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“Raine?” he urged gently.
“I have made a bargain with Seurat,” she abruptly announced.
His fingers tightened on her face. “So Philippe was wise to question why you would have been released unharmed.”
Raine frowned at his strange words, but she refused to be distracted. “I do not believe Seurat would have harmed me regardless of our bargain.”
His brooding gaze followed the path of his fingers as he brushed them over the cut still obvious on her lip.
“This says otherwise.”
“It does not matter,” she said impatiently. “All that is important is that Seurat is willing to put aside his desire for revenge for a price.”
“And what is that price?”
“I have promised to sell the necklaces that Philippe gave to me and offer the profits to Seurat.”
Carlos dropped his hand and stepped away from the bewitching minx. Not just in shock, although he was certainly stunned by her outrageous suggestion, but because he wanted to do so much more than brush her lips with his finger. He wanted to crush that rosebud mouth in a kiss that would reveal the hunger that pulsed through his body. He wanted to tug off that delicate ivory gown and reveal the slender beauty that was hidden beneath. He wanted to plunge himself so deeply inside her that she could think of no other man but him.
Instead he turned away and struggled to think clearly. “Meu Deus. Do you have any notion what those necklaces are worth?” he rasped.
“Their worth is nothing in comparison to having Jean-Pierre freed and Philippe spared from the constant threat of Seurat plotting some devious revenge.”
He gave a disbelieving shake of his head. Surely there was no other woman who would so easily dismiss such priceless jewels? Certainly none of his acquaintances.
“The same thing will be accomplished when we capture Seurat and haul him to an English prison.”
“If you capture him.”
He instinctively turned, astonished she would even question the inevitable fact. He and Philippe had spent years tracking down the most cunning traitors. Men who had power and position and enough supporters to make it a dangerous proposition to spy upon them. The thought that they could not capture a stray lunatic was absurd.
“Never doubt he will be cornered like the rat he is, Raine.”
She waved aside his arrogant confidence. “Then Philippe will see that he is punished.”
Carlos shrugged. “Of course.”
“And so Seurat will suffer as Jean-Pierre and Philippe have already suffered.” Her beautiful features tightened with a fierce emotion. “And Louis, the actual villain, will remain unscathed.”
“Such is the nature of scoundrels.”
“It is…immoral, and deep within Philippe he will know that he is protecting his family at the cost of true justice,” she said, her voice throbbing with genuine outrage.
Carlos smiled wryly, resisting the urge to reach out and stroke the soft heat that flooded her cheeks. She was so frighteningly innocent. So pure.
“Perhaps that is how you would feel, Raine, but I do not believe that Philippe possesses your tender heart,” he said.
She heaved a deep sigh, her arms wrapping about her tiny waist. “You are wrong, you know. Philippe does not readily reveal his emotions, but he feels deeply.”
Carlos hastily swallowed his laugh. “You are the first to accuse him of that sin.”
Her dark eyes became pleading as she stepped close enough to cloak him in her sweet scent.
“Carlos, you know as well as I that Philippe bears the weight of far too
many burdens,” she murmured. “And that he holds himself responsible even when it is others who fail.”
He sucked in a sharp breath, struggling against the sensation he was tumbling into those wide, impossibly beautiful eyes.
