getting her out of this place—in the end, she'd be thankful.

Yet when he arrived back at her building, he was still uncertain. Then he found her hurrying from the entrance, her face lit with a relieved smile. Having grown accustomed to expressions of disappointment or fear whenever he arrived somewhere, he looked over his shoulder before catching himself.

When they reached each other, she appeared to check him over to make sure he wasn't hurt. Shortly after, Bea and Corrine emerged to see them off, handing Maddy her small bag.

"Write to us," Corrine told Madeleine as she wiped away a tear.

"Of course." Hugging them both, Madeleine sniffled. "Take care of each other."

Bea gave a watery nod, and another round of lingering good-byes ensued before he could steer Madeleine away. As he led her to the top of the hill, she waved over her shoulder until her friends were out of sight.

While they waited for a cab, Ethan said, "Madeleine, I need to speak with you." It seemed everyone on every stoop watched them. "I've thought of some things."

"I see." She didn't appear surprised. Had she expected him to disappoint her?

Why? She soddingliked him. Even his brothers—who Ethan knew would die for him—didn't seem tolike him. He made Court wary, and he continually disappointed Hugh.

How would Hugh feel, knowing his older brother had taken the virtue of a defenseless girl? Then abandoned her in Paris?