Her father’s jaw clenched. “Why, what?”
“Where should I start?” she asked. “You betrayed your country, treated Mother terribly, and tried to cheat me out of my inheritance.”
His eyes flashed with surprise. “You know about your inheritance?”
“I have for many days now,” Simone replied.
“I must assume you are the reason why the contract went missing,” her father said dryly.
Simone took a step closer to him, not cowed by the angry expression on his face. “The missing contract is the least of your concerns. It is only a matter of time until you are arrested and get the comeuppance that you deserve.”
Her father smirked. “I will get what I deserve, but it will not be from a prison cell.”
She held her hands up. “Look around you,” she said. “I have no doubt that agents are just waiting for you to leave so they can arrest you.”
“You make it seem like I don’t already know that,” he said. “I have been doing this for far longer than you.”
“Where is Juliette?”
With an amused look, he replied, “She is around. Although, she has rather enjoyed this cat and mouse game with you.”
“It isn’t a game, Father,” Simone declared. “People could get killed, innocent people.”
The humor left his expression and his eyes grew hard. “Then they shouldn’t be following a tyrant blindly.”
“Are you speaking of King George or Napoleon?”
Her father scoffed. “King George is mad, and his son is no better,” he said. “Napoleon is a visionary, a true ruler.”
“Who is the mad one now?” Simone asked.
Her father reached out and grabbed her arm. “Regardless, you have no business being here. Go home, where it is safe.”
“I will not,” Simone said, yanking her arm back. “I am curious as to why the sudden concern for my well-being.”
“No matter what happens, you are still my daughter.”
Simone could hear the faint sincerity in his voice, but she was not about to back down. She had a job to do and she refused to leave these people to their fate. “I’m sorry, but I can’t in good conscience let you hurt these people.”
Her father looked displeased by her remark. “Forget these people. Think of yourself. Don’t you want to live another day?”
She stared up at him, disbelief on her features. “Do you not care about anyone but yourself?”
“I care about you,” her father replied.
“You have a funny way of showing it, considering you tried to steal my inheritance from me,” she challenged.
“Yes, but only because I needed that money,” he stated. “Besides, you are a woman. You didn’t need that money since you are marrying Mr. Bolingbroke.”
Simone blinked. “That is your excuse.”
“You seem to forget that I don’t answer to you.”
“It was my money to do what I wanted with, and that includes keeping the Earlshall estate,” Simone responded.
Her father scoffed. “What are you going to do with a castle? Think, Simone. You don’t have the mind for estate management.”
With a shake of her head, Simone muttered, “You are a terrible father.”
